2010 is the Club's Centenary year - please click here for the CENTENARY INDEX & EVENTS

A New Year's Day message from our Club Captain Gordon Eaton. Gordon writes:-
"Dear Fellow Golfers,
Welcome to 2010 - our Club’s centenary year! The year ahead is packed with many additional golfing and social events, along with all the familiar ones. We are also honoured to be hosting several external events, both professional and amateur.
The exciting highlight of the social calendar will be the Centenary Gala Ball which is to be held on Saturday 3 July 2010. This promises to be a truly memorable occasion so I urge everyone to book early! I particularly look forward to seeing all members of the Golf Club participating in and enjoying our centenary year – have fun."
In fact, the fun started last night at the Club's New Year's Eve Party.  Click here for photographs

John Lane's funeral will take place on Friday 8 January 2010
Following John's untimely death on Boxing Day, the funeral service has been arranged for 9.30am on Friday 8 January 2010 at the Downs Crematorium, Bear Road, Brighton followed by a reception at West Hove Golf Club.
UPDATE: The Clubhouse road being impassable due to snow, the reception following John Lane's funeral will now be held at Hove Deep Sea Anglers Club, Western Esplanade, Portslade (located on the beach behind Hove Lagoon).   see here  http://www.hovedeepseaanglers.co.uk/Contactpage.htm
No flowers please, but donations, made payable to the British Heart Foundation or The Martlets Hospice, may be sent to West Hove GC, Badgers Way, Hangleton, Hove, E. Sussex BN3 8EX.

The 4 January 2010 Lynx Professional Golf Tour Event at West Hove GC has been postponed
Our current Club Champion Tom Coulson, who turned professional in August 2009, has been instrumental in organising a new tour event for professional golfers and category 1 amateur golfers. The inaugural event of this new  tour was to be held at West Hove in a week's time but this has now been postponed to Thursday 1 April 2010.
Further details can be found on the Lynx Tour website by clicking here.

It is with great sadness that the Club has to report the sudden death of John Lane. John passed away yesterday, 26 December 2009. He was a Director of the Club for over 8 years and was the Club's Centenary Year Seniors' Captain. He will be missed by everyone and our thoughts at this sad time are with his family and friends. Details of the funeral arrangements, when known, will be published in the Clubhouse and on this website.

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Three important announcements for West Hove Golf Club Members -
1. December 2009's Monthly Medal has been postponed to Sunday 17 January 2010.
2. Match & Handicap report  that the decision to have 'roll-ups' at weekends in January 2010 has been rescinded. Please ignore  the references to these in the Club's centenary pocket Diary (as this went to print before the decision was made).
3. The cancellation of yesterday's Christmas Lunch precluded the Christmas Raffle being drawn. This will now take place at the Centenary Welcome Lunch on Sunday 24 January 2010.   see here

The Club's Centenary Year Diary is now available from the Clubhouse see photo
Our 2010 centenary year is nearly upon us and the Club's new-style diary is available for Members to collect. It is packed with useful information, not least a comprehensive insight into the many and varied centenary activities. The exciting highlight of the social calendar will be the Centenary Gala Ball to be held on Saturday 3 July. Plans for this are well advanced and, before tonight's snow set in, the Centenary Committee visited Heathfield to taste the chosen menu. Full details of this Ball and other events will be published after our 'Centenary Welcome Lunch' on 24 January 2010 - watch this space and our notice-boards. click here for photo

The Club is pleased to announce that Gary Salt is to be our new General Manager
Congratulations to Gary who was one of 36 candidates from all over the world who applied for the vacancy. He is currently the manager at Horne Park Golf Centre, in Surrey, and was previously General Manager at Rustington Golf Centre for nine years. He is 37, lives in Worthing and is a scratch golfer. He starts work with us on Monday 11 January 2010.
The Club's Chairman, Richard Simmons, stated that "the directors are confident that Gary has the skills and abilities that we need to drive our Club forward in our centenary year and beyond". click here for photo

Congratulations go to Glenn Day, the winner of our November Prize Draw
The latest Green-Fee payer to win in our free monthly prize draw is Glenn Day and he will be collecting a voucher (worth £50)  for a free mid-week 2-ball round of golf.

After many year's absence, the Club re-introduced a Children's Christmas Party today
Fifty-four children attended this afternoon's party in the Clubhouse. They were treated to the usual party games before being entertained by 'Magic Martin'. They then enjoyed tea when Santa Claus (aka Club Captain Gordon Eaton) arrived to provide every child with a present. Special thanks go to Grace Shepherd and her colleagues for all the hard work they put in to  resurrect this popular event. click here for photos   

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Today's Seniors' Texas Scramble and Christmas Lunch are a great success
After days of squally showers, the Seniors were today blessed with blue skies for their 13 hole Texas Scramble. The winning team of Maurice Grange, John Pheasey, Len Woodham and Tom Blount scored a remarkable 6-under-par to win by 5 shots. Following the competition, the 60 competitors enjoyed a traditional Christmas Lunch before the annual prize presentation.
click here for photos

The ten winners from Saturday's Turkey Trot competition are shown below
The following ten West Hove Golf Club Members (with their Stableford points score) have won a meat voucher in this year's Turkey Trot competition:-
Howard Coulson (41), Jason Hausdoerfer (40), Kevin White (39), Eddie Biddlecombe (38), Mick Coombes (37), Chris Lind (36), Richard Knight (36), Damon Raikes (36), Brian Murphy (36) and Martin Emery (36). Would these members please pick up their voucher from the Club's office.

Nick O'Byrne (Club Captain 1985/86) just misses out on winning a National title
As reported in our News item dated 3 August 2009, Nick O'Byrne remains a member at West Hove but lives away in Hertfordshire. Yesterday, representing his 'home' club (Moor Park GC) he lost on the 18th green in the final of The Mail on Sunday's National Golf Club Classic which was played at El Rompido in Spain.

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The Club's Centenary Year Captain, Gordon Eaton, had his official ‘drive-in’ today.
The themes chosen by incoming Captains (or their friends) for their ceremonial drive-in have always been unpredictable. However, this being the Club's Centenary Year, it was no surprise that Gordon arrived wearing Edwardian costume. What was surprising, though, was his mode of transport, a 1908 Hotchkiss car kindly donated for the day by Paul Noon, Chairman of the South East Section of The Veteran Car Club of Great Britain. click here for photos

Despite the now-customary stormy weather at these drive-ins, it did not put a dampener on the day. The morning's squally showers had had an adverse effect on the the Captain’s Charity Better-Ball competition, but the weather abated enough to allow the drive-in to take place in dry, albeit breezy, conditions.

Gordon, accompanied by his caddy (Vice-Captain Richard Daughtrey), was driven to the teeing- ground where he was met by a bevy of green-jacketed Past Captains. Gordon then invited the Seniors’ Captain, John Lane, to drive-in and he achieved a respectable 202 yards. The Juniors’ Captain, Adam Hatcher, then drove-in and hit his drive 248 yards 1 foot, some 100 yards more than our new Club Captain's effort. We promised not to publish Gordon's exact distance (!) after there were rumours in the Clubhouse that he had hit a 273 yard drive in practice yesterday. click here for photos

Gordon thanked everyone present for their support and promised to do everything he could for the Club in its Centenary Year. He also introduced Richard and Angie Lintott, respectively the Chairman and a Trustee of 'Leo House at Home' which is Gordon's chosen charity. It's a small world as Richard happens to be a Board Member at East Brighton GC where his wife Angie became Ladies' Captain only last Monday!

Before the assembled masses tucked into a splendid buffet, Gordon announced that Howard Coulson had bought the ticket matching the length of his drive. This means that Howard wins a night for four people at East Sussex National GC together with a round of golf - all kindly donated by Club member Michael Hunt.

