THEY may have been invincibles in the league, but York Union of Golf Clubs’ Inter District Union team were unable to get their hands on the IDU Team Championship at Cookridge Hall Golf Club.

The York lions finished nine shots behind Sheffield in a creditable runners-up display having had to make late substitutions because of injuries.

Contested by teams of six who play 36 holes - with the aggregate of 12 rounds deciding the winner - York’s team of Martin Brown and Craig Smith from Pike Hills, Jamie Miller and Rob Moore of Fulford, supported by David Hague of Malton and James Walker from The Oaks, would have been in top position after the first round but for an out of character 80 from Smith that left Sheffield with an eight-stroke lead after the morning round.

Brown followed up his morning 71 with the same score in the afternoon for a two-under-par total of 142 but Sheffield picked up another stroke on York during play, and finished on 881 compared to York’s 890.


STAKES were high in one of the most dramatic climaxes to a PGA North season in years.

Five players tied on 11-under-par in the final round of the James Brearley Lancashire Open at Blackpool North Shore.

But what gave the ensuing play-off additional impetus was that two of them, David Shacklady and Alex Belt, were battling to clinch the Michael Slater Memorial Order of Merit title. Snainton Golf Centre’s Belt finally prevailed with Shacklady second.

Former European Tour Player John Mellor, from The Oaks, eagled the 533-yard tenth, the first sudden death hole, to win the tournament and finish third.


JANE ALEXANDER, 58, scored her ace on the 158-yard, par-three fourth at Forest Park GC, and the 16-handicapper was rewarded with membership of the exclusive BOSS Watches H1 Club and a specially-commissioned, limited edition BOSS watch.

The scheme is open to any golfer whose club uses HowDidiDo - a free-to-use, web-based social network for golfers - and anybody playing in official club competitions is eligible.

The same distinction and BOSS awards were achieved by Wigginton-based Dr Stephen Wilkinson.

The seven-handicapper notched his ace on the 168-yard, par-three 14th at Little Hay GC.