PANNAL member John Bywater had gone 40 years playing the game without experiencing the thrill of holing in one – and then knew plenty about it after two aces in the space of just eight holes in a social round at the club. The 18-handicapper defied odds of an estimated 67 million to one to pull off the feat. And bookies might have offered him even more when he admitted: “I wasn’t actually playing that well.” The holes that fell under Bywater’s mesmerising spell were Pannal’s 152-yard third and the eighth, at a length of 142 yards. “I hit quite a good tee shot at the third, but not great,” he said. “Then it’s rolled off the bank and the next thing I know my mate is jumping up and down and sayi
It was a busy winter period at Ilkley Golf Club with significant investment on the course to not only protect it for generations to come but also to create even more enjoyment for members and visitors alike. As some of you may know Alister MacKenzie was a great influence at Ilkley Golf Club. In fact, according to the archives, he was actually a member of the club. He first advised Ilkley in 1908, which was prior to designing Moortown and just after Alwoodley Golf Club. His final commission for the Club came in 1926, which included a comprehensive plan for the whole course. This was at a time when MacKenzie was at the peak of his career, as he was designing Royal Melbourne the same year and h
Leeds Golf Club has always been the spiritual home of the oldest trophy in professional golf and will again host the Leeds Cup in early August. The decision by the PGA to return to Cobble Hall last year after a significant absence reflected their confidence in a club which is going from strength to strength after battling through financial issues back in 2012. Through adversity came solidarity and the mood around ‘Cobble’ has never been more positive with 52 new members joining since Christmas last year. These include course record holder Simon Betteridge and former Leeds Rhino Danny McGuire. Betteridge returned to Yorkshire recently after a spell working down south and is a well- known fig
Sir Ian Botham had a prickly encounter with Lindrick’s opening hole during his charity endurance challenge. Beefy and European Tour player Andrew ‘ Beef’ Johnston were at the former Ryder Cup venue as part of an endurance challenge which saw them play 18 holes in one day in 18 different cricketing counties. Two helicopters carrying the players - including six amateurs who had paid a tidy sum at auction to be part of the day - and a camera crew touched down on Lindrick’s practice ground just before 7.30 am to complete the Yorkshire leg. They headed to the first tee to play their third hole of the day having started out at Rockliffe Hall at 5.15 am before flying to the Marriott Worsley in L
WAKEFIELD’S Dan Bradbury made an immediate impact on the local scene just 48 hours after returning to Yorkshire following a successful first year of a golf scholarship in the USA. Bradbury fired a two-under-par 70 at Wike Ridge to win the Leeds scratch stroke play championship, which was contested over one round rather than two for the first time since its inception. The former Yorkshire Boys’ captain is looking to add further victories before returning to college in Tennessee on August 11, but a difference in the handicap system in the USA, where a player’s mark is fixed for two years means he will miss out on some of the big events as he is off plus one. Introduced to the game by his f
