North East Round-up: Social group to take over club
A public course is to be operated by a social enterprise group after an agreement was reached in principle with Leeds City Council.
Gotts Pak in Armley could be managed by the community interest company Gotts Park Golf Club after the council’s executive board approved the possibility of a new management agreement being reached with the club to stop the course closing.
Alan Walls, trustee of the community interest company, said: “I was first introduced to Gotts in 1973 as a fresh-faced two-year-old and it has been a piece of my life ever since.
‘This new chapter of the club’s history will be challenging for us’ “Through golf and my membership of the club, I have learned many of life’s most important lessons.
“This new chapter of the club’s history will be challenging for us, to say the least. However, working closely with our partners, we want to really encourage the local community to support us, to establish a Friends of Gotts Park to protect this great asset for future generations to come.”
Founded in 1933, Gotts Park is a 5,000-yard 18-hole course situated on land owned by the Wades Charities Trust.
Leeds city councillor Mark Dobson said: “A tremendous amount of hard work has been undertaken to get us to this point and I am confident that with the commitment of all groups involved and the proposal to establish a Friends of Group, this is a move that will help secure Gotts Park as a tremendous community resource for many more years to come.”
York juniors in the spotlight
York Union of Golf Clubs has announced that it is to put juniors at the heart of its plans for the 2015 golf season.
The organisation comprises of 13 clubs from throughout York and Ryedale and achieved success last year by winning seven wins from seven games in the Yorkshire Inter-District Union.
With the help of The Oaks’ Graham Walker, a structured plan has been put together and a recent training session at Pike Hills saw 40 participants, aged from seven to 17, endure freezing conditions to try and hone their skills.
President Martin Greaves said: “We’ve only really got into junior team games over the past three or four years. We have had success with the senior team and we are building the juniors up no end.”
Malton & Norton snatch union trophy
The York Union of golf Clubs’ Cross Trophy was won by Malton & Norton in dramatic fashion as the winter golf series concluded.
Players from the Ryedale course were just one shot better than rivals Fulford after 14 rounds of action over the last six months.
There were two holes in one, scorecard errors and pace of play penalties as the pairs winners were decided.
Malton & Norton were also celebrating a win in the last of the ladies winter events at York Golf Club. After filling the runners-up positions in the first two stableford competitions, Sue Bellion and Carol Simpson topped the leaderboard with a score of 40.
The Hornsea 100
A group of members at Hornsea are taking on the challenge of playing 100 holes in a single day to raise at least £3,000 for Barnardos and Dove House Hospice.
The marathon event takes place on June 26 and will require the men to walk in excess of 30 miles. With three single figure handicappers and a low teen handicapper, the challenge is also to sheet a combined medal score of under 1,800 shots.
Joe Palmer is one of the members to be taking part and he said: “As the challenge will mean we are each playing over five and a half rounds, we will be playing a whole host of games to keep it competitive, including an eclectic comp to register a ‘unique’ course record on the day.
“Hornsea are also getting right behind us and will be supporting us on the day with events in the clubhouse to raise money for our charities.”
In addition to Pallmer, Leigh Gawley, Dave Goundry and Chris Wilson will be completing the challenge.
Bridlington golf festival
One of the biggest and longest-established golf festivals in the country celebrates its 21st birthday during May.
The Bridlington Golf Festival incorporates three courses, all located on the east coast of Yorkshire, which play host to 13 different events during the six-day festival.
Bridlington Belvedere, Bridlington Links and Flamborough Head will be hosting the men’s, ladies’ and mixed events which traditionally start on the May Day bank holiday and run through to the following Sunday.
The festival attracts thousands of golfers from all over the UK and as far afield as the USA and there are two prize presentations throughout the week.
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