Last updated at 13:42, Friday, 17 July 2009

DAN Shevill’s decision not to defend his Prudhoe Club Championship title to play in the Cameron’s Open at Ponteland proved to be the right one.

Green practice: A youngster taking part in last year’s Rock festival at Matfen

In a nail biting finish, 20-year-old Shevill followed an opening 71 with a course record equalling five under par 67 to win on a count back from the City of Newcastle’s Simon Lee who shot 70 and 68.

It was the last four holes in the afternoon that helped secure the victory.

Following a bogey five at the 14th, Shevill responded with a tap in birdie two at the 15th.

The 450-yard 16th, straight into the teeth of the wind, was virtually unreachable for many players.

However a booming drive, followed by a 210-yard 4-iron to the green and a 15 foot putt secured a rare birdie.

His drive to the par four 17th just failed to carry the greenside bunker, but he secured a safe par.

At the par five 18th, Shevill’s drive just caught the rough and was lying badly.

However, he drilled a magnificent 3 iron around and under a tree, and over a fairway bunker on to the green, 50 feet from the flag.

The first putt left a knee trembling three footer which he safely negotiated for victory.

The Cameron’s Open is part of the 10 tournament ZFL Golf Order of Merit “Green Jacket” series, re-established in 2009 after an absence of several years.

Coming into the event, Shevill was sitting in fourth place, but back to back wins in the Mammoet sponsored Newbiggin Silver Tankard and the Cameron’s Open have propelled him to the top of the Order of Merit and landed him two £500 first prizes.

Shevill said: “I’m delighted to have won again, get to the top of the rankings and reduce my handicap to +1.

“But there’s a long way to go yet and I plan to play in the remaining six tournaments.

“All the events have very strong fields from all over the North-East and beyond.

“They provide a real opportunity to play on a ‘mini tour’ and improve your game.

“I'm grateful to Prudhoe Golf Club for supporting my decision to miss the Club Championship and would congratulate James Curry on his win there.”

In fact it’s worked out very well for the Prudhoe club as it now has three players who have qualified to play in the Champion of Champions tournament at Slaley Hall in September.

Dan Shevill gets in as 2009 Northumberland Junior Matchplay Champion, Tom Rowland as 2009 Northumberland Junior Strokeplay Champion and James Curry as 2009 Club Champion.

Two competitions were run side by side, for the ladies of Hexham Golf Club.

The 36-hole competition for the Joan Swan Trophy was won by Angela Gilhespy, whose first day 75 was followed by a day two 77 for an aggregate of 152.

That put her four shots clear of Ella Cram, who carded 77 and 79 for 156.

She edged out Val Pesarra, with 76 and 80, on countback.

Junior member Vicki Stancer won the associated medal competition, with an excellent round of 102-27-75.

Gillian Banks was second on 109-33-76, with Angela Gilhespy third on 99-22-77.

A stableford score of 43 points gave Tom Younger victory in the Clint Banks open classic at Haltwhistle Golf Club.

Peter Richardson was second on 41, and Chris Anson third on 39.

Nearest the pin prizes went to Ian Charlton, Richard Watters, Gavin Mitchell, Ged Wall and Michael Wren.

Tynedale Golf Club ladies’ section’s July Medal was won by Jean Hopkins with a score of 105-32-73.

Josie Scott was second on 105-29-76.

Captain Liz Hagger and partner Yvonne Smith won the June Blue trophy with 28 points.

Second place went to Vera Smith and Judith Robson with 27.

The club championship final at Hexham Golf Club between Martin Coup and Chris Thompson was a dramatic and birdie-rich match between two determined competitors.

Martin was ahead for much of the time, but only one up on the 18th, which he held on to, to become champion for the first time after his third final.

Other qualifiers for the championship were Sam Storey, Michael McKenna, Ian Paxton, Sean Heads, Warren Young and Michael Gardner.

The Alpha Championship final was contested by Andy Douglas and Nicky Davidson.

Nicky had a clear lead at the half-way stage, before Andy fought back to all square.

Nevertheless, Nicky forged ahead again to win a good-natured and competitive match by 4 and 3.

Others who made it to the matchplay stages were Joe Raffel, Jonathan Richardson, Paul Collins, Adrian Brownless, Phil Rainford and David Chapple.

The Intermediate Final between Stephen Robinson and Mike Jackson saw Stephen hold a slender lead early on, which Mike overtook by the half-way stage.

Stephen cut back that lead, but Mike held on to win 3 and 1 to lift, for the first time, the trophy he instigated in 1992.

Other qualifiers for the final stages were Geoff Strong, Nigel Robson, Stephen Robinson, Damon Watts, Alfie Carlisle, Gordon Simpson and Antonio DiGirolamo.

The Rabbits’ Final between Garth Hudson and Ken Morrell was another close contest.

Garth was four up at one stage, but Ken fought back to all square after 17 holes.

However, Ken unfortunately drove out of bounds on the 18th, while Garth made a par four to take the championship.

The other qualifiers were Terry Mallon, George Ritson, Richard Young, David Roberts, Jonathan Renwick, and John Davy.