Gordon Eaton was tonight elected as Club Captain 2009/10, our Centenary Year
Don Thatcher, the Club President, chaired tonight’s Annual General Meeting which was held in the Keith Haste Suite. Gordon Eaton was formally elected as the Centenary Year Club Captain with Richard Daughtrey as Vice-Captain. It was a particularly busy AGM and the key points were as follows:

* Our GolfMark Award, a national scheme that identifies and recognises junior and beginner friendly golf facilities, has been renewed for a further 3 years to November 2012.
* The retiring Captain, Andrew Macgregor-Boyle, presented a cheque for £2,634.67 to Robert Griffiths of The Martlets Hospice (click here for photo). Andrew was also pleased to announce that a further £3,000.00 was to be sent to his other charity, The Lymphoma Association.
* Our Centenary Captain, Gordon Eaton, then thanked everyone for their support and announced that his chosen charity was "LEO HOUSE at Home" (www.leohouse.org.uk), a local charity caring for life-limited children and young people in their own homes. Full details of this wonderful local charity will be published here shortly.
* Brian Murphy then gave a presentation about our "Once in a lifetime event" - that is our CENTENARY GALA BALL. Full details of this fantastic event will be posted on our Notice Board page shortly - so keep looking!
* Gordon Eaton then confirmed that two Past Captains, Michael Phillpot and David Nealer, would be walking the 100 mile South Downs Way next April with the intent of raising funds for his charity (again, full details will published shortly).
* Brian Hazelgrove then outlined the slight amendment to Rule 15 - the removal of the lower age limit of 10 for Junior Membership. This was unanimously agreed by those present.
* The Club's Chairman, Richard Simmons, then confirmed that Andrew Macgregor-Boyle had accepted his invitation to join the Board with particular responsibilities for liaison with the Golf Committee.
*  Richard then thanked Megan Bibby for all she had done for the Club over the past 8 years and wished her well in her new role at The Dyke GC. On behalf of the Club he presented her with a new set of golf clubs. (click here for photo)
* The Club Chairman then talked about the appointment of our new General Manager. He reported that there had been 36 applicants and six had been shortlisted. They were currently being interviewed and a final shortlist would attend a second interview.
* The Club's catering franchise is due for renewal on 22 January 2010 and in accordance with normal practice this was advertised locally. There had been fourteen applicants and Richard Simmons announced that the contract had been awarded to the outstanding applicant Clay Morris. Many older members will remember him as an assistant professional at the Club in the past, and more recently as the proprietor of the sandwich bar 'The Upper Crust' in Richardson Road, Hove. Richard recorded his thanks to our current caterer, Neil Bushell, for his work over the past 8 years and in particular for enhancing the external function menus.
* Finally, Megan Bibby thanked everyone for her leaving gift and their best wishes for her future. She referred to a few anecdotes and said that she would be remaining a member at West Hove although she would "miss you all".   

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A new national park in the South Downs has been officially confirmed today
Further to our report dated 31 March 2009, the Environment Minister, Hilary Benn, visited Ditchling today and signed the order to officially confirm the South Downs as a national park. A new South Downs National Park Authority is expected to be established by April 2010  and become fully operational a year later.
To celebrate West Hove Golf Club's centenary next year, and the designation of the national park, two Past Captains of the Club plan to walk the South Downs Way  - a distance of 100 miles from Eastbourne to Winchester. It is planned to raise funds for our Men's and Ladies' Captains' charities - so watch this website for further details over the coming months.

The new Ladies’ Captain, Jan Seabrook, “drove-in” today and, as usual, the ladies organised a themed event. This year's drive-in was based on husband Tony's second-hand car sales business and problems with parking. Jan was 'booked' by parking attendant (Carrol Gunn) and sentenced by Judge (Ann Raynsford) to "one year's hard labour at West Hove Golf Club".
As usual, the retiring Ladies' Captain (Josie Knight) 'putted-out' on the 18th green before Jan drove-in. Her drive measured a respectable 122 yards and 2 feet. Jan expressed her thanks to everyone present for their support and announced that her chosen charity for the year was the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC).  click here for photos

Did you win the 'cuddly toy'? The raffle, held in conjunction with the Club's Children's Christmas Party on 5 December, was held today at the Lady Captain's Drive-In. The winning ticket was number 388. Would the holder of this ticket please claim their prize from the Office.

The retiring Ladies’ Captain, Josie Knight, presents a cheque to the Martlets Hospice
At Tuesday's Ladies' Annual General Meeting, the retiring Captain, Josie Knight, was very pleased to present a cheque for £685.29 to her chosen charity, The Martlets Hospice.  http://www.themartlets.org.uk                     click here for photo
The cheque was gratefully accepted on behalf of The Martlets Hospice by Antonia Shepherd.

The Ladies' Annual General Meeting was held yesterday and the Seniors' AGM today At yesterday's Ladies' AGM, Jan Seabrook was elected as the Club's Centenary Year Ladies' Captain click here for photo and at today's Seniors' AGM John Lane was elected as the Club's Centenary Year Seniors' Captain click here for photo. Both of them have held their respective offices before, Jan in 1992/3 and John in 2004/5.

Congratulations go to Roger Kinsman, the winner of our October Prize Draw
Since May 2009 all Green-Fee payers have been invited to enter a free monthly prize draw and Roger is last month's winner. He will collect a voucher (worth £50)  for a free mid-week 2-ball round of golf.

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Stacey Rodger is named Missouri Valley Conference Golfer of the Week
Following our news story about Stacey in July, it is pleasing to report that she has been playing well in the 'States' this autumn. In her last three events she has been the leading Missouri State University player and achieved two career-best scores. Last Tuesday's three-under-par 69, in the final round of the final autumn event, helped her team to finish fifth (in a 15-team field). It also helped towards her University setting a new 54-hole scoring record of 890 - but more importantly it led to her being named Missouri Valley Conference Golfer of the Week. Over the last 15 rounds for her University, Stacey's scoring average has been 76.33.   

The Sussex County Golf Union's Junior Am/Pro was held at West Hove GC today
Having won the Hatton Trophy at Seddlescombe GC last year, West Hove had the honour to host this year's event. This medal competition, where the two best nett scores from each team count, was this year won by Highwoods GC with a total of 118. Mid Sussex GC finished 2nd on 120 and Worthing GC finished 3rd, on count-back, with 124. West Hove's team finished on 125.
The Professionals' event was won jointly by Paul Nessing (Highwoods GC) and Chris Purton (Horsham Golf & Fitness Club) on 68. Keith Robson (Boars Head GC) was third on 69 and our pro' Darren Cook finished on 73.

Adam Hatcher is installed as the Club's Juniors' Captain for our Centenary Year 2009/10
The Juniors held their Annual General Meeting on Sunday 18 October when Adam Hatcher was elected to be the Juniors' Captain in our Centenary Year 2009/10.
A full report of the proceedings has been received today together with a schedule of winners and some photos courtesy of the retiring Junior Organiser Ken Stafford. Please click here.

Allan Funnell is the winner of the Prize Draw for our September Green Fee payers.
Since May 2009 all Green Fee payers have been invited to enter a free monthly prize draw. Congratulations go to Allan Funnell who won last month's voucher (worth £50)  for a free mid-week 2-ball round of golf.

West Hove fail to reach the Junior Team Golf Nations Inter-Club Championship Final
Further to the news stories dated 6 & 7 September 2009 (see below), our juniors today played against 10 other Clubs in the Southern Regional Final at Sandford Springs GC which is set amongst the rolling hills of Watership Down in Hampshire. Our team of Jonny Ingram, Adam Hatcher, Ryan Stafford, Jack Smith, Frankie Ingham and Greg Andrew found the 6,275 yard course difficult, particularly in the rainy conditions and scored 393. The winners were Worthing GC with 358 and Burhill GC were runners-up with 362. Ken Stafford our Junior Organiser attended as did Tim Ingram, Brian Hazelgrove and Michael Phillpot.

The George Shepherd Memorial Bowl was won today by 'The Friday Boys'
This annual competition for Society teams of nine (with the best six scores counting) was won by The Friday Boys with an impressive score of 218. Their team comprised Keith Ward, Mike Gleeson, Jez White, Darren Blake, Don Shepherd Jnr., Stefan Hunt, Steve Nielsen, Russell Shires and Paul Sayers. The Earlybirds GS were runners-up on 204 and the best individual score was achieved by Russell Shires with 42 points.

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West Hove Seniors finished their summer season of matches today on 'level par'
Peter Mills, our Seniors' Captain, reports that the Seniors played 28 matches against other Sussex Clubs over the summer season winning 14 and losing 14. He was also keen to report that they had also beaten the Ladies' Section twice too.
Peter's elder brother, Brian Mills, has been in very good form of late. This culminated in him scoring a gross 75 recently, some 6 shots less than his age! Another unusual event involved David Bennett. Playing in a match against Rex Heasman he was happy to score a birdie 3 on the first hole. His scores then became progressively worse with a par 4 on the 2nd and a double-bogey 5 on the 3rd. This progression continued as David scored 6, 7 and then 8 at the 6th hole. Fortunately, his successive scores of 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 did not continue on the short par three 7th hole (but apparently he was very nervous on that tee!).     

Our General Manager, Megan Bibby, will be leaving for a similar role at the Dyke GC
The Club's Chairman, Richard Simmons writes....
'It is with sadness that I have to report that Megan has accepted an approach by the Dyke Golf Club to become their General Manager as from 30^th November 2009.
Megan has been our General Manager for 8 years and has been instrumental in helping our Club to its great success and financial stability. To our great pride, Megan was awarded the Golf Club Secretary of the Year for UK and Ireland in 2007 and played the major part in helping the Club achieve a grant of £111,000 to assist the major refurbishment of our clubhouse.
The Board will be instigating a formal recruitment process for a new General Manager during the next few weeks. We are extremely sorry that Megan will be leaving us in our Centenary year, although of course, she will still remain a member of our Club.
I am sure that everyone at West Hove will wish Megan great success in her new role.'

Three West Hove members raise over £3,000 for the St. Barnabas Hospice
Following our earlier news story, the Club is pleased to report that on an unusually hot and sunny day for late September, General Manager Megan Bibby, Head Green-Keeper Duncan Haste and Club Member Chris Sherrington yesterday completed their 50 mile sponsored cycle ride. They hope to have raised over £3,000 for the hospice. It is not too late to donate to this worthy cause - just click on the link at the end of our 9 September news story below.

Megan Bibby wins the Sussex County Golf Union's Secretaries' KO Salver at Piltdown We are very pleased to report that the Club's General Manager, Megan Bibby, has won the David Harmer Salver by beating David Lockyer (Royal Eastbourne GC) in today's final at Piltdown GC. Megan won on the 18th hole having beaten Gerry Honeysett 2 up in the second round, Keith Wiley 2&1 in the third round and her friend Nicky Reeves from Eastbourne Downs GC 3&1 in the semi-final. Congratulations. Click here for a photo of Megan receiving the Salver from David Harmer (Willingdon GC) a Past President of the SCGU.

Tom Coulson's initial attempt to seek a 'Card' for The European Tour proves too difficult
Last week Tom attended The European Tour School at Chart Hills GC and acquitted himself well in the first round of the First Qualifying Stage, Section A, with a 1 under-par total of 71 to finish in joint 13th position. This proved unlucky as his following two rounds were 79 and 77, which meant he finished joint 66th overall thus missing his target to finish in the top 40. He failed to qualify for the fourth round.

A team called 'Staff's bull-terriers & Karen' were the surprise winners of tonight's quiz
There were gasps of total shock (from the winning team too!) when it was announced that junior member Ryan Stafford's team had won tonight's quiz. Eight teams of six had competed and Ryan's team won by a comfortable six points - they were so proud that they even sent us a photo to publish. Click here to reveal the winning team members. Special thanks go to Golf Committee Member Brian Murphy and our House Manager Lynn Stoner for organising and running what was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

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Please spare a minute to donate to St. Barnabas Hospice in memory of Caroline Leigh.
Most West Hove Members will be aware that Caroline passed away earlier this year at the tender age of 40. She is our most prolific Ladies' Champion, having won the title no less than 13 times. Our General Manager, Megan Bibby, together with our Head Green-Keeper, Duncan Haste, and Club Member Chris Sherrington will shortly embark on a sponsored cycle ride to support the hospice that cared for Caroline. The hospice provides specialist palliative care for adults with advanced, progressive and life-limiting illnesses and offers support for the family. Donations may be made direct to Megan, Duncan and Chris, or alternatively........
Please click here - to read more - and to donate

Gerry Cuddy is the winner of the Prize Draw for our August Green Fee payers.
Since May 2009 all Green Fee payers have been invited to enter a free monthly prize draw. Last month's winner Gerry Cuddy wins a voucher (worth £50)  for a free mid-week 2-ball round of golf. Congratulations Gerry - and all Green Fee payers should watch out for the September winner who will be announced early in October. Good luck.

Our fifth article about key players at West Hove Golf Club features David Bristow.
David first joined West Hove GC as a junior in 1978. His achievements include winning the Club Championship in 1990 with a 2 round aggregate score of 129, reaching the Sussex Amateur Championship final in 1991 where he lost in an epic struggle to Robert Lowles on the 19^th hole at Royal Ashdown Golf Club and beating a strong field to win the Churchill Bowl at the Nevill Golf Club. David also represented the County at Colts and Senior levels and had a brief spell as a professional before returning to the amateur ranks.
In 1985 he and fellow West Hove amateur Tim Hoyles nearly created a major upset in the prestigious Sunningdale Open Foursomes Tournament. Drawn against Ryder Cup golfers Sam Torrance and John O’Leary, David and Tim lost narrowly on the 18^th green when Torrance sank a ten-foot birdie putt. O’Leary said “Our opponents were fantastic” and Torrance, who was due to play in his first U.S. Masters at Augusta a week later added, “We played well but they kept coming back at us”.  
David gave up golf for a number of years but returned last year and is currently playing off scratch. Further information about key players at the Club will be included in our Centenary Book which will be published towards the end of 2010.

Following yesterday's success in winning the Dockerill's Junior Brighton League, our juniors will now play in a Regional Final on Monday 5 October 2009 at Sandford Springs Golf Club which is situated on the A339 north-west of Basingstoke. If we are successful there our team will then compete in the National Final to be held on Monday 26 October 2009 at The Oxfordshire Golf Club. Watch this space.

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West Hove Juniors have won the Dockerill's Junior Brighton League for a fourth time!
Our Junior Section has once again excelled in the 'JBL' (as it is affectionately known) by winning this prestigious competition for the fourth time in the last six years. Our previous wins came in 2004, 2005 and 2007.
West Hove won the this year's league by a comfortable 19 points from Brighton & Hove GC with Mid-Sussex GC in third place. In today's event at Singing Hills GC we scored 95 points to finish fourth to the host club's 104. Our scores today were:- Jonny Ingram (Captain) 32, Jack Smith 32, Adam Hatcher 31 and Greg Andrew 28. Fittingly, the cup was presented by Michael Phillpot a Past-Captain and Junior Organiser at West Hove and currently a Sussex County Golf Union Committee Member.
Ken Stafford, West Hove's Junior Organiser, said he was very proud of his team and congratulated all of those who played throughout the season. The first prize of £300 will be donated to our Junior's chosen charity, The Rocking Horse Appeal, with Brighton & Hove GC donating their second prize of £200 to Asthma UK and Mid-Sussex GC donating the third prize of £100 to Leo House (a home for terminally ill children). WELL DONE EVERYONE.           click here for photos

Our Juniors finish third today at Brighton & Hove, but keep their lead in the 2009 JBL.
In today's Dockerill's Junior Brighton League (JBL) match at a windy Brighton & Hove, our team of Adam Hatcher, Greg Andrew, Jack Smith & Frankie Ingham performed well to take third position on the day. However, they managed to increase their lead in the JBL to a healthy 27 points with one fixture remaining - on 6 September at Singing Hills Golf Course.
Adam Hatcher produced the round of the day with 36 points.
The latest league table can be seen on the Juniors' page of this website.

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West Hove's Tom Coulson turned Pro' today and sensationally won his first event.

Our five-time and current Club Champion, Tom Coulson, recently decided to turn professional and competed in his first event today at East Sussex National GC (ESN). He was playing in the new '66 Pro Tour' which was set up this year to provide a high quality tournament for professionals. Most of the events will be over 18 holes and played on a Monday so that they do not clash with other PGA events.

Playing over the 7,138 yard East Course at ESN, big hitting Tom shot a very creditable 2 under-par 70 to tie with Sean Whiffin from The Hertfordshire GC. In the ensuing 2 hole play-off down the 18th Tom pipped his opponent with 2 pars to become one of the very few golfers to win their first professional event. He won £3,000 for his efforts.

23 year-old Tom's decision to turn pro' now was made on the basis that he has had an excellent year, his game is in very good shape having dedicated himself to hours of practice, and he is generally happy with life. To reach this level demands a lot of hard work and of course money. He is very appreciative of all the help he has been given to date, both vocal and financial, but he  needs sponsorship to see how far he can progress.

Anyone interested in sponsoring Tom should email him on tomcoulsongolf@hotmail.co.uk and full details of his proposed dividend scheme will be provided. A fund is to be set up which will be administered by an accountant and the cheque signatories will be his mother, Julie Coulson, and the Club's General Manager, Megan Bibby. His initial £3,000 prize money has already been lodged in the fund to supplement sponsorship secured from his family.

In the imminent future Tom will continue to play in the 66 Pro Tour events (at Old Thorns GC on 1 September and ESN's West Course on 28 September) and some Jamega Golf Tour competitions, the first of which will be at The Warwickshire GC from 24 August. From 13 September he will be seeking a European Tour Card by attending the European Tour School at Chart Hills GC. His initial target will be to finish in the top 40 after the third day.

Everybody at the Club hopes this will prove to be the beginning of a successful career.

Our Juniors recover to again lead the Dockerill's Junior Brighton League (JBL).
Since the last report on 3 July, our Juniors have had varying degrees of success in this annual event. On 12 July, at a wet and windy Mid Sussex GC, we had to play some of our longer handicappers as it was the day of our Club Championship. Our team of Greg Andrew, Jack Smith, Frankie Ingham and Charlie Watts acquitted themselves well but their team score of 82 (the best 3 Stableford scores) meant that the Club dropped to third place in the league.
On 26 July, at Pyecombe GC, we returned to the top spot in the JBL with a team score of 107 thanks to a splendid 43 points from Jack Smith - his partners that day were Jonny Ingram, Greg Andrew and Charlie Watts.
Our Juniors consolidated their position at the top of the JBL yesterday when Greg Andrew scored 42 points, Jack Smith scored 41, Adam Hatcher scored 36 and Jay Stally scored 31. The team now has a very useful 22 point lead.      

The Sussex Professional Championship was held at West Hove over the past two days.
Forty-two Sussex professional golfers competed in this 36 hole SPGU stroke-play event with the top 30 players from day one battling it out for the Bill Watts Trophy. Unfortunately neither Darren Cook nor Ronnie Clark made the cut over their own course but our other assistant Russell Cronin did to finish joint eighth on level par 140 alongside ex-West Hove Junior Arron Trott who is currently attached to Singing Hills GC.
Nick Scott, from Royal Ashdown GC, played very steady golf with rounds of 67 and 68 to finish with a 5-under par total of 135 to become the 2009 champion. Three players tied for second place on 138 including ex-West Hove pro' David Mills. 

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Lewis Jackson wins the West Hove Junior Championship for the second year running. Having won the B&DGS Junior Championship last month, Lewis maintained his good form by winning the West Hove Junior Championship with rounds of 68 & 70 for a total 138. Dan Milligan was second, six shots back, on 144 with Max Card third on count-back with 148. Lewis has now left for the USA where he starts his 4 year golf scholarship on 19 August.
In the net competition, Jay Stally won with an impressive total of 129 (60 + 69) from Greg Andrew (135) and Ryan Stafford (138). The Club's Vice-Captain Gordon Eaton presented the prizes.  click here for photos

Nick O'Byrne

In this fourth article about key players at West Hove we look at the achievements of a very special player, Nick O’Byrne.
Nick is probably the most successful player in the Club. He enlisted as a junior in 1967 at the age of 12 and a year later, when playing off 23, he won the Brighton & District Golfing Society’s Wentworth-Smith Cup at the Dyke. By 1972 he became the Sussex Boys Champion after being the losing finalist the previous year. In 1973, aged 18, he won the first of his five Club Championships with other wins coming in 1975, 1982, 1983 and 1985.

Between 1972 and 1980 Nick represented the County at all levels. His game improved to such an extent that by 1979 he played off a handicap of +1, then the lowest handicap in Sussex. He held the old West Hove course record for a number of years and also recorded the lowest score at The Dyke. He won the Dyke Rose Bowl, the Churchill Bowl at the Nevill and Open events at Worthing, Highwoods, Mannings Heath, Haywards Heath, Hollingbury, East Brighton, Pyecombe and West Sussex amongst others! In 1979 he was fourth in the national long-driving finals behind Nick Faldo and Bernhard Langer and became the youngest Club Captain in 1985, aged 30.

Today, Nick remains a member at West Hove but lives away in Hertfordshire where he is a member at Moor Park GC. A fuller report will be included in the Club’s Centenary Book which will be published late next year.

Stephen Sargent becomes the third Green-Fee payer to win in our Prize Draw.
Stephen's name was first out of the hat in the July draw and will be receiving a voucher (worth £50) for a free mid-week 2-ball round of golf. Congratulations.

The Brighton & District Golfing Society's Captains' Putter, Secretaries' Cup, Presidents' Cup and Professionals' Cup all took place at The Dyke GC today.
West Hove's team did not win any of the competitions ending up in 4th place in the Captains' Putter with 151 Stableford points against the 157 scored by The Dyke and East Brighton and 158 by the winners Brighton & Hove GC. The Secretaries' Cup was won by the B&DGS Secretary Don Weston with 35 points, the Presidents' Salver was won by Tom Grogan the B&DGS President with 31 points and the Professionals' Cup was won by Mark Stuart-William over his own course.

click here for photos

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The 2009 West Hove Golf  Club Junior Open was narrowly won by Jonny Ingram
This increasingly popular 'Junior County Order of Merit' competition attracted 49 players from golf clubs all over Sussex. Like last year, it was played in particularly windy conditions hence the 'competition scratch score' being 73 which is 2 more than the new 'standard scratch score'.

This year's event was won by our current Juniors' Captain Jonny Ingram on count-back from Reece Coaker of Chartham Park GC, both players shooting a very creditable 76 in difficult conditions. The net prize-winner was West Hove's Frankie Ingham - the only player to beat par!

Thanks are extended to the S.C.G.U. members Anup Vasant (Secretary) and Michael Phillpot (committee member) together with West Hove's Junior Organiser Ken Stafford for their hard work during the day. Thanks too go to Club Captain Andrew Macgregor-Boyle who presented the prizes.  click here for photos

The top 4 in each competition were as follows:

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Stewart Crooks (Professional, Dyke GC) and his team win the 2009 West Hove Pro-Am

Twenty-four Professional golfers and their teams teed off at noon in a shot-gun start to compete in today's Pro-Am in very challenging conditions. There were strong winds with frequent blustery showers but this did not detract from the fun enjoyed by 95 of the competitors - the 96th, a representative from the Chandlers BMW team was unfortunately struck on the head by a flying golf ball whilst walking from the 18^th green to the 1^st  tee. Fortunately, he recovered - and the ball was deflected back into play instead of going 'out-of-bounds'.

The Professional's event was won by Phil Bonsall (Brighton & Hove GC) with a 3-under-par 67 from Giles Velvick and Alan Tyson (both from Horam Park GC) who shot 69. The best amateur score was achieved by our own Tom Coulson with a gross 66.

The team event was won by Stewart Crooks and his three West Hove members Ivan Parnell, Mick Laing and Rab Steel with a 14 under par total of 126. - click here for photo
The top four places were as follows:

1^st   126   Stewart Crooks (pro' at the Dyke), Ivan Parnell, Mick Laing and Rab Steel
2^nd  127   Phil Bonsall (pro' at Brighton & Hove), M. Davis, D. Asprey and N. Mukharjee
3^rd   129   Mark Stuart-Williams (pro' at the Dyke), R. Dysen, S. Kirkham and M. Opoku
4^th   129   Bruce Whalley (pro' at Burgess Hill), Steve & Carol Neilsen and Julia Edwards

Following the golf the competitors enjoyed a dinner and the customary auction. It is anticipated that the event raised about £2,000 for Club Captain Andrew Macgregor-Boyle’s charities.

Courtesy: MSU Photo Services

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Stacey Rodger will soon be starting her final year of studies in the United States
 
In this, the third, article about key players at West Hove we examine one of our lady members, Stacey Rodger. Stacey is currently on holiday (or should we say ‘vacation’) in England having completed three years at Missouri State University in the USA.
 
She is a past Sussex Ladies and Girls U18 champion and holds several course records in Sussex. She won four consecutive ladies’ championships at West Hove from 2004, and four consecutive B&DGS ladies’ championships from 2005, but had a relatively poor 2008. This can be put down to poor health when she suffered from glandular fever, chronic-fatigue- syndrome and bronchitis.  
 
Although she did not play that much in America last year because of her ailments, it is pleasing to report that she has played more this spring and apparently pretty well. Her best finish was 13th in the University of Arkansas Classic when she shot 78, 74 and 80 in tough conditions. This week, back home, Stacey played in the English Ladies’ South-Eastern Championships at Liphook GC where she shot 74 and 81 to finish in the top 16 and thereby qualify for the matchplay knock-out phase. She won her first match 3&2 but then lost her quarter-final at the 18^th hole to +1 handicapper Olivia Jordan Higgins from Royal Jersey GC. 
 
Stacey, whose own handicap has recently been cut to 1, will now be kept busy by competing in a number of key events. Next week she will seek a fifth West Hove Ladies’ Championship title and then from 3 August will play in the English Women’s Open Amateur Strokeplay Championship at Enmore GC in the beautiful Quantock Hills in Somerset. Her final event will be the English Ladies' Open Mid-Amateur Championship at Denham GC in Buckinghamshire from 11 August.  
 
On 21 August Stacey will return to America for her final year at university and will play 6 times a week having just the Sunday off. She will be involved in 5 tournaments in the fall (her word, not ours!) and 6 in the spring and this will include travelling around the USA to South Carolina, Arizona, Texas, Florida, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Iowa. Stacey hopes to graduate with a degree in exercise and movement science before taking a year and a half 'out' just to play golf before deciding what level she has reached. Good luck Stacey.

Important notices for West Hove Members

Following changes to our course over the years, the standard scratch score  (SSS) has been re-assessed by the Sussex County Golf Union together with its parent body the English Golf Union. The increased playing difficulty of the course has been recognised and from 12 July the SSS has been increased from 70 to 71 for the white tees and from 69 to 70 for the yellow tees. (The SSS for the red tees remains at 71).

Earlier this year the course was re-measured by Electronic Distance Measuring Equipment in accordance with CONGU regulations and new scorecards reflecting the changes (e.g. the lengthened 2nd hole) will be available in the next few weeks - the new SSS will also be shown. It is hoped that new white, yellow and red tee markers will be introduced at the same time.

Four of our competitions in early August will have their dates changed. They are as follows:
Sunday  2 August 2009 - Junior Club Championship - NOW on Sunday 9 August 2009
Sunday  9 August 2009 - Monthly Medal - NOW on Sunday 16 August 2009
Sunday 16 August 2009 - Junior Medal - NOW on Sunday 2 August 2009
Sunday 16 August 2009 - President's Salver - NOW on Sunday 9 August 2009

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Tom Coulson beats the elements to win the Club Championship for a fifth time.
The reigning champion Tom Coulson (+1) completed a hat-trick of wins to retain the Club Championship title today with a two-round total of 143 in what was described by many competitors as "horrendous" conditions. With the rough very thick, thanks to the recent hot weather and heavy rains, it was particularly difficult to score on a very windy day.

Tom's 4-under par morning round of 66 gave him a distinct advantage over the field. This proved to be crucial as Tom's afternoon round of 77 reflected the deteriorating conditions. Our other +1 handicapper, Rob McGrory Jnr., shot 76 in the morning but played the most fantastic golf in the difficult afternoon conditions to shoot a one-under par 69, for a 145 total, thus giving Tom a run for his money. Rob finished in a very creditable second place - and two very steady rounds of 74 from Tony Humphrey, back after injury, gave him third place on 148.

The Nick O’Byrne Trophy, for the best net score, was won for the third time by Don Shepherd Jnr. with rounds of 73 (65) and 80 (72) for a total of 137. After a long day our Club Captain, Andrew Macgregor-Boyle, presented the trophies.  

Brighton & Hove GC hosted the Brighton & District Golfing Society's Championships.
In yesterday's B&DGS Championships the West Hove team had mixed fortunes. On the bright side Lewis Jackson won the Junior Scratch competition with a 3 under par 137 (71 & 66) and Jonny Ingram (although still a junior, indeed our Juniors' Captain) played well to be the runner-up in the Men's scratch event with a 139 (68 & 71). His playing partner, Jamie Chapman of the host club, won the event with a splendid 6 under par total of 134 (64 & 70), the morning round being a new course record over the slightly new lay-out. Click here for photos of the lads
 
Our other team members, Rob McGrory Jnr., Dan Milligan, Damon Raikes and Jenny Davis (in the ladies’ championship) did not fare so well although Dan’s afternoon 67 is worthy of mention. The Ladies scratch competition was won by Tiffany Hewetson of East Brighton GC with rounds of 79 & 72 for a total of 151.
 
The team event was very close. It was won by Brighton & Hove GC with 575, East Brighton GC came second on 578 and West Hove finished third on 582. This means that we are now propping up the table for the Victor Ludorum trophy. The latest points position is as follows:-
Brighton & Hove GC 45, The Dyke GC 31, East Brighton GC 27 and West Hove GC 26.

Congratulations to Steve Waymark for achieving his first 'hole-in-one' today.
Single figure handicapper Steve Waymark has been playing golf now for over 20 years and had not secured an "ace" until today. Playing in the July Monthly Medal he achieved a lifetime's ambition with an 8 iron on the 158 yard (par 3) 7th hole. Well done Steve (about time too). 

West Hove's Juniors are making satisfactory progress in two inter-club competitions.
On Saturday 20 June our Juniors came third in the Dockerill's Junior Brighton League match at Hollingbury Park GC and this was good enough to put them into first place in the league, but there are many more matches to play. A further report will be given after the next match at Mid Sussex GC on 12 July. Another team of Juniors beat Copthorne GC 2.5 to 1.5 in the SCGU's Inter-Club Foursomes for the Alan Covey Cup. They must now play Bognor GC in the quarter-finals. For a fuller report please see the Juniors' page of this website - please click here 

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Matthew Simpson is the second Green Fee payer to win in our Prize Draw.
Following last week's announcement (see the news story below dated 23 June), the Club is pleased to announce that Matthew won the June 2009 draw and will be receiving a voucher (worth £50)  for a free mid-week 2-ball round of golf. Congratulations Matthew. Watch out for the July winner who will be announced in early August.

Lewis Jackson will be satisfying an ambition by starting a golf scholarship in the USA. In this feature, the second of a series of articles about key players at West Hove, we look at what Lewis is looking forward to. In just over a month from now Lewis will be travelling to the United States to start a 4 year golf scholarship at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. This was achieved on the back of impressive performances as a West Hove Junior when he won the Club’s Junior Championship in 2006 and 2008 and in the intervening year the Singing Hills Junior Club Championship whilst our Juniors’ Captain. More recently he won a Faldo Series Qualifier at Royal St. Georges GC and at Ganton GC he finished 5^th, narrowly missing the chance to play in the Faldo Series final in Brazil.
Lewis starts his studies on 19 August and will be seeking a sports based degree over the next 4 years. He will be part of the university golf team and will gain invaluable experience, but he is conscious that this life-style does not satisfy everyone. He is, as he says, going to “give it my best shot” and we all wish him every success. A full text of Lewis’s recent discussion with the Club can be found on the Juniors’ page of this website – please click here.

Tom Coulson just fails to reach the final of the Sussex Amateur Championship
In a thrilling semi-final this morning Tom lost to Jack Bartlett of Worthing GC at the 22nd hole. The match was all square after 9 holes before Tom won at the 10th, 12th and 17th whilst Jack won at the 11th, 15th and critically the 18th to take the match to extra holes. They then battled on into the lunch-break before Tom lost at the 4th extra hole.
In the afternoon final Jack Bartlett played his Worthing GC team-mate Scott Nightingale who had won this event in 2001 and 2006. In another epic battle, Jack came from behind again to beat Scott by 3&1 - thereby avenging his defeat by Scott in the 2006 final and going one better than his 2008 runner-up spot. All players deserve congratulations for some great golf.

West Hove GC again contribute to the Brighton & Hove International Festival of Sport.
The second Brighton & Hove International Festival of Sport started today in Preston Park with “TakePART Day” when thousands of visitors descended on the park to participate in all manner of sports - for free!
This year our Club Professional Darren Cook and his assistant Russell Cronin provided free golf lessons to hundreds of children in an inflatable driving range. Click here for photo
Darren and Russell deserve a very big 'thank-you' for helping a non-stop line of children who had queued from 10am to 5pm!

Tom Coulson has today reached the semi-final of the Sussex Amateur Championship.
In the first round of the matchplay stage of this championship today, Tom had a convincing 7&6 win over Jamie Chapman of Brighton & Hove GC. He was then drawn in the second round this afternoon to play Lawrie Tremlett of Lewes GC and Tom went on to win by 6&5.
He now has to play Jack Bartlett (Worthing GC) in the semi-final tomorrow at 9.15am. The other semi-final features another Worthing GC player Scott Nightingale who will play Stuart Barber of Chichester GC. The winning semi-finalists will contest the final at 2.00pm.

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Tom Coulson starts well in the 2009 Sussex Amateur Championship at Littlehampton.
In today's two stroke-play rounds, Tom Coulson recorded the second best score (a splendid 7-under par total of 133) to become one of the top 16 to qualify for the match-play stages over this coming weekend. Worthing GC fared particularly well with 6 players qualifying, including Peter Tarver-Jones with the best score of 132. Tom's progress will be reported daily.

Dan Milligan will be representing West Hove in the Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters.
This is one of the most prestigious golf championships for elite under-18 players in Europe and is an R&A Major Tournament, an EGU Order of Merit event and (from 2009) a World Amateur Golf Ranking event.
This year's event is being held on 27 & 28 June at Nizels Golf & Country Club  which is situated on high ground overlooking the Kentish Weald countryside. It was only established in 1992, but this 6,361 yard, par 72, parkland course is a stern test of golf.
A handicap ballot was applied to reduce the number of starters to 72 (plus ties) and the cut-off was applied at +0.1, reflecting the quality of the field. Dan, who was the Sussex Boys Champion when only 15, is one of only two Sussex boys competing (the other is Sam Dix from Ham Manor) amongst a strong field from 12 countries around the world. He tees off from the 10th tee at 8.05 and 13.35 this coming Saturday - and all at West Hove wish him well.
PS 29/6/09 - Dan's 79 & 75 (10 over par) failed to make the cut at an incredible 1 under par!

Lady golfers from across the south today competed in the West Hove Ladies Open.
This year's event was contested between 56 ladies from 19 golf clubs, from Hampshire in the west, Kent in the east and Essex and Bedfordshire to the north. On a hot but breezy day the competitors found the course quite difficult with only six of the pairings beating par (36 points). It was a particularly close result with the top four teams all scoring 39 points.
Congratulations are extended to the winning teams who, after count-back, were:
1st -  Marjorie Hall & Maureen Still - Copthorne GC
2nd - Linda Clinton & Peggy Beadall - Cottesmore GC
3rd  - Judy Walker & Viv Chatfield - Tenterden GC
4th  - Carol Probett & Jenni Campion - Highwoods GC
Special thanks were extended to Betty Laing for organising this very popular competition.

West Hove has introduced a Prize Draw for all Green Fee payers. The winner is.......
From May 2009 all Green Fee payers have been invited to enter a free monthly prize draw. The May winner was Allan Cross, a guest of one of our members. He wins a voucher (worth £50)  for a free mid-week 2-ball round of golf. Congratulations Allan - and all Green Fee payers should watch out for the June winner who will be announced in early July.

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Four West Hove members are involved in the 2009 Sussex Amateur Championship.
This year's Sussex Amateur Championship will be held at Littlehampton Golf Club from Friday 26 June. Four of our members are involved, principally Tom Coulson (our current Club Champion) and Lewis Jackson (our current Juniors' Champion). Tom will be teeing off at 7.50am and 1.05pm on Friday and Lewis will be following him 10 minutes later at 8.00am and 1.15pm. In addition, Robert McGrory Jnr. will be teeing off at 9.00am and 2.15pm but will be representing his 'home club' Singing Hills. All three members would welcome support on this first day.
Our fourth representative is Michael Phillpot who does not satisfy the qualifying criteria (!), but he will be officiating as one of the Sussex County Golf Union's Committee Members.
The Club's best performance in this event was way back in 1991 when a young David Bristow was runner-up to Robert Lowles having lost on the 19th hole at Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club. Let's hope that this year creates history for us.

Tom Coulson - What is he doing now? This is the first of a series of articles about some of the current key players at West Hove GC. Tom first came to prominence by winning the Club's Junior Championship in 2000 and again in 2002. He has since won the Club Championship four times and will hopefully be defending his title next month. This year Tom has a very busy schedule and he has entered a number of prestigious national events and to date has acquitted himself very well.  In April he was 25th in The West Of England Amateur Strokeplay Championship over the East Course at Saunton GC where he shot a 14 over par total of 302 - only the winner broke par over this tough track.
In May Tom finished 32nd in the EGU Men's Order of Merit 2009 Lagonda Trophy which was played over The Gog Magog GC near Cambridge. He then finished 10th in the 2009 Welsh Men's Amateur Open Golf Championship at Ashburnham GC with a very creditable 2-under par total of 286. He topped that performance by winning the 36-hole Churchill Bowl at the Nevill GC (as reported below on 31 May). These performances have helped Tom to reach 33rd position in the English National rankings.
In the imminent future Tom is to play in The Berkshire Trophy, an important 72-hole Tournament in the R&A Calendar for amateurs with a handicap of +1 or better. Past winners include Sandy Lyle, Nick Faldo and more recently the Sussex golfer Gary Evans. Tom then makes the short trip to Littlehampton GC to compete in the Sussex Amateur Championship before "the big one", the 2009 English Men's Amateur Championship which this year is to be played at Rye and Littlestone Golf Clubs. Interestingly, the defending champion is one of Tom's Sussex colleagues Todd Adcock from the Nevill GC. Tom is practicing hard and is hoping to do well in these events - we wish him the best of luck.
The next article in this series will feature Lewis Jackson.

West Hove fail to retain the Brighton & District Golfing Society’s Wentworth Smith Trophy. This year's competition was held at The Dyke GC where teams of 24 competed for the Trophy. There were high hopes that the team selected by Match & Handicap would retain the trophy they won last year but this was not to be. The Dyke took advantage of local knowledge and won with a Stableford points total of 185. East Brighton GC were second with 178 points, Brighton & Hove GC were third with 177 points and we totalled 170 points.
The individual winners on the day were Steve Kirkham (The Dyke) with 39 points and our own Neville Hudson for the best gross score. Click here for photo

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West Hove's seniors lose to Eastbourne Downs GC in the Gilbert Print Plate 2009.
Following the club's defeat against The Dyke in early May, the only chance of honours was in this Sussex County Golf Union Plate competition. Unfortunately, we were drawn away to a very strong Eastbourne Downs team who boasted six single figure handicap golfers - and the other two were off 10! On a warm and sunny day, the Eastbourne team played some glorious golf to beat us 3.5 to 0.5 - in two of the matches their teams won whilst being just 3 over par gross. The full results were as follows:
Kevin White & Norman Milburn lost 6&5, Terry Pinker & Don Shepherd Snr. halved their match whilst both Greg Ash & Len Woodham and Bob Elder & Dave Nealer lost 5&4.      

Lewes GC prove too strong and beat West Hove GC 7-5 today in the PAV i.t. Trophy.
In today's 3rd round match at West Hove, last year's 'runners up' Lewes eased into the quarter finals with a narrow 7-5 win. The morning foursomes finished 2-2, the highlight being Robert McGrory's 109 yard pitch on the 11th hole for an eagle 2. Apparently, Rob' and playing partner Lewis Jackson had been trying to leave each other 100 yard second-shots to each hole - perhaps they should try for 109 yards in future!
In the afternoon singles only team captain Tom Coulson and Jonny Ingram were able to win for the home side, whilst Rob McGrory Jnr. and Lewis Jackson both halved their matches. Our four other team-members all lost with Damon Raikes suffering the heaviest defeat against ex-pro Mark Hilton who was 5-under par after 12 holes! The full results were as follows:
Morning Foursomes: Rob McGrory Jnr. & Lewis Jackson won 2 up, Damon Raikes & Dan Milligan lost 4&2, Tom Coulson & Jonny Ingram lost 1 down and Mark Gully & David Bristow won comfortably 5&4.
Afternoon Singles: Rob McGrory Jnr. halved, Lewis Jackson halved, Damon Raikes lost 7&6, Dan Milligan lost 4&3, Tom Coulson won 6&4, Jonny Ingram won 3&2, Mark Gully lost 2&1 and finally David Bristow lost 3&2. The team would like to thank all members for their support.

Update on the PAV i.t. Trophy draw.
The draw for the 4th round of the Sussex Inter-Club Matchplay Championships has been made. If we are successful against the strong Lewes team on 13 June, we will play at home (yet again) in the quarter-finals against either Dale Hill or Chichester. That match is scheduled for Saturday 18 July 2009 - the full quarter-final draw is as follows:
West Hove or Lewes                 v.  Dale Hill or Chichester
Mannings Heath or The Dyke     v.  Worthing or Hollingbury Park
Sedlescombe or Highwoods       v.  Bognor Regis or Pyecombe
Littlehampton or Seaford            v.  Lindfield or Cowdray Park

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Congratulations to Tom Coulson on winning the Churchill Bowl at the Nevill Golf Club.
Following impressive wins in the 2nd round of the PAV i.t. Trophy yesterday, Tom Coulson travelled up to the Nevill GC (near Tunbridge Wells) to compete in their Open championship for the Churchill Bowl, a County order-of-merit event.
On another hot day, Tom played 36 holes over their 6,349 yard, par 71, course in a 2-over par total of 144 to win the event. We hope this augurs well for the rest of Tom's season. Well done.

Our 2009 Mixed Open was won by Steve Durling & Julia Martin-Harper with 42 points.
On a gloriously sunny and breezy day 28 mixed pairs, representing 23 golf clubs, competed for the West Hove Mixed Open title. Steve and Julia, from The Ridge Golf Club near Maidstone in Kent, won with a very creditable 42 points. 

West Hove GC beat Crowborough Beacon GC in the 2nd round of the PAV i.t. Trophy. A predominately young West Hove team proved too strong for Crowborough Beacon GC as the home team won 9-3 to progress to the third round. After the morning foursomes West Hove had a 3-1 lead which was consolidated by 6 wins in the afternoon singles. Team Captain Tom Coulson won 6&5, Jonny Ingram won 2&1, Dan Milligan won 5&4, Robert McGrory Jnr. won 1 up, Mark Gully won 2&1 and Damon Raikes won 2&1. Lewis Jackson and Simon Tiplady lost.

We have now been drawn to play at home on Saturday 13 June against Lewes GC who narrowly beat Ham Manor 6.5-5.5. It was Lewes GC who easily beat us in last year's semi-final at Pyecombe before losing to East Sussex National GC in the PAV Trophy final. East Sussex will not be able to retain the trophy though, having narrowly lost 5-7 to Seaford GC today. 

West Hove's Juniors consolidate 2nd place in the Dockerill's Junior Brighton League. The "JBL" is a competition for junior golfers between 9 local golf clubs. Teams of 4 play at each of the venues throughout the summer with the best 3 Stableford scores counting towards the team total. West Hove’s Juniors have won this event three times in the last five years and finished 3rd overall last year.
The third match this year was played today at West Hove and our best 3 scorers were Adam Hatcher with a splendid 41 points, Greg Andrew with 36 and Charlie Watts with 35 (giving a team total of 112). Jay Stally was the fourth West Hove member. Mid Sussex continue to lead the table but this latest result means West Hove are now only 5 points behind in 2nd place. Click here to see the latest table

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West Hove fail again in the Brighton & District Golfing Society’s Senior Cup today.
For the second year running our scratch team failed to live up to expectations. This year's event was hosted by East Brighton GC who lost in the morning to Brighton & Hove (the eventual winners). We lost 1.5 to 3.5 to The Dyke in the morning and then lost 1-4 to East Brighton in the afternoon Plate competition. Let's hope we do better in our Centenary Year. 

The second West Hove President’s Dinner was held this evening in the clubhouse.
Following the success of last year's inaugural event it has been decided to hold a President's Dinner annually. The dinner, organised by Norman Milburn, is hosted by the West Hove Past Captains and the guest of honour is the Club’s President, Don Thatcher. This year's dinner was attended by no less than 21 past Club Captains from West Hove together with Tom Grogan (President of the Brighton & District Golfing Society), Eric Line (President of Brighton & Hove GC), Derrick Kirkham and Niall McCabe (President and Chairman respectively of The Dyke GC), Carl Haydon (President of the West Hove Past Captains) and finally Andrew Macgregor-Boyle our current Club Captain.
Three of the Club's past captains, 86 year old Carl Haydon, Ernie Southon a young 88 and the baby of the trio 85 year old Les Gibbs, were photographed together in 1963 - and again tonight! Click here for photos.
A number of (unprintable) stories were told together with the following ditty from Carl Haydon:
West Hove Golf Club formed in 1910, formed no doubt by keen golfing men,
They could not have looked 100 years ahead, knowing full well that they would be dead,
Did they have a President to preside overall, or a secretary in top hat and his board on the wall,
Whatever they did stood the Club in good stead, because we are all here with our own Presidential head,
Dear Don, a good friend to us and all members too, so dedicated in everything that West Hove tries to do,
His dinner tonight, with ourselves in support, a true example of West Hove rapport,
We hope that his future will be as good as his past, and that this President's dinner will not be the last,
Donald, all of those present wish you so well, because everyone knows that you really are swell,
So thank you again for being just you, with good health and happiness and not a single MOO!
(Don is a past master butcher)

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Golf du Sart beat West Hove 5-3 in this year's competition to cries of "Vive la France".
As part of the build-up to our Centenary celebrations next year, 16 West Hove members travelled to Lille in northern France on Friday 15 May to visit Le Golf du Sart golf club, as they too will be celebrating their centenary in 2010.
An early morning start allowed all 16 to have a practice round (in the rain) before getting taxis into the heart of ancient Lille for a wonderful meal at 'La Cave aux Fioles',  a restaurant  in a 17th Century building owned by Golf du Sart member Erick Chevallier. On the Saturday our hosts organised a 'skins' style competition over their beautifully tree-lined parkland course. In the evening a casual dinner was laid on at the golf club and the members' wives attended too. The club's President, Jean Francois Toulemonde, gave a wonderfully humourous speech to the delight of all present.
But the main purpose of the visit was for the West Hove members to defend the win they achieved against the Frenchmen last year in Hove. An early Sunday morning shot-gun start allowed everyone to attend a formal lunch where it was announced that in a tightly fought competition the French team had won 5-3. West Hove's Captain, Andrew Macgregor-Boyle, congratulated the French team and presented them with a framed flag incorporating our new logo. He also presented each French player with a bottle of 'real ale' and a Sussex cheese - they will all also each receive one of our black team-shirts as a memento.
Brian Hazelgrove, West Hove's Centenary Committee Chairman, thanked their President and the whole of the French team, in particular Thierry Dujardin and Derek Peddle, for their fantastic hospitality over the weekend and promised to pursue plans for further competitions in our centenary year. Click here for photos.       

"Au Sart, l'Anglais fait partie de notre culture.." (At Le Sart, English is part of our culture)  These were the welcoming words of Jean-Francois Toulemonde, President of the 'Golf du Sart' golf club, near Lille in France, when 16 West Hove members arrived over the weekend. A full report together with photos will follow shortly.

Members are advised of the following changes to the Golf Committee.
John Godley has been co-opted onto the Committee with particular responsibility for media and communication matters. Similarly, Ken Stafford has been co-opted as Junior Organiser following the resignation of Tim Ingram. We wish them well.  

West Hove will again be part of the Brighton & Hove International Festival of Sport. The second Brighton & Hove International Festival of Sport starts on Saturday 27 June 2009 in Preston Park, Brighton when the Club will again be providing free golf lessons to both adults and hundreds of children. Visitors will be able to sign up for a “one-hour taster session” which will be held in July at our driving range in Hangleton. Sessions have been arranged for adults, ladies, girls and juniors (aged 10 and above). There will be a registration fee of £1 but thereafter everything is free, including the use of golf equipment and balls.

West Hove GC today won the Brighton & District Golfing Society's Intermediate Cup.
The Club today hosted the second event in the B&DGS's calendar, the Intermediate Cup. In the morning matches West Hove beat Brighton & Hove, the holders, 5-0 whilst East Brighton beat The Dyke 4-1. In the afternoon, the losing teams played for the 'Plate' with Brighton & Hove edging out The Dyke 3-2.
In a closely contested final West Hove won the Cup with a 3-2 victory against East Brighton. Our team's results in the final were as follows:
Mark Pollington & Don Shepherd Jnr. won 4&2, John Miller and Stefan Hunt's match finished all square as did the father and son pairing of David & Simon Friend. Brian Murphy & Nigel James won 2&1 whilst Keith Fender & Philip Stempt lost 2 down.
It was a very special day for Don Shepherd Jnr. as he achieved his first "ace" by holing out with his 9-iron tee shot at the 158 yard 7th hole (something apparently his father, Don senior, has already done twice). Son Don also won first prize in the raffle!
The trophies were presented by the B&DGS's President, Tom Grogan, and Secretary Don Weston. Click here for a photo of the winning team.

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West Hove GC beat Royal Eastbourne GC in the first round of the PAV i.t. Trophy 2009.  The first round of the Sussex Inter-Club Matchplay Championships took place today and the West Hove scratch team beat Royal Eastbourne GC 8-4. We will now go on to play at home to Crowborough GC in the second round on Saturday 30 May (when supporters will be most welcome). In the morning foursomes Royal Eastbourne played well to secure a 2-2 draw but the afternoon singles went West Hove's way. The full results were as follows:

Foursomes: Tom Coulson & Jonny Ingram won 6&5, Dan Milligan & Lewis Jackson lost 2&1, Rob McGrory Jnr. & Steve Nielsen won 5&3 and Mark Gully & Simon Tiplady lost 1 down.       

Singles: Tom Coulson (team captain) won 6&5, Dan Milligan won 4&2, Jonny Ingram lost 5&4, Steve Nielsen won 1 up having been 3 down after 13 holes, Mark Gully lost 2&1, Rob McGrory Jnr. won 6&4, Simon Tiplady won 3&2 after being 3 down at the 6th hole and finally Lewis Jackson won 7&6 having been 7 up after just 9 holes.

The other results may be viewed on the Sussex County Golf Union's website.

Congratulations to Peacehaven GC on winning the Jubilee Cup with a score of 441.
Seven clubs from around Sussex competed today in West Hove’s Jubilee Cup. The format for this team competition is particularly tough as every one of the 6-man teams’ net medal scores count towards the team total – so everybody has to play-out every hole. The scores were:

The West Hove team members, with their scores, were: Steve Nielsen (2) 71, Max Card (4) 77, Brian Murphy (9) 75, Steve Heath (9) 71, Stephen Chipp (15) 79 and Howard Coulson (18) 73.

In the second round of the Cyril Blake Cup, West Hove GC were drawn to play away against The Dyke GC. Unfortunately The Dyke beat us 1.5 to 2.5 with the last putt, on the last green, in the last match.

The 11th Annual General Meeting of the Company was held in the Clubhouse tonight.
Following the opening of the meeting the Club's President, Don Thatcher, rose and made a surprise presentation of a blazer and badge to the Club's Chairman, Richard Simmons, to denote his office. Richard expressed his thanks before outlining the Club's financial position and stating that the Company continues to be financially secure. The accounts for the year ending 31/8/08, the reappointment of our auditors (Parkers) and the retiring directors (Jeanie Bailey, Ken Hopkins and Michael Barry) were all approved unanimously by those present.   

Lewis Jackson, last year's Junior Captain, narrowly misses out on a trip to Brazil.
The Faldo Series is an annual competition open to amateur golfers born in 1988 or later. A maximum of 80 players are selected to play in each of the Faldo Series Championships and Lewis was successful in being selected to play in this year's second tournament at Ganton Golf Club in North Yorkshire. He acquitted himself very well to finish 5th in the Under 18 category with scores of 79 and 74. He narrowly missed qualifying for a fabulous trip to play in the Grand Final to be held in Brazil later this year and which will be hosted by Nick Faldo.

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West Hove GC win 'The Plate' in the Brighton & District Golfing Society's Junior Cup.
The first B&DGS event of the year, the Junior Cup, was played today at Brighton & Hove GC. In the morning our team lost 1-4 to Brighton & Hove whilst The Dyke GC beat East Brighton GC. In the afternoon we beat East Brighton 4-1 to win 'The Plate' and Brighton & Hove took full advantage of playing 'at home' to beat The Dyke by 2 points to win the B&DGS Junior Cup.
Our 5 pairings were: Keith Ward & Vic Craker, Geoff Bibby & Richard Brand, Alan Linkman & John Gatford, Angus Barrett & Luke Longcroft and finally Brian Hazelgrove & John Scott.  

Congratulations to Dan Milligan and Mark Gully who both shot 66 in the April Medal.  Dan, a Junior member who plays off scratch, beat Mark (3) on count-back to win the April Monthly Medal which was the qualifier for the annual 'Hall of Fame' event. The conditions of entry for the Hall of Fame qualifier state that competitors must be aged 18 years or over on the date of the club’s qualifying round.  So, although Dan won the medal competition he will not be able to represent West Hove in the 'Hall of Fame'. Mark will therefore represent the Club in the regional final which, coincidentally, will be hosted by West Hove on Thursday 20^th August. 
If Mark is successful on that day he will go forward to play in the 36-hole Grand Final at the National Golf Centre, at Woodhall Spa, on 28 & 29 September 2009. We wish him good luck.

The free 'Golf Taster' Sessions at the Club's Darren Cook Golf Academy are a success. After advertising in the local press, the golf taster sessions for adult beginners have become fully booked. Plans have therefore been made for another session to be held between 6pm and 7pm on Tuesday 21 April and, if this becomes full, a further session will be arranged  on Tuesday 28 April, again at 6pm. Four similar sessions for juniors (under 18) will take place at 1pm and 2pm on Saturday 25 April and Saturday 2 May. Each session is for an hour and the only cost is a nominal administration fee of £1.00 - equipment will be provided. Numbers will be limited to ten per session so if you, or anyone you know, would like to take advantage of these tremendous offers, please telephone our Professional Darren Cook on 01273 413494.
Don't miss this opportunity to have a go at this fabulous game - 'phone NOW!  

The Club's new website is now 2 years old and goes from strength to strength. The site was launched on 29 March 2007 and a year later the Club was proud to announce that it had received 20,000 visitors. Today, some 2 years on, we can report that over 54,000 'hits' have been received, from 73 countries, with over 4,000 in March 2009 alone.   

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Michael Barry accepts an invitation to join the Board of West Hove Golf Club Limited.
The Board are very pleased to announce the appointment of a new director. The Club Chairman, Richard Simmons, writes:-
"I am delighted to report that Mick Barry accepted my invitation to join the board as a director of the company from 1 April 2009. Mick has just retired as senior partner of the prestigious Brighton firm of solicitors, Griffith Smith Farrington Webb. He is also a former President of the Sussex Law Society.
He has been a member of the Club for many years and has been the Club’s legal adviser since 1997, assisting the Board with several legal issues. We are fortunate that Mick’s advice and expertise will continue to be readily available to us in the future."

West Hove GC will be included in England's ninth National Park. Environment Minister Hilary Benn announced this morning that the South Downs area between Winchester and Eastbourne will be granted National Park status from 2011. West Hove lies towards the eastern end and the designation means the area will be given the highest level of protection under the planning system. Click here for photos.

West Hove GC has drawn Royal Eastbourne GC in the PAV i.t. Trophy 2009. The draw for the first and second rounds of the Sussex Inter-Club Matchplay Championships took place yesterday and 50 clubs will be competing. West Hove will be at home to Royal Eastbourne on Saturday 9 May and the winners will then play at home against Crowborough GC in the second round on Saturday 30 May. Tom Coulson will captain West Hove's team this year. The full draw for the first and second rounds can be seen on the Sussex County Golf Union's  website by clicking here or on the notice-board in the Club's foyer. 

West Hove GC receive a bye in the first round of the Cyril Blake Cup 2009.
The Cyril Blake Cup is an inter-club foursomes knockout competition, played on handicap over 18 holes by four pairs, for players who are aged 55 years or more and members of the Sussex County Golf Union. This year 49 clubs have entered and West Hove received a bye in the first round. In the second round, to be played by 15 May, we have been drawn to play away at either The Dyke GC or Selsey GC. In the meantime, team captain Norman Milburn has arranged friendly practice matches with Brighton & Hove and Mid Sussex Golf Clubs.

Jonny Ingram, Lewis Jackson and Dan Milligan this time visit St. Andrews.
Having returned home from Spain only recently, these 3 junior members packed their bags again - but this time to visit "the home of golf" in Scotland. They had been selected as part of a 4-man team to represent their college in the British Colleges Sport Open Golf Championships. The competition was played over two rounds on the 4th and 5th March on the magnificent 7,049 yard par 72 Kittocks Course (formerly known as The Devlin) in Fairmont St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland. All three boys played very well in bright, but cold and blustery, conditions and their college, Chichester College, finished as runners-up.

It has been a momentous day for West Hove Golf Club. During the day the website received its 50,000th visitor and shortly thereafter had a visit from Kenya - country number 70. Still, it's only par for the course!

click here for photos

Jonny Ingram, Lewis Jackson and Dan Milligan visit La Manga.
The Club is proud to report that 3 of our juniors returned home this weekend from a week’s golf in Spain where they acquitted themselves very well. They were part of an elite group of 20 Sussex junior golfers selected by the Sussex County Golf Union to receive special coaching and skills training at the famous La Manga golf resort. The West Hove trio excelled and on the Tuesday Jonny won the competition with a 75 and Lewis and Dan were joint second on 79.

Over the course of the week points were awarded for the best individual placings in competition and for skills tests. Jonny, having won two of the competitions, won the overall individual championship and Lewis came joint third. Dan may have done better had he not been unwell for three days. On the final day the S.C.G.U. squad played their annual match against the local Murcia team and the Sussex boys won 10-0, the first ever ‘whitewash’.
All three boys were a credit to their Club.  click here for more detailed report

Last weekend's Monthly Medal, postponed because of frost, has now been rescheduled for Sunday 22 February 2009.

The Board has agreed that for a limited period the Club will waive the joining fee for new members. However, each new member will be required to put £75 on their swipe card to use in the bar or at club functions.

For Members who have a friend or family-member who has wanted to join, but disliked the idea of paying a joining fee, this is your chance to nominate them for membership. Similarly, non-Members simply visiting this website may apply too.

If you or your friend would like further details please email the office or phone 01273 419738 and ask to speak to the General Manager Megan Bibby or her assistant Pauline Danes.

Alternatively you are welcome to download an application form here and submit it to the Club. However, you are encouraged to apply soon as this offer may be withdrawn at any time.

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The Team Captains for the 2009 external club competitions have been selected by Club Captain Andrew Macgregor-Boyle.
They are:
Tom Coulson for the Sussex Inter-Club Matchplay Championship team (the PAV i.t. Trophy). Steve Nielsen for the Brighton & District Golfing Society's Senior Cup team,
Damon Raikes for the Brighton & District Golfing Society's Intermediate Cup team, and
Gary Chamberlain for the Brighton & District Golfing Society's Junior Cup team
(Damon and Gary will act as non-playing captains unless their handicaps change). 
Norman Milburn will captain the Cyril Blake Cup team (the Sussex County Senior Inter-Club Foursomes knock-out competition).

West Hove Golf Club celebrates its centenary in 2010. The following ideas have been or are being developed to celebrate this event.
Centenary Captains - A more broadly based process for electing the centenary Club Captain was adopted at a Members EGM, with nominations sought from the membership over a three month period between May and July 2008. The successful candidate was Gordon Eaton. The Ladies section has chosen Jan Seabrook to be their Captain in 2010 and the Seniors’ section has selected John Lane.
The History of West Hove GC - The Centenary Committee, together with John Vinicombe, has researched much of the material from which John has written up a document that will be used to produce a hard-back book which will then be available to the membership. This work is well under way.
Centenary competition prizes - Nearly 200 special ceramic centenary prizes have been acquired. These will be presented to the winners of the main golf competitions held during the centenary year. In addition to these prizes, an Edwardian silver bowl made in 1910 (the year we were founded) has been acquired and will be played for in another competition which will then be held annually.
Other Centenary Clubs - Contact has been made with other clubs that celebrate their centenary in 2010. Reading GC, with whom we already have a reciprocal arrangement, has expressed an interest in having a centenary match with us. Contact has also been made with Golf du Sart GC which is situated near Lille in France and their response has been most enthusiastic. So much so that 12 of their members came here in September 2008 and a similar West Hove group will go to France in May 2009. Arrangements for 2010 are still to be determined.
Non-club events - Special golfing events will take place at West Hove during 2010, our centenary year. The SCLGA will be holding the Sussex County Ladies Scratch Foursomes in April and the SCGU has agreed to stage the Sussex Amateur Championship here in June. In addition, the SPGU has agreed to hold their Sussex Open Championship at West Hove. B&DGS events to be held at West Hove in 2010 include the Senior Cup, the Captains’ Putter, the Professionals’ Cup, the Presidents’ Salver and the Secretaries’ Cup.
Festival Fortnight - The majority of our special Centenary Competitions will be held in the two-week period beginning the 14th June 2010. These will include a Centenary Seniors event, a Centenary Mixed Cup, a Centenary Men’s Invitation, a Centenary Ladies’ Invitation and a new competition for the Centenary Bowl (with an evening function).
Gala Ball - West Hove Golf Club opened for business on the 22 September 1910. It is proposed therefore that we have a Gala Ball in September 2010.  More information about this event will follow in due course.

Today's Monthly Medal was postponed because of the severe frost (-7°C). It has now been rescheduled for Saturday 24 January 2009.

After a few years without a function, it was nice to see that the New Year's Eve 'Black & White' Dinner Dance was a great success. Special thanks are due to the Social Committee led by Brian Murphy and Lynn Stoner - and to the Club Captain Andrew Macgregor-Boyle who apparently helped prepare the room on the day. Click here for some photos.

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