The fantastic summer of 2018 has seen the fairways at Drax packed with competitors as the trophies have been played for in glorious weather. The outstanding performance of the year to date was Liam Waite’s extraordinary display of skill and stamina in winning both the nett and gross section of the club championship, being the inaugural winner of the Fairfax Cup, generously sponsored by the Selby Plant Hire company.
Vice Captain Dan Mitchell produced the best round of the season with a nett 58 to kick off June’s Monthly Medal. Steve Fitt continued his early season form to win another medal, and the father and son combination of Stephen and Ian Mileham repeated their April feat of winning their respective divisions in the June midweek medal round. Darren Neary had a good spell winning a midweek medal and adding the prestigious Dennis Bank’s Shield to his haul. Andrew Ritchings was another player to add to his season’s tally in July’s midweek medal. First time medal winners in June and July included Club President Bill Scott along with Richard Blake, Matt Graves, Phil Skilbeck, Russell Wagstaff and Kevin Hughes.
The annual Texas Scramble was won with a record low score by the club’s green keeping team led by Mark Sneap, with his brother Lee and volunteer helpers Alan Puddyford and Alan Beaumont. A deserved trophy for such a dedicated team. Mark backed up this performance by winning the Captain’s Charity Day on an afternoon where Liam Ridgill was raising funds for Kidney Research UK. The final major competition weekend of July featured the President’s Cup for the lower handicap ‘Tigers’ which was won by club secretary Matthew Forde. The same day also saw the Station Manager’s Cup for the Rabbit section which was won by serial winner Joe Threadgold.
The club’s Senior section also had a busy mid summer, the highlight being a return to form for Selby’s Peter Rowbottom who won both a medal and a Senior Cup round in between spending most of his spare time helping Captain Allan Palmer with maintenance work around the course. Not bad for a player approaching his 83rd year! Other senior winners were the consistent Richard Whiteley and Matthew Forde. The Senior’s own major trophy, the John Davies Shield, was won by long standing member Leslie Nelson. Finally the popular Senior’s Open was won by the Thorne duo of Kevin Harrison and Ted Rogan with an excellent 44 Stableford points.
The club will be holding the annual Autumn Open in September and you may also pay and play at Yorkshire’s hidden gem. All details on Draxgolfclub.com where you can also find details of our membership options. Watch this space for more results from our busy August schedule and news of the knockout competitions that are reaching a conclusion as the weather continues to make 2018 an unforgettable summer.
