County Foursomes Championships 2021

Wiltshire Golf

County Foursomes Championships 2021

Ladies Champions Ali & Trudy with President Frank Ham Men's Champions Tom & Michael with Jez Tomlinson

Early morning rain threatened to put a dampener on the 2021 iteration of the Wiltshire Golf County Foursomes Championships at Chippenham Golf Club, but fortunately this soon faded away and the weather stayed warm and breezy for most of the day.

The course was in exceptional condition with smooth fairways, deceptively tricky rough, and fast firm greens so any score close to par was always going to be challenging. The Men's first round proved this with only two pairings shooting a level 72 - Tom Law/Michael Cox (Broome Manor) and Ben Loughrey/Josh Loughrey (Wrag Barn) sharing the lead at the halfway point. The Nett competition was almost as close with the youthful pairing of Ethan Batstone/Cillian Roberts (Broome Manor) leading the home duo of Jake Atiwell and David Taylor-Pratt by a single stroke.

The Ladies competition was a single round, but was equally closely fought. At the halfway stage Ali Grandison and Trudy Feltham (Chippenham) held a one shot lead over Carol Main (Chippenham) and Karen Gosling (Marlborough), but birdies on the par 3 11th and 13th gave the home pair a cushion that proved just enough to get them over the line as champions. Viv Monument and Shane Lyon were third in the gross competition and nett honours went to Aurora Edwards and Melanie Dearham from West Wilts who defeated Stephanie Foreman and Jane Rowell by a single shot - a full list of prize winners for both events is included at the bottom of this article.

And so to the Men's competition second round. Conditions became very tough in the afternoon with stronger winds and rain showers towards the evening. In the handicap event another strong showing from Batstone and Roberts proved far to much for their older opponents to match, and a nett 74 to go with their morning 71 saw them run out easy 5 shot winners with Atiwell and Taylor-Pratt runners-up.

The main competition proved much closer however, and the leaders reached the 18th green with only 1 shot seperating them. Both Michael Cox and Ben Loughrey played exquisite chips to set their partners up with birdie opportunities, but as the sun disappeared over the horizon Josh Loughrey's effort slid agonisingly past to leave the Broome boys with 2 putts for the championship. They duly obliged!

Wiltshire Golf would like to offer huge thanks to Manager Andy Blight and all the clubhouse staff for their efforts which helped make the event such a success. A special mention must also go to Head Greenkeeper Chris Sealy and his team for preparing the course so well - it was in excellent condition and was a very tricky, but fair test for all the participants.

Many thanks must also go to all our volunteers on the day - Refs Ray Smith, linda Brown & Paul Berry, our President Frank Ham, Nick Chapman & Jerry Gegg who ensured all worked like clockwork, and England Gold CEO Jez Tomlinson who kindly presented the prizes, despite an injury! We will hopefully see evryone next year when the Championship returns to its traditional spot in the calendar, Sunday 1st May 2022 at Ogbourne Downs Golf Club.

Prizes - Please note that teams could only win 1 prize, and that as these are scratch competitions those awards take precedence over the nett prizes.

Ladies Championship

2021 County Foursomes Champions - Alison Grandison & Trudy Feltham (Chippenham) 85

2021 County Foursomes Runners-Up - Carol Main & Karen Gosling (Chippenham/Marlborough) 88

2021 County Foursomes 3rd Place - Viv Monument & Shane Lyon (Kingsdown) 95

Nett Winners - Aurora Edwards & Melanie Dearham (West Wilts) 78

Runners-Up - Stephanie Foreman & Jane Rowell (Chippenham) 79 C/B

Men's Championship

2021 County Foursomes Champions - Tom Law & Michael Cox (Broome Manor) 147

2021 County Foursomes Runners-Up - Ben & Josh Loughrey (Wrag Barn) 148

2021 County Foursomes 3rd Place - Jez Tomlinson & Colin Edwards (Marlborough/Cumberwell Park) 153

Nett Winners - Cillian Roberts & Ethan Batstone (Broome Manor) 145

Nett Runners-Up - Jake Attiwell & David Taylor-Pratt (Chippenham) 150