Dry weather helps golfers get back on the course

THROUGH the Christmas period and into January, Stocksbridge golfers have been enjoying some much dryer and calmer weather conditions.

The course has dried out significantly and given the keen golfers of the club a chance to work off some of the Christmas excesses.

As a result, the winter competitions have resumed and been well supported by playing members of the club.

The first competition to report on was the Stableford Pro’s Prize on December 28. Steve Cain (16) won with an impressive 43 points and completed a round with no sixes on his card, a rare feat for middle handicap golfers.

In second was Richard Hastings (19) with 41 points, in a round with two birdies. In third place was Eddie Smith (20) with 40 points.

Round two of the Winter Cup was completed on January 4, with 32 players facing some stiff and cool north westerly winds that made playing conditions quite tough. The course was in excellent condition and the greens staff had done an excellent job to get the course looking so good.

Overall winner in this round was Pete Westhead (10) with a dominating 43 points. Pete finished his round with four birdies, three of these coming in the first six holes. Pete also managed to keep a six off of his card. P. Smith (24) came second with 41 points and can look to a couple of shots coming off his handicap. In third place was Dave Stringer (14) with 41 points as well, but a slightly lower points score on the back nine.

Earlier in December, Stocksbridge Golf Club had the pleasure of hosting newly elected Penistone and Stocksbridge MP. Miriam Cates, the first Conservative MP in the constituency since the 1930s.

Miriam enjoyed a post-election party at the club with many of her local Conservative Association team. Miriam lives in the area and along with her constituency team was determined to celebrate the election, irrespective of the result.

Choosing Stocksbridge Golf Club was an easy decision to ensure that the celebrations were held within the boundary. The club was more than willing to host the event and around 100 guests attended the party.

Club President John Yeates, pictured with Miriam and the club captains Alison Sedgwick and Steven Haigh, commented: “The celebrations tonight are for Miriam Cates and her election team, but this is also an important opportunity for the Golf Club to build the relationship with our new MP.

“We share Miraim’s ambition to see the local community thrive and succeed. The Golf Club is very much a part of the community and we look forward to Miriam’s support in the future, particularly for improvement grants that we are currently seeking to improve the club’s facilities.”