The Junior Mitchell trophy was won after countback by Michael Gardner on 74-6-68.

Michael also had the lowest gross.

Second and third were Robert Parker on 80-12-68 and Josh Stancer on 86-18-68.

The pairs aggregate stableford competition for the Billy Lamb Memorial Salvers was won by M.E.Younger and A .Brownless with 80pts.

D. Murray and I. Robinson were second, a point behind, with K. Henderson and N. McLeave third on 77.

Anne and Chris Davidson (84-15.6-68.4) won the Ouston Trophy mixed greensomes.

Les and Monica Aitken were second on 86-17.2-68.8 with Terry McGarrigle and Kathy Coats third on 88-16.4-71.6.

In the Thursday Stableford Stephen Sisterson on 40 points was the Division One winner.

Second and third after countback were Ken Bell and Martin Lowes, both on 39 points.

It was a similar story in Division two, where the first three all had 39 points.

After countback Nigel Robson was the winner, followed by Trevor Cooke then Geoff Strong.

David Fletcher won Division One in the July Medal with 74-10-64.

After countback Robert Parker on 77-12-65 was second, and Dan Younger (74-9-65) third.

William M Stevenson won Division Two on 91-25-66.

Gordon Simpson was second on 82-15-67 over the back nine from Michael Lee on 84-17-67.

Chris Lamb, on 41 points, and Matty Lamb, on 40, were first and second in the Junior Stableford.

Henry Thompson was third on 36.

Muriel Forster has been enjoying a good season in Stocksfield Golf Club ladies’ section.

She won two of the four latest medal competitions, the first with a score of 79-10-69.

Second was Dorothy Wallace on 106-35-71, with Heather Stevenson third on 101-25-76.

For her second medal, Muriel carded 79-9-70, to push Doreen Stokoe into second place on 92-20-72, followed by Kate Stephenson on 93-17-76.

Doreen Stokoe did win a medal with her round of 92-21-71, with Heather Stevenson second on 101-25-76, over the back nine from Doreen Hall on 99-23-76.

The other medal went to Julie O’Malley with her round of 94-23-71.

Rae Walker was second on 101-28-73, and Ann Edgeworth third on 119-36-83.

Winner of the Ena Clark Cup was Rae Walker on 39 points, on countback from Julie O’Malley.

Heather Stevenson was third on 37.

Heather was more successful in the Whitelaw Cup, which she won with a score of 41 points.

Sonia Kennedy was second on 37, with Ann Edgeworth third on 30.

On the team front, Stocksfield’s Shield team beat Matfen Hall 4- 3.

Two of Allendale Golf Club’s frequent winners, Jim Hall and club champion Richie Rutherford, went head to head in Sunday’s Wilkinson Trophy, both scoring 40 points.

Richie took the honours on countback.

Dennis Bowling was third with 38.

Winner of the Division One July Medal at Tynedale Golf Club was Brendan Murphy, with a round of 78-11-67.

He won over the back nine from George Henson on 80-13-67.

Mo Elliott was third on 82-13-69.

The second division honours went to Tommy Webb on 83-19-64, with Trevor Hodge second on 80-15-65, and Bob Smith third on 87-18-69.

Northern Rock is once again offering the region’s youngsters the chance to have a go at golf and tee off for a fun-filled one-day festival – The Rock – on Sunday, August 23, at Matfen Hall Golf Club.

This annual event is seen to be one of the world’s largest junior golf festivals and caters for children who already have golf experience down to those who have never even lifted a golf club before.

Returning for its eighth year and open to all children from across the North-East and beyond, between the ages of 5 and 15 years, this free family sporting event aims to engage children in learning about the sport in a fun and energetic way under the watchful eye of a team of professional golfers.

Spaces are limited for the festival so parents are urged to sign up their children for the event which takes place in the school summer holidays.

Retired golf champion Paul Eales will be running three clinics on the day, and children will learn and/or develop their golf skills via a unique coaching programme, which centres around the belief that they should ‘play to learn’.

Throughout the day, children will take part in a number of fast and fun-filled games giving them the chance to experience golf, in a safe and supervised environment.

And proving that you’re never too young to hit the course, the day will also feature Tri-golf lessons for toddlers between the ages of three and five years old.

“Our aim for this year’s festival is to provide more opportunities than ever before for children of all ages to have a go at golf, “ said event co-ordinator, Ted Nicholls.

“We’ve stepped up the number of activities available for children to take part in and have made sure that there are plenty of facilities for parents and families to just sit back and enjoy the day.

“We’ll also be once again hosting the Junior Pro Am competition, which will pitch some of the region’s best young golfers against each other.”

The competition, which will take place over the main Matfen Championship course, is one of the largest junior golf tournaments in the North-East, with 18 teams of three golf savvy children from around the region who will tee off with a PGA professional in a four-ball competition in a bid to win the Rock Trophy in the Junior Pro Am Competition.

For further information on the festival and to enter the golf clinics, contact the PGA North Region office on Tel. (01204) 496137.

First published at 09:44, Friday, 17 July 2009
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk