Surrey gets new season off to a flier at Sunningdale

The Surrey men’s first team kicked off their 2023 season in style with a hard fought 8-4 win over Sunningdale in a match held at the famous Berkshire venue.

After a week of frost and fog, the teams arrived on a pristine day with both courses in immaculate condition. After an excellent breakfast we set out onto the New course, this year celebrating its 100th anniversary, for the morning foursomes.

Max O’Hagan and Cameron Bell, both now back from America, led off and after a short game masterclass managed to seal victory at 16th, 3&2. Terry Nicholls and Oscar Lent continued where they left off from the League Final last October with a 4&3 victory, while the Will Dugdale and Monty Holcombe were also in solid form, finishing their match with a birdie two at the 17th to win 3&1. The final morning foursomes also went the way of Surrey with the tried and test pairing of David Corben and Harry Uzzell running out 3&2 winners.

Sunningdale came out fighting in the afternoon singles over the Old Course, with early victories for the host side in the second, third and fourth matches bringing them back to within striking distance. Sent out in the top match, O’Hagan got Surrey on the board by completing a 2&1 win by virtue of holing his second shot at the 17th.

Experienced hands Nicholls and Dugdale rolled back the years with strong performances, for the former winning 2&1 and the latter shooting a sublime 66 to win 4&3. With the final two matches being shared with a win to either side, Surrey ran out 8-4 winners.

The Social Golfer launches new membership tiers

The Social Golfer, the popular online golf network and golf society, has relaunched its membership tiers for 2023 with three new options available to nomadic golfers.

It has introduced a new free tier to give occasional golfers the options to track up to eight rounds a year at no cost. In addition, the site has introduced a secondtier Handicap membership, whereby users can submit unlimited rounds and get a printable handicap certificate.

The Social Golfer handicapping analysis system allows member to calculate their golf handicap after every game. In addition, those scores entered automatically get added to their monthly TSG league table.

The bespoke handicapping system tracks a member’s best eight scores from their last 20 rounds. This takes into account the player’s current Handicap Index, Course Rating and Slope. The handicap tracker also calculates a Course Handicap and the Playing Handicap using Score Differential after every round.

The TSG team has retained the Social membership tier, while Pro membership allows golfers to post games and events in their area or anywhere around the world. In 2022, the site saw its members arrange more than 650 events.

Members can also join The Social Golfer’s Major events, with golf day guests playing for The Golf News Magazine Guest Trophy. These include the TSG Masters, TSG Par 3 Championship, TSG OPEN Championship, and the TSG Matchplay tournament which are played from April to September. For more details, visit thesocialgolfer.com.

Northwood celebrates centenary of female membership

Northwood Golf Club in Middlesex has marked a centenary of having female members with a special lunch attended by over 100 past and present women members.

Founded in 1891, Northwood Golf Club is the second oldest golf club in the county, having been founded just four weeks after West Middlesex, however it didn’t allow women to become members until a vote was taken in favour in 1923.

Dawson strike gold at Roehampton

Ana Dawson, a 22-year-old professional from the Isle of Wight, won the 94th Roehampton Gold Club after shooting two rounds of 67 for a 10-under-par total of 134 in damp and cold conditions at the Surrey course.

With winter rules in force and the course playing long due to the recent wet weather, 45 players took part in the event, which was once again sponsored by Russell-Cooke Solicitors, but it proved very much a one-horse race, with Dawson, who had never played Roehampton’s parkland layout before, finishing nine shots clear of her nearest challenger, Horton Park’s Lauren Horsford, who took second place on countback from Ladies European Tour player Annabel Dimmock (Wentworth).

Amateur honours were taken for the second year by Matilde Santilli from Foxhills on 147 (68, 69), with Alice Barlow from Bury St Edmunds Golf Club taking second with 149 (74,75). Barlow went on to win the Hampshire Rose the following day, and thus the Gold Rose Trophy, which is given to the player with the best combined results of the Roehampton and North Hants events.

In celebrating the milestone, there were 10 tables at the lunch representing a decade of women in golf. Radhi Nanalal, the current women’s captain, welcomed everyone and two of the club’s legends, Pam Severn and Jenny Simmons, both being former captains, shared their memories of joining the club and the changes they had been witness to over a number of decades. They reflected on the journey the women’s section had been on and looked ahead to the bright prospects for the next 100 years.

The lunch was punctuated by professional dancers taking to the dance floor and demonstrating dances from some decades. A compere shared explanations of each dance and members were also invited to the dance floor to try a few moves.

The lunch has provided a launch pad for a number of events planned for the centenary year. At the Middlesex County Dinner Awards evening on March 4, a Silver Salver was presented to the women of Northwood in recognition of their 100 years.

Last year saw Northwood join up to the R&A’s Women’s Golf Charter and the club is continuing to work hard towards developing opportunities for everyone at Northwood. With 100-plus women members across all categories, the club is looking forward with confidence to its next 100 years.

Northwood Golf Club was famously the subject of a Channel 4 TV documentary that was aired in 1994 called ‘The Club’. The board had hoped that the film would provide a positive spin on the activities of the club, but it only served to expose some of the outdated attitudes the existed among a small minority of the club’s more outspoken male members at the time, including one who famously said: “Women have to make the breakfast and clear up. How any of them are here before nine in the morning puzzles me.” It led to an extraordinary general meeting which resulted in the entire board resigning.