Two Leighton golfers are celebrating a rare purple patch, each topping the table in three competitions in the space of a few weeks.
Club Captain Robbie John carded 39 points to win the White Trophy playing in the Rushmere Society match at Porters Park, then skippered the club men’s team to victory in the annual clash with Leighton Ladies. And he topped the table in last Wednesday’s Senior section championships, his nett 63 being his best nett score in the 40 years he’s been playing golf.
And grandmother Joan Waples has completed a hat-trick of trophy wins in the space of two months at the Leighton club she’s been a member of for 45 years. Having already won the Spring Meeting and Rosewear Bowl, 78-year-old Joan won Leighton Ladies Buckmaster Salver Medal with a nett 73, beating Bronze “A” division winner Norma Stevens-Hack by a shot.
Robbie teamed up with Vice Captain Elect Graham Freer to beat Carmen White-Lawes and Chris Robinson in their club match; Anne Tilbury and Sandra Bellis beat Graham Robinson and Robin Lawes; Ian Rimmer and Chris Chehade beat Steph Howlett and Josie Sheridan and Chris Figg and Peter Sheridan beat Virginia Gillette and Christine Rimmer. With Howard Till and Lee Sanders halving their match against Gill McDougal and Gillian Chehade, Robbie’s army won 3-1, with the Ladies Captain Carmen collecting the wooden spoon.
Leighton seniors’ Ian Mann trophy, a competition in which the best gross score wins, was presented to former car racing champion and four-handicap golfer David Banwell by Seniors Captain Peter Myrants, his gross 73 beating skipper John by a shot. Mark Hammond was third with a gross 80. Ron Burgoyne won the prize for the best nett score, his 67 beating Ian Rimmer and Will Sampson by three shots. Ron also finished top in the section for players aged 70 or more, while Peter Rutt was top finisher in the Over 80’s group.
Barbara Bradley teamed up with Verity Barfoot from the South Beds club to win Leighton Ladies invitation day with 41 points….and days later, won the Ladies Croxford Cup with 40 points, one clear of Joanna Cox and Maggie Shaw.
Leighton Seniors remain undefeated at home, their latest victims being Stocks. Skipper Myrants and Keith Griffiths got Leighton off to a flyer, and though the game was even after three pairs finished, wins by Peter Sheridan and Martin Broadley, David Sweetnam and Christopher Figg and Izzy Ramdeen and Andrew McDonald earned Leighton a 4-1 win, with David Bishop and Graham Pellow halving their match.
PICTURE CAPTION:
Leighton Captain Robbie John presents the wooden spoon to Ladies Captain Carmen White-Lawes.