Staffordshire Golfer - #1 September 2022

STAFFORDSHIRE

KEN

FROM THE EDITOR

Welcome to Staffordshire Golfer, our brand new e-magazine.

When we first sat down to discuss the best way to communicate with clubs and golfers across the region, we decided that we wanted to try something a little different. As far as we know, we’re the first county to produce an e-magazine, and we sincerely hope that you like what we’ve produced.

Staffordshire Golfer will highlight news from clubs across the County, provide the latest information on

the work of the Union and shine a light on the best things from in and around the game of golf in Staffordshire. Every issue we want to inform, entertain and share, so please do let us know any news that you’d like us to include in future issues.

We begin this inaugural edition with a spotlight on one of Staffordshire’s most recent successes – DP World Tour player Richard Mansell. Over a few conversations, Richard shared his journey from beginner at The Chase, to his appearance at the 150th Open Championship. Richard gives us a fantastic insight to what

it takes to make it as a Professional and tells us how county golf was at the heart of his development.

Alongside stories of Richard’s success, we welcome Whiston Hall as our 47th club in the union and bring you news of Junior achievements, 3 hole-in-ones in one competition and lots more highlights from around the County. We hope you enjoy this first issue. Let us know if there’s anything you would like to see in future issues, and we look forward to becoming a welcome ping in the inbox of every Staffordshire Golfer.

IN THE CLUBHOUSE

Congratulations to Alfie Turner (Trentham Golf Club) for winning the British Kids Championship at Woodhall Spa Golf Club

Good luck to Daniel Whitby-Smith who is playing for GB&I in the PGA Cup

New practice green and course re-development taking shape at Ingestre Park

Sedgley Golf Centre install Toptracer range

FROM THE CHASE TO THE OPEN –

A STAFFORDSHIRE SUCCESS STORY RICHARD MANSELL

Pictured

on our cover at the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews, Stafford shire’s Richard Mansell is the highest flying current county alumni. After a superb amateur career, Richard is beginning to make waves in the professional game, including securing a coveted place at this year’s Open.

After progression through Stafford shire’s junior ranks and captaining the County, Richard headed to Nova South Eastern university in Florida where he helped his Nova Sharks team to a national championship in 2015. Like so many golfers, his transition to the pro game didn’t al ways come easily but through sheer determination and talent, he has well and truly found his feet now.

This article is taken from conversations with Richard over the past 18 months, most recently after a 3rd place finish at the DP World Tour Omega European Masters.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR EARLY DAYS IN THE GAME.

I started golf when I was nine, at The Chase Golf Club. I went there with

my dad, he used to be in a society there. I played football like a lot of kids, and thought I was better at football than golf! But when I was 12, there was a turning point. I was playing in the Staffordshire Boys at Sandwell and I was off 21 handicap. My Dad entered me and I’d never played in anything above the junior comps at my club at the time. I ended up winning the nett by quite a lot of shots, I shot about seven or eight over gross for my second round off 21. I got quite a big cut and my coach Les Burlison picked me for the Staffs U14s in a match versus Derbyshire at Ashbourne. I remember it like it was yesterday, I still have the picture. I’ve got my pencil bag, the Staffordshire uniform on that didn’t fit me because I was the smallest 12-year-old in the world and I was off 15 handicap. The three other U14 players were Lewis Birchall, who I think at the time was off three or four, there was Rob Burlison who was off about the same and a kid called Joe Dean from Oxley Park who was off seven and there was me off 15. I was thinking this is ridiculous. We played the Derbyshire lads and that guy’s handicap was probably 7 and I remember winning the foursomes

with Joe 3&2. I played my singles against a guy off 7, which is off scratch and I won 6&5. I was obviously a 15 handicap who wasn’t a 15 handicap. That was the start of my Staffordshire career.

As a kid when I had that first outing for Staffordshire Golf is when I decided to take it seriously, and you then dream of becoming a Professional Golfer. There’s been a lot of people who have helped me, including everyone at Staffordshire Golf. Staffordshire Golf was a huge part of my growing up. There were a lot of people at the time who thought there were other people who were probably better. Rob Burlison played for England, there were other people off lower handicaps. I always wanted to play for England growing up but never really quite did. I think as a junior golfer I probably didn’t have the best attitude, I was a bit too full of myself sometimes and I needed to mature. All I wanted to do was play for England rather than just playing golf for me. I always seemed to do well when I played for the County and then when I was made County Captain we had an amazing team and every year since then I feel like I’ve got a bit better.

HOW DID THE COUNTY PREPARE YOU FOR LIFE AS A PRO?

(The biggest thing was) surrounding yourself with people who had the same dream. We all wanted to push each other. In Staffordshire in my age group we had a lot of good players. At the 10 counties at Under 18 our worst handicap was scratch which was really really good. We all used to push each other, we went to nationals and I was lucky to be in that age group where we were all very good.

WHAT WERE YOUR NEXT STEPS?

I always wated to play for England… but used to get in my own way when I’d play in National tournaments. But I also I knew from a young age I wanted to play in America. When I was 14 my Dad took me to a pro am at TPC Sawgrass and it was one of the best golfing weeks of my life.

DID IT ALL CHANGE WHEN YOU WENT TO THE U.S. TO PLAY COLLEGE GOLF?

I didn’t worry about playing for England once I was doing well in America, and that set me up to where I am now. Every year out there I wanted to pride myself on being the hardest worker, I was fortunate enough to be on a good team and we had quite a lot of success, and I just worked hard, and knew that because I had the facilities and the opportunity to do that, I could probably achieve some stuff and it’s been a huge part of my journey to where I am now. Out there, there’s so many good golfers. I played with so many people who no-one had heard of and they’d just shot 64. It just taught you to switch off from everyone else and just focus on yourself.

You’re doing a degree at the same time and it does teach you a lot of life lessons. The opportunity’s there if you want to put the work in. I know a lot of players that I thought he’s so talented and you wonder how he’s not kicked on. The way I see it is that he didn’t want it enough. Didn’t want to put the work in.

Bringing the story right up to date, Richard hit the ground running in 2022, qualifying for both the U.S. Open and the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews.

He continues to perform fantastically well on the DP World Tour which has included 4 top 10 finishes.

Richard is currently ranked 35 on the race to Dubai and has had 2 top 5 places in his last 5 starts on the DP World Tour including a third place finish at the Omega European Masters in Switzerland. In reflective mood after a great run of recent results, Richard commented, “I feel I am knocking on the door, I have just got to keep going and keep knocking to get that first win.”

All at SUGC are incredibly proud of Richard and his achievements. His attitude, hard work and ability to stand out is an example to all of our current and future juniors, that anything is possible. We will catch up with Richard soon, and visit more of the conversation he had with County Secretary Gareth Shaw later in the season.

Golf around the county is only possible because of an army of volunteers working behind the scenes. In this recurring feature we will shine a spotlight on some of the men and women that power the engines of Staffordshire Golf with their tireless work for the benefit of everyone in the local game. In the first in the series, we speak with retired JCB engineer Ken Horleston about his volunteer work along with some of the fascinating places his time in the game has taken him.

Ken Horleston: It started here at Whiston Hall. At that time I was working in quality at JCB and one of the lads there was playing here regularly. He said come and have a knock with me. I had a six or a seven iron with me and we went out to the back holes, eight and nine, and started hitting balls down the fairway and it went on from there. That was about 1972/73.

Gareth Shaw: How important are clubs like Whiston to feeding golfers into more established clubs in the county?

K.H: They play a big part in it. Whiston is a great feeder club for other venues. It was never the best course, mainly because of the greens but the course and layout was fantastic. The greenkeeper has got them to a fantastic standard and if we had them in the early days then wow, it would’ve been some thing else. Places like Goldenhill and Keele were very important… These courses like Whiston and Keele were instrumental in bringing people into golf, driving ranges have taken over a little bit now, but its not quite the same. It’s a shame we’ve lost places like that, Keele was a nice course.

G.S: Talk to us about what you do now in golf.

K.H: If you go back a few years I was the senior captain and captain of the club over a period of some years. You start organising events and one of the first things, I did was the senior opens here and got all the lads playing in them. I’d send the entry and I’d tell people what opens they were playing in. When the new handicap system came in, I went to a couple of the seminars and thought that sounded interesting and they had a big rule change in 2019 so I did a big

presentation for about 80 members. It was a matter of taking everyone through that system. I created flipcharts to explain how the best 8 out of 20 scores would work and the calculations, even though they didn’t need to worry how they would work as it’s computerised and I went all through that with them here and Blythe Bridge.

They had no one to run the handicaps so I took that role on and then became the welfare officer as nobody was shouting up to do it. It went on as the systems were developing I had to explain the touchscreen system with all the members and show them how to get on. I’ve been doing it for 2 years and still some don’t know how to use it. It’s a miracle to them. But they’re learning! When the slope rating came in I downloaded it and thought that’s interesting and thought I’d find out more about it. The 1st rating I did (after completing the training course) was here and we rated the 3 sets of tees. From there we’ve done Breadsall Priory, Stone and Onneley. I quite enjoy doing the ratings, its different and there is a lot involved. It’s a shame we can’t do more together as you’ll do one, then another in 3 or 4 weeks and you’ve forgotten.

G.S: On a personal level, you worked in America and got to play golf in some amazing places….

K.H: My engineer, Ted Ericksen, was 82 at the time, I imagine he’s passed away now as this was in 1998. He said oh well, I’ll take you to a proper golf course and I said oh right. I said to my architect that Ted is going to take me to a proper golf course and he said ‘ooo you’re getting Augusta are ya?’ I said I don’t know, is that where we’re going? We went to Augusta and as we were driving

down the road the security guy goes ‘Morning Mr. Ericksen’ I thought wow he really has been a member here a long time, he’d been there since he was a teenager apparently.

G.S: We talk about Magnolia Lane a lot in golf, did you think that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity?

K.H: I don’t know, it was something new, you were thinking wow. I was more interested in seeing the thing, but you did feel a bit ‘Wow, this is something special.’

The one thing that shocked me was how steep everything is, it is so steep. We had a buggy. But when you look at the 10th tee and from tee to green is 100ft drop, and then you go to the left and through the trees to the 11th tee and you’re going down another 40ft and you keep going down you know, the climb back is the biggest thing that television doesn’t show you with how far you come up on just them 2 holes. The 18th is very steep, the last few yards going up to the green are steep. It was an experience, a real experience.

This article features excerpts of an interview recorded for the SUGC podcast. You can hear many more stories including when Ken played golf with Robert Redford and met Sandra Bullock by clicking the button below.

If your club has an unsung hero that you would like to put forward for a future feature, please contact Secretary@staffsgolf.org.uk HEROES

Juniors

U18s

U18 8 v 7 Derbyshire U18, Onneley Golf Club

U18 9.5 v 2.5 Leicestershire & Rutland U18, Branston Golf Club

U18 6 v 9 Worcestershire U18, Penn Golf Club

U16s

U16 5 v 10 Warwickshire U16, South Staffordshire Golf Club

U16 9 v 6 Worcestershire U16, Church Stretton Golf Club

U16 9.5 v 5.5 Shropshire & Herefordshire U16, Church Stretton Golf Club

U16 11.5 v 3.5 Derbyshire U16, Matlock Golf Club

U16 6.5 V 8.5 Cheshire U16, Wolstanton Golf Club

U14s

U14 3.5 v 1.5 Shropshire & Herefordshire U14

Seniors

Seniors 8.5 v 9.5 Leicestershire & Rutland Seniors, Melton Mowbray Golf Club

Seniors 11 v 7 Northamptonshire Seniors, Northampton Golf Club

Seniors 9.5 v 8.5 Shropshire & Herefordshire Seniors, The Astbury Golf Club

Seniors 9 v 9 Worcestershire Seniors, South Staffordshire Golf Club

Men

1st Team

1st Team 8.5 v 6.5 Worcestershire 1st Team, Sapey Golf Club

1st Team 7.5 v 7.5 Shropshire & Herefordshire 1st Team, Herefordshire Golf Club

1st Team 5.5 v 9.5 Nottinghamshire 1st Team, Little Aston Golf Club

2nd Team

2nd Team 6 v 9 Shropshire & Herefordshire 2nd Team, Penn Golf Club

2nd Team 8 v 7 Worcestershire 2nd Team, Great Barr Golf Club

2nd Team 4 v 11 Nottinghamshire 2nd Team, Radcliffe on Trent Golf Club

Staffordshire Men’s 2nd team finished their final home game of the season with a bang as they faced Worcestershire at Great Barr Golf Club. Despite a lack of rain, the course was in fantastic condition, with true and quick greens. The early morning foursomes were a hotly contested battle, with Worcestershire taking a slender one-point lead into the afternoon session. The first game of the morning went the way of Staffordshire after Ellis Muckley and Dan Taylor, who was playing his first County match, secured the first point of the day with a 2&1 win. The momentum then swung back towards the visitors, with Worcestershire securing the next three games. The final Staffordshire pairing, made up of Captain Richard Knott and Lance Round cruised to a 6&5 victory to put another point on the board leaving the scores after the morning games a tantalising Staffordshire 2, Worcestershire 3. Staffordshire kicked off the afternoon singles session in style, with Muckley winning 3&1 in the opening game. The second went the way of Worcestershire, but the Staffordshire side were in inspired form, winning the next four. The away side then mounted a comeback, with the pendulum swinging back towards Worcestershire, with the visitors taking games seven, eight and nine. With the scores even, the pressure was on the Captain in the last pairing to bring home the victory. And he did not disappoint. Knott raced into an early lead, racking up the birdies over the opening holes and holding on to his early lead to secure a 4&3 triumph.

The final score was Staffordshire 8, Worcestershire 7. A valiant effort in the singles, with Staffordshire winning 6 of the 10 points, was enough to secure their second victory of the season.

LINE UP: Ellis Muckley; Dan Taylor; Jack Morgan; Jack Clemson; Ollie Clews; James O’Keefe; Richard Hunt; Tony Anderton; Lance Round; Richard Knott ©

U14S MAKE IT THREE IN A ROW

The Staffordshire Union of Golfers U14s team has retained the Four Counties Championship for the third year running. Staffordshire took on Warwickshire, Nottinghamshire, and Derbyshire in the annual Championship where all matches are played across one day, with each match being played off scratch over ten holes. First up at Alfreton Golf Club was Warwickshire, with Staffordshire winning 4 out of the 6 games to give them a comfortable 4 – 2 victory.

It was Nottinghamshire up next before lunch, with Staffs winning the first two matches and halving the third. Nottinghamshire fought back valiantly by taking the next two games. However, it was Staffordshire who held their nerve, enjoying a 5&4 win to seal the match 7 – 5.

The Staffordshire side went into the final game against Derbyshire knowing that a draw would be enough to bring the trophy back to the county. Derbyshire went into a 2- 0 lead early on, with Staffordshire fighting back to win the third. Game 4 then went to the opposition, meaning Staffordshire had to win the remaining two games. Game 6 finished early, with a 3&2 victory to Staffordshire whilst the tension in game five could be felt across the course. We took the lead in the 9th hole of the match, taking the match down to the wire. The win was secured with a par on the last hole in front of a large crowd, sealing the Hat-Trick of wins. Simon Roberts, coach of the U14s said:

“I am very proud of the boy’s performance, they never gave up all day.”

WOODHALL SPA REDEVELOPMENT:

England Golf, the governing body for club golf in England is proposing the development of a new clubhouse at its H.Q. at Woodhall Spa, and we want your views…

The current position of SUGC is firmly against the proposal as it would mean England Golf spending most of their cash reserves and a change in the management structure which we believe will diminish current protections that are afforded to the counties.

Whilst we agree that an upgrade to the clubhouse at Woodhall Spa is due, we have carefully listened to the arguments from England Golf and cannot agree that the amount being spent is prudent in the current climate and particularly when other priorities for growing the game of golf are considered.

However, we are no more than the views of our members, so would like your opinion on the proposals. Current feedback sits in line with the position of the board – a firm no – but we would like as many Staffordshire golfers as possible to join the debate.

To request a copy of the plans and the written position of the Staffordshire Union please e-mail secretary@staffsgolf.org.uk.

ED WHATMORE SECURES MATCHPLAY TITLE

Congratulations to Ed Whatmore of Enville Golf Club, who has won the final Staffordshire Boys event of the season, becoming the John Slaughter Matchplay Champion.

In the semi-finals Ed overcame Alfie Turner, whilst James Donoghue beat Ted Westwood to secure his place in the final. Eventual winner, Ed, was in fine form on the day, winning all his matches 5&4. Finals day was hosted at Stone Golf Club, which proved to be a challenging venue for the final four.

Staffordshire Union of Golf Clubs President, Michael Entecott said: “The standard of golf on the day was incredible. Our juniors are thriving this season, it’s great to see them all playing high quality golf.

My congratulations go out to every player who took part in this year’s John Slaughter Matchplay Championship.”

This year’s Cox & Thomas will be an event that goes down in history. There were three hole-in-ones over the course of the competition at Barlaston Golf Club, on two different holes. The odds of one amateur golfer getting a hole-in-one is an astonishing 12,500-1, so to have three on one day is a truly remarkable feat.

The first ace of the day belonged to Eddie Charlton of South Staffordshire Golf Club, whose round got off to an unbelievable start. Eddie’s hole-in-one came on the 2nd hole of his round at the par 3 2nd, which measures 121 yards off the white tees. It was Steve Wild of Trentham Golf Club’s turn next at the 135 yard 15th. Unbelievably this wasn’t Steve’s first hole-in-one, it was his seventh. Is there anyone in Staffordshire with more? The third and final one of the day was from Mark Hateley of Little Aston Golf Club who holed out on the second to record the final ace of the day and top off a remarkable event that will go down in the history books.

Staffordshire Union of Golf Clubs President, Michael Entecott said: “To have one hole-in-one at an event is something to remember, never mind three. It’s definitely a record number of hole-in-ones in one day at a Staffordshire event and I’d be very surprised to find another day quite like it!

“It truly highlights the standard of golf in the County at the minute. Eddie, Steve and Mark should all be very proud of themselves to achieve something most golfers only dream about.”

Congratulations to Paul Morris (Oxley Park Golf Club) and Colin Woolley (South Staffordshire Golf Club) who shot a nett 46 Stableford points to win the Cox Chalice trophy. The Thomas Trophy was won by Bob Aston (Greenway Hall Golf Club) and Andy Guy (Stone Golf Club), with the pair shooting 42 gross Stableford points.

We are pleased to welcome Whiston Hall Golf Club back into the Staffordshire Golf family, becoming the 47th club to join the Union.

Set over 120 acres next to Whiston Hall Golf Resort, Whiston Hall Golf Club is home to a demanding 9-hole course, that presents challenges to the more experienced players whilst managing simultaneously not to intimidate those newer to the game.

Upon the re-entry to the Union, Steve Ash, Club Chairman at Whiston Hall commented, “For us the benefits of affiliating to Staffordshire Union are the support we get from the county. We get help with the course rating and management of the world handicap system, this is priceless to us!” County Secretary, Gareth Shaw said: “It’s great to welcome Whiston Hall back into the Union. It’s a course I’ve known for years and one that I always enjoy coming to. We now have 47 clubs in the Union, and I’m delighted that we continue to go from strength to strength. Working with Steve and the team to secure Whiston’s membership of the Union has been a pleasure and I’m delighted that we’re able to now deliver the benefits of membership to the club and their members.”

The Union was delighted to put a team together for the Steve Downes Memorial Day at the end of August. Steve was a huge supporter of the County, volunteering his time in several roles including junior development. The memorial event held in his name at Ingestre Park was a huge success with much needed funds being raised for Cancer Research UK. Proudly representing SUGC at this very special event were County secretary Gareth Shaw, Pippa Dathan, Andrew Dathan and Mark Ashton.

WHAT’S THE RULING?

Before playing from the teeing area on the 18th hole, Michael accidentally knocks his ball off the tee when taking a practice swing.

What is the ruling?

A. There is no penalty, and the ball must be played as it lies.

B. There is no penalty, and the ball may be re-teed.

C. Michael gets one penalty stroke and must replace the ball.

See back page for the answer

SUGC

2023 marks the centenary of the Staffordshire Union of Golf Clubs and to celebrate this impressive milestone, our resident County historian Pippa Dathan has written a Centenary book.

Taking up the story when Staffordshire golfers were winners and runners up of the Midland Counties Championship from 1919-1922 but the county was the only Midland County without a Union, the centenary book charts 100 years of progress.

From the first meeting of eight clubs at the Grand Hotel, Birmingham, on May 3rd, 1923 through to the end of the 2022 season, the centenary book charts 100 years of progress, and at just £10, it really is great value for anyone interested in the history of local golf.

Is there someone at your club that goes above and beyond? Has there been a hole-in-one or an exceptional score? Do you have a special event happening in the coming months? Have you redecorated the clubhouse?

We want to know! Let us know of anything exciting going on at your club and we’ll try and find a spot in the next edition! E-mail: secretary@staffsgolfclubs.org.uk

For discounted golf across the 47 clubs in our county download the igCounty app

Make sure you’re following us on social media to keep up with all the latest news from around Staffordshire: Golf Union www.staffsgolf.co.uk

Answer: B. There is no penalty, and the ball may be re-teed. Under Rule 6.1, a player has started a hole only when he or she makes a stroke to begin the hole. As the practice swing was not a stroke, the ball was not yet in play.