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Balfour & Houldsworth


2018 Balfour Cup Winner David Chesworth



The Balfour Cup

The Balfour Cup is in its 121st year and 96 golfers representing 26 golf clubs had entered the competition at Manchester Golf Club on Sunday 22nd May. There were 11 players who withdrew before the date of the competition or who did not show up on the day.

The course was in excellent condition, although strong winds made it a particularly challenging day for many on the day

David Chesworth (6) from Flixton Club posted the winning score of gross 77, nett 71, following a Card Playoff (CPO) with Robert Faiyaz of Swinton Park Golf Club.

The best gross prize of 74 was scored by David Knapper from Disley Golf club playing off scratch.

Third place was taken by Derek Hopkins (13) of Prestwich Golf Club with a nett 74, gross 87, following a CPO with  James Parton (5) of Stand Golf Club. James was the 2017 winner but had to settle for fourth place with a nett 74, gross 79.

Players commented on the excellent condition of the course, but many found the wind conditions just too much to deal with. One player said he found it difficult to putt on one of the greens because his ball would not stay still log enough for him to make a putt. Of the 85 players who took to the course only 61 were able to return completed cards. So although it was a dry sunny day the wind took its toll.

Members and staff of Manchester Golf Club  were very helpful to our Committee and  the food, hospitality and facilities were all excellent.

The committee would like to thank Manchester GC for their help in making the Balfour Cup once again a great success.  

All the results can be seen on our website, click on the link on the front page, or click here for the results

 The 2019 Balfour Cup will be played at Worsley Golf Club on 19th March 2019 - click here for online entry.


2018 HOULDSWORTH CUP WINNERS A JACKSON AND L SMART               

The Houldsworth Cup 2018

The Houldsworth Cup is now 121 years old and was first played for in 1897, when it was won by D G Schofield and J Howie Smith of Disley Golf Club.  

The Reddish Vale course was in excellent condition as is evident from the high scores which were returned. 

A Jackson and L Smart of Lee Park Golf Club came in as late winners with an impressive score of 5 up. Prior to their score being entered there were 5 pairs who had returned scores of 4 up. This led to a card playoff for the next 5 places. The positions were decided upon in relation to the number of wins scored on the back nine then six holes. Thus 4.5 equals 4 up and 5 wins on the back nine holes

2   J HILTON & J MANZANO                   4.5
3   S RICHARDSON & G BARDSLEY     4.3
4   M WATKINS & P BOOTH                    4.2
5    D PAGE & P BARTON                         4.2
6    I DENBY & R ELLIS                           4.1

The Balfour Committee would like to thank the Council of Reddish Vale Golf  Club for hosting this year’s Houldsworth Cup and in particular for the help and commitment provided by Dave Sanders, the club manager.  We  are looking forward to the 122nd   Competition which will be held at  Ellesmere Golf Club on16th June

We have been using online booking for the 2018  competitions and this seems to be a more popular way of signing up for competitions as we had 63  pairs in the Houldsworth Cup representing 26  golf clubs from within the 25 mile radius of Manchester Town Hall. One of the features which has come to light over recent years is the number of players who leave their entries to the last two weeks before these competitions. Since the value of the prize certificates is based on the number of entries received several weeks before the date of the competition, it would be most helpful if players did sign up at least one month before the date of the competition. 

Click here for the full results

The 2019 Houldsworth will be held at Ellesmere Golf Club on 16th June 2019 - click here to sign up online


A Jackson & L Smart of  Lee Park Golf Club

The GS Lancashire Trophy


The GS Lancashire trophy has been running since 1920. The 2018 competition was to be hosted by Flixton Golf club as part of their 125th Anniversary. Unfortunatley it had to be cancelled for the first time since WWII  due to lack of entries.

The 2019 GS Lancashire will be played at Stand Golf Club on 7th July 2019 - click here for on-line entry




2018 SENIORS BALFOUR CUP WINNERS FRANK MASSEY AND GEOFF BURGESS 

The Seniors Balfour 2018


The summer of 2018 will live long in the memories of the Seniors taking part in this competition, as one of the hottest and driest along with that of 1976. It did not rain in Manchester for nearly 30 days, which meant that many golf courses in the area and across the country suffered from bone dry fairways. Senior Golfers saw their balls travelling distances reminiscent of their teenage years. “Never thought that I would hit a ball out of sight” said one, but then he did add that he had forgotten his glasses!

So, dry conditions and warm weather meant that there were high scores coming in across the board at Swinton Park on the day of the Seniors Balfour. Pairs from Swinton Park took five of the top six places on the day along with the winners of the Veterans' Prize. Two pairs came in with scores of 50 points and it needed a card play-off to determine the winners.

1st Frank Massey Swinton Park Golf Club (16) & Geoff Burgess Swinton Park Golf Club (17)      50
2nd Peter Tonge (17) Swinton Park Golf Club & Charles Shul Shin (10) Swinton Park Golf Club  50

What would normally be a winning score with 49 point had to settle for 3rd pace.

3rd Chris Mulhearn Flixton Golf Club (6) & Phil Dearden Flixton Golf Club (13) 49

The Veterans' Prize was won by Bob Sinclair and Fred Parks, again both Swinton Park Members with 46 points. 

Intensive campaigning via email and other sources resulted in the entries for the 2018 Seniors’ Balfour increasing from 88 at the end of  July to 152 on the day of the competition, just a week or so later. Once again, this is something of a new phenomena, with so many players leaving their entries up to the last week or so before a competition.

The Balfour Competitions Committee would like to thank the Swinton Park Management Committee for the use of the course and the assistance given in making the 2018 Seniors Balfour a very successful day.

Click here for the full results of the 2018    

The 2019 Seniors will be hosted by Chorlton-cum-Hardy GC on 14th August 2019 – click here for online entry.














         

Frank Massey & Geoff Burgess












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