A squad of Leighton Buzzard golfers has won a coveted Bedfordshire County title in a competition which has taken six months to complete.

For the third time in a decade, the Plantation Road club has been crowned County Mid-Handicap League champions in an event in which 25 teams took part.

Leighton beat The Bedford 3-2 in a thrilling final at Beds & County in a repeat of their 2017 victory, getting off to a flying start with top handicapper Dharm Naveen Diwaker carding a two-hole win.

Daniel Latimer put Leighton two-up with a three hole victory before Voja Savic and Greg White each tied their matches to secure an unassailable 3-1 lead, leaving John Latimer’s final match a dead rubber.

The victory was particularly poignant for non-playing Captain Sam Messenger who played in Leighton’s win over the same team two years ago.

Said Sam after receiving the trophy from County President Les Tucker:“We had a squad of 16 players who won our division to qualify for the knock-out stages and the final. Everyone played their part and I’m very proud of what they have achieved.”

Added Club Captain Robbie John who joined 20 club colleagues supporting the team on the day: “The lads were great ambassadors for the club and a credit to the sport.”

The competition got underway in April, with five teams playing home and away fixtures in five divisions. Leighton won their division and three other table topping teams to be crowned champions.

Kent Waterman won Leighton’s October Medal, beating former club champion Paul Atkinson on countback after both carded nett 68’s…. a shot clear of Graham Freer, Simon Goodall, Joshua Rowles, Gary Hart, Mark Reynolds and Stephen Boud.

Two former Ladies Captains have each won club competitions within the space of days.  Margaret Browning teamed up with Steve Marriott to win Leighton’s Davis Cup, beating John and Sue Preston in the final, while Jackie Stimpson has won the Medal Cup with a two-round score of 157, beating Angela Samuels by five shots.

Judy Ammon won the Ladies October stableford with 35pts, with Josie Sheridan runner-up with 34pts, a shot clear of Patti Marriott and Judy Malpass

Club Captain Robbie John led his red shirted army to successive weekend victories over club and local rivals. He got Leighton off to a comfortable 5-1 win over Aspley Guise with Andy McDonald and was followed into the club house with wins by Mark Reynolds and David Hawkins, Simon Enright and David Womack, Lee Sanders and Nick King and Graham Freer and Simon Rossiter. And 24 hours later, Robbie’s squad secured a convincing victory over Brian Carter’s Presidents battalion, corralled mainly from the bone-creaking ranks of former senior officials of the Plantation Road club.