Staffordshire Golfer - #6 September 2023

STAFFORDSHIRE GOLFER

SEPTEMBER 2023

ISSUE SIX

PETER BAKER

WINS THE JCB CHAMPIONSHIP

HOLE IN ONE DELIGHT at Uttoxeter Golf Club

INSIDE THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP with Staffordshire’s finest

CELEBRATING 125 YEARS of the Aldridge Artisans

FROM THE EDITOR

Welcome to the sixth issue of the Staffordshire Golfer. We can’t believe we’re already into September, and heading towards the conclusion of the golfing season. But don’t worry, there’s still plenty of interesting things going in Staffordshire Golf that we’re looking forward to sharing with you in this latest issue. We would love the Staffordshire Golfer to be read all across the County, so if you could share this with your golfing friends and members, we’d be very grateful.

In this issue we delve into Staffordshire’s long standing involvement with the Open Championship. We speak with Tom Beasley about his attempt to make it to Hoylake and tee it up against

the best golfers in the world. We also speak to County President, Andrew Dathan, who had the chance to play in the Open several times back in the 1970s, it’s not to be missed!

The season has been a busy one here at Staffordshire Golf. We’ve been sending teams all round the County and into neighbouring Counties for matches alongside our busy championship schedule. The first and second team are both starting to see the rewards of their hard work. Both sides have picked up victories over the last couple of weeks, with our junior players continuing to feature in the second team, and contributing to the success of the County.

THE TEAM AT STAFFORDSHIRE GOLFER

Editor and Production: Medi8 Golf – david@medi8ltd.co.uk

Editorial research: Gareth Shaw – secretary@staffsgolf.org.uk

Editorial research: Michael Entecott – michael.entecott@staffsgolf.org.uk

We also report from the Legends Tour JCB Championship, which took place In August. It was fantastic to welcome the Legends Tour to Staffordshire and see some high quality golf up close. There was a great atmosphere and it was a pleasure to see so many supporters out there showing their respect to some of the best in the game.

Alongside this we feature the Aldridge Artisans, a spectacular month for Uttoxeter Golf Club, and an incredible fundraiser event for Cancer Research at Trentham Park Golf Club plus much more. I’ll leave it here so you can get stuck in to the latest issue, so enjoy and please remember to share the issue with your golfing friends.

IN THE CLUBHOUSE CHAMPIONSHIP WINNERS

The sky displayed a stunning backdrop for our Senior Championship at Penn Golf Club

Congratulations to Terry Henwood for his hole in one at Penn Golf Club

Staffordshire players James Thompson and Ronnie Groves before their round in the Carris Trophy at Moor Park Golf Club

Congratulations to our Senior Champions for 2023. Mike Deeley was the gross winner, whilst Ian Guest secured the nett winner.

Congratulations to Graham Sands from Uttoxeter Golf Club for winning the Geoff Marks Trophy with 35 points at The Castle Golf & Leisure

PETER BAKER WINS THE JCB CHAMPIONSHIP

Congratulations to The South Staffordshire Golf Club Head Professional, Peter Baker, for winning the JCB Championship at JCB Golf and Country Club. The championship was cut short with Storm Antoni making it’s presence felt across Staffordshire with heavy rain falling from the early hours of Saturday morning, making the course unplayable for the final round.

The South Staffordshire professional shot two rounds of 69, including a birdie on the par-3 ninth, which unknown to him at the time, secured the victory. Baker made a

fast start on his second round, with three birdies in his first six holes before making his first bogey on 18. Two bogey’s and three birdies on his back nine was enough for Peter to claim his second victory of the season.

Peter fought off a field full of stars, with Vijay Singh, Steven Alker, Ernie Els and last year’s winner Alex Cejka all towards the top of the leaderboard. Darren Clarke, Jon Daly, Colin Montgomerie, Chris DiMarco, Jean Van De Velde were just some of the other names that were playing in the Championship.

Peter’s season was already trending in the right direction having already won the Irish Legends event by seven shots, alongside a T3 at the Jersey Legends and a solo fifth at the Swiss Seniors Open. His win in Rocester now means he sits 2nd in the MCB Road to Mauritius.

It was great to see so many supporters from Staffordshire and from all over the country cheering on the players. JCB Golf and Country Club was the perfect venue, and we hope we’ll see the JCB Championship return to the Legends Tour schedule in 2024.

Gareth Shaw: How did you get involved in the County team in terms of the course rating side of things and the refereeing? Has that always been an interest of yours when you got into the game?

Roger Howarth: That was a fateful day. One of those days, I was part of the handicapping team here at Brockton at the time and I went to a seminar at Trentham Park that was run by Gemma Hunter from England Golf, who was head of the rating and so forth at the time. This was 2015, I think, or 2014 it might have been. And Gemma, at the end of this conversation that she was talking about handicap changes and Congu and so forth at the time, she said “we’re just beginning to introduce this new scheme of rating to get a better system for getting a standard scratch score. We’re importing the American course rating system. I wonder if there’s anybody here in the room that might be interested in taking part in that?”

I can remember the fateful day of me actually gently raising my hand and saying “yeah I am.” Following that I went on this two-day training course at Trentham, run by Ernie Steen. Ernie and another guy ran this course, and at the end of the two-day course that I found really fascinating, really interesting, Ernie comes up to me and says, ‘Roger you seem to have done reasonably well with this course, would you be interested in becoming a team leader?’ And once again I went, not understanding entirely what was involved in that, I went certainly that’d be very nice, thank you very much, yes. And away we went. And that was eight years ago. I joined with Sandra, of course, