Wyboston Lakes has rounded off the year in style by picking up two accolades at the esteemed Club Mirror Awards. The awards are a testament to world-class food and high standards of service and recognise Wyboston Lakes’ reputation as a first class destination for excellent food and service. Hosted at The Palace Hotel, Manchester on Wednesday 10th November 2010, Wyboston Lakes, located midway between Cambridge and Bedford, scooped the ‘Catering Club of the Year’ and ‘Club Manager of the Year’ awards.

General manager Alasdair Swan and restaurant manager Rickie Kitt collected the highly coveted awards which were presented by three times sports BAFTA winner and twice named sports presenter of the year, Steve Rider.

Barry Stonham, operations director at Wyboston Lakes, told Golf-Now; “Wyboston Lakes is delighted to win both Catering Club of the Year and Club Manager of the Year. Our team of highly talented staff have worked exceptionally hard and this is reflected by these accolades. These notable national awards keep Wyboston Lakes firmly on the map and clearly acknowledge our dedication to providing consistently first class service to our customers.”

Outgoing Captain Lyn Griffiths (right of picture) presents his Captain’s Charity cheque for £3,100 to Mikey Clarke who collected the cheque on behalf of The Sue Ryder Hospice at Thorpe Hall, Peterborough. The presentation took place before the traditional Hail and Farewell Dinner held at the Ramsey Golf Club. The money was raised by members in a variety of ways from club “fines”to competitions and charity auctions. Lyn thanked the members for their generosity throughout his year in office. Mikey replied, "This would make a huge difference to those members of the public who have to make use of their services and this sum of money would assist in the care of a resident for two weeks at Thorpe Hall for which donations are always sought."

This year Peterborough Milton have a husband and wife (pictured) as Club Captain and Ladies Section Captain.

They drove in on a snowy November morning on a decorated buggy to the theme of ‘Mr & Mrs’ by member Jackie Trent.

They are Ian and Janet Seconde and we wish them both a highly successful year.

Sussex golfer Tiffany Hewetson has scored a one-shot win on the US women’s college circuit. Tiffany, from East Brighton, is a freshman at Grand Canyon University, Arizona, and returned 76, 75, 75 to win the Dennis Rose Invitational in Hawaii. She also helped her college to victory in the team event. Also playing for Grand Canyon was Georgina Dunn from Peterborough Milton, who shared fifth place in the individual table. Two Lincolnshire golfers have also been making their mark. Lizzi Over (Forest Pin es) was made Girl Athlete of the Week at Barry University, Florida, after she led her team to victory in the annual Flagler Fall Slam at Marsh Creek, Florida. The team won by eight shots and Lizzi was second in a field of 90 players with scores of 75, 78. Jessica Schiele (Kenwick Park) a student at Redlands Community College in Oklahoma, maintained her good record in the States with a share of third place in the one-round Cowgirl Fall Invitational at Lake Charles Country Club, Louisiana. She scored one over par 73 and was three shots behind the winner. There were 45 players in the field. (Picture courtesy of leaderboardphotography.com).

The final of the Norfolk county foursomes Myhill trophy took place at Swaffham golf club on the 26th September. Middleton Hall took on Barnham Broom over the 36hole competition, in what can only be described as atrocious conditions. Both teams braved the elements to produce some excellent golf. Staff & volunteers from Swaffham golf club battled to keep the course in a playable condition & did a magnificent job.  At the end of the mornings play Middleton Hall had battled to a 13 hole lead which they held onto in the worsening conditions. Both teams deserved huge praise for the manner in which the game was played. Middleton Halls club Captain, Tim Hoare told GOLF NOW: “Winning the Myhill trophy, our Juniors winning the KK Smith trophy and our over 55's attaining a creditable runners up spot in the Barnard Trophy has capped off a very successful year for the club, well done to everyone.”

This was the 2nd year in succession that Middleton Hall had reached the final of the Myhill trophy, which is a fantastic achievement in its self. To finally win for the 1st time in the clubs history crowned another excellent years golf for the club. Pictured are Danny Young, Tim Hoare (Captain), Andy Baden, Anthony Stannard, Adam Lewarne, Tony Thaxton, Iain Yule, Mark Butt, Mike Lewarne and Stuart Olley. Not pictured is Jack Yule.

South Essex Golf Club has been awarded GolfMark accreditation demonstrating their hard work and dedication to both junior and beginner’s golf. The English Golf Union (EGU) and English Women’s Golf Association (EWGA) developed the GolfMark award to identify and acknowledge golf facilities in England that were junior and beginner friendly.

There are a number of benefits that golf clubs can gain by achieving GolfMark accreditation, including increased membership, raising the club’s profile, further development of coaches and volunteers and greater access to funding. The GolfMark award is an initiative jointly provided by the EGU and EWGA via the England Golf Partnership’s ‘Whole Sport Plan’ for golf. More information at www.golfmark.org

On Sunday 12 Sept Peter Alliss visited Swaffham Golf Club for lunch in aid of Help 4 Heroes. On his arrival he spoke to many members and personally signed his new book for anyone who asked. After lunch there was an auction. The money raised, £5,600, was presented in the form of an extra large cheque, to the two soldiers, a Lieutenant and a Staff Sergeant of the Light Dragoons, from Swanton Morley. Peter then answered questions before leaving for his next show at Folkestone. It was a fantastic day. Photo shows from left to right, the Staff Sergeant, Ann Ewer (Ladies Captain) John Goddard (Captain), the Lieutenant and Peter Alliss.

In the COLTS COUNTY MATCH, SE Group Northern Division – ESSEX took on HERTFORDSHIRE at West Herts Golf Club (pictured) on Saturday 11th September. Result: Essex Colts 4½ - Hertfordshire Colts 7½. After losing this league match Essex were forced to rely on games won as they were tied with Middlesex on matches won. In the event Middlesex had won 21 matches against Essex’s 20.5 and so Middlesex go through to play in the final against Sussex. Essex always knew that this would be a hard match with several of their top players missing due to a date clash with the Champion Club tournament and the Thornton Cup and with the Colts Captain unable to play due to work commitments.

The morning was beset with rain although the afternoon singles started in much better weather and the first two boys, Arthur Leonard and Danny Carroll both performed gallantly against very strong opposition (plus 3 and plus 2 handicaps) but were narrowly beaten. Fine wins from Jonathan Day and Owen Pearl and a half from Jack Higgs were all Essex could manage in the afternoon games and were beaten 7½ to 4½. Well done Hertfordshire.

Under 15s Suffolk Junior Captain Joshua Robertson claimed the Junior Championships at Ufford Park Golf Club, near Woodbridge in Suffolk, after shooting a superb 76 (3 under his hcp). It was a superb performance from Josh who managed to fend off the challenge of Ed Eastlake and Robert Salter respectively to claim his first Junior Championship trophy and in the process, etch his name onto the Junior Championships placard in the clubhouse.

The day had consisted of medal scoring with prizes being awarded for the best scratch and net score. In addition to this, there were also opportunities for the juniors to have a shot at nearest the pin competitions as well as putting and pitching competitions before and after the juniors had begun.

Despite trailing from the foursomes, Hertfordshire bounced back to win the Boys County Championship in style at Berwick-on-Tweed Golf Club in Goswick, their first title in 17 years. (Picture © Tom Ward)

They lifted the Championship for the first time since 1993 with a 6-3 victory over Cumbria while Gloucestershire completed a 7-2 win over Derbyshire to clinch runners-up spot.

After finding themselves 1-2 down at lunch, Hertfordshire showed true grit by winning five of the six singles, a performance that underlined their class and their desire to keep the title in the south east for another year.

“I’m overwhelmed,” said Herts captain Chris James. “The boys were terrific this afternoon. They have shown their true character from the time they won the south east qualifier through last week’s South East Foursomes which they also won. That gave them the confidence coming here.”

The Hertfordshire hero was Luke Colgate, who completed a 100% record by winning all six of his games, the only player to do so, battling back from 3-down in his single with Cumbria’s Dan Park to record a 2 and 1 victory. Apart from Colgate there were fine victories for team captain Tomasz Anderson, Will Chambers and Nick Ward.

Ramsey Golf Club (Huntingdon) staged their club championship in July with Richard Craven on the winners rostrum for the second year running. Day one saw Richard shoot a gross 77and on day two he made a strong come back as he shot a 72 gross to tie with Cliff Miles and then won the 5 hole play off.

Richard who lives in Doddington is currently at college studying for a golf qualification. Graham Smith won the net prize with scores of 63 & 67 and the long handicap was won by Chris Seeley with a net 67.

Our picture shows left to right Chris Seele, Richard Craven Graham Smith with club captain Lyn Griffiths.

Hertfordshire (pictured) swept to victory in the East region County Match Week with a 9-0 whitewash of Cambs & Hunts on the final day at West Herts. They were clear winners of the week with five points from five matches and will represent the region in the finals of the English Counties’ Championship, supported by Virgin Atlantic. In the day’s other matches Bedfordshire upset the form book to beat Essex 5-4 while Norfolk also defeated Suffolk 5-4. Finals placings: Hertfordshire 5 pts, Essex 3 pts, Bedfordshire 3 pts, Norfolk 2½ pts, Cambs & Hunts 1½ pts, Suffolk 0 pts.

In the Midlands South region week at Goring and Streatley, Northamptonshire continued their winning record by completing their fifth victory of the week.They had secured thei r place at County Finals after four days, but rounded off the week with a 6½-2½ win over Buckinghamshire. Worcestershire and Herefordshire beat Warwickshire 5½-3½ and Oxfordshire beat the hosts, Berkshire, 5½-3½.

Final placings: Northamptonshire 5pts, Oxfordshire 3pts, Warwickshire 2½ pts, Worcestershire & Herefordshire 2 pts, Buckinghamshire 1½ pts, Berkshire 1pt. The winners of each of six County Match Weeks will go forward to the County Finals at Kedleston Park, Derbyshire, in September. Three match weeks have already been completed and Dorset will represent the South West, Sussex will represent the South and Lincolnshire will represent Midlands North. The North week will take place at the end of the month.

Fifty-year-old Steve Cipa of South Essex Golf Centre turned back the clock to win the PGA East Anglian Championship supported by Weston Homes plc at Bishop’s Stortford. Cipa, now a member of the European Seniors Tour, twice won the PGA East Region order of merit in 1991 and 1993. His last order of merit tournament win came in the Senate Charity Open at Braintree in 2004. Brett Taylor was on second place.

The first East Anglian Open was won by the late Reg Knight in 1951. Since the many illustrious names have been engraved on the silver trophy including Eddie Whitcombe (three times), Laurie Ayton, Brian Huggett (twice), Lionel Platts, Michael Bonallack as an amateur and Ian Poulter. This was the second of six Order of Merit events arranged for this season. The top three in the Order of Merit will take part in the Srixon PGA Play-Offs in November. PGA EAST ANGLIAN CHAMPIONSHIP: From left: Ian Foster (Bishop's Stortford club captain), Bob Weston (Weston Homes plc who supported the event), winner Steve Cipa from South Essex Golf Centre and John Smith (PGA East Region secretary).

Matthew Southgate claimed the biggest victory of his career when he won the prestigious St Andrews Links Trophy at the Home of Golf. The 21 year old from Essex (Picture © Tom Ward) carded a closing 67 for 275, 13 under par, and a five-shot winning margin from Walker Cup man Stiggy Hodgson and Philip McLean from Scotland.

A member of the England A Squad, Southgate’s biggest win prior to this was the Essex Open but he has been knocking on the door in recent times with second spot in the 2008 English County Champions event, third place in last year’s Welsh Open Stroke Play while this year he has finished fifth in the Portuguese Amateur and seventh in the Irish Open Amateur. British Boy Champion Tom Lewis from Hertfordshire, Lancashire’s Jack Senior and Todd Adcock, the England cap from Sussex, finished tied fourth on 281, Adcock after a 67.

Essex golfer Kay Bone led 10 qualifiers for EWGA’s inaugural Grand Medal Final when she scored net 68 to win the South regional final at Wrotham Heath, Kent. The competition series is run in association with Volvo. Kay, from Upminster, finished two shots clear of the field.

This is Kay’s third season of golf and she’d already been cut to 20 before teeing off in this competition. It is one of six regional medal finals which are contested by players who each returned the four best medal scores at their club during 2009. The leading 10 players at each regional final qualify for the Grand Medal Final at The Worcestershire Golf Club in June.

Cambs & Hunts golfer Sharon Hewison (pictured ) bounced back from a wrist injury to score a four-shot victory in the EWGA East regional medal final at Swaffham. The competition series is run in association with Volvo.

Sharon, who scored net 68, leads 10 qualifiers for the EWGA Grand Medal Final which will take place at The Worcestershire Golf Club on 26 June. Sharon, who had Swaffham member Colin Yates as her caddy, started with a double bogey but then played very steadily. “I just tried to keep playing to my handicap and any pars were a bonus.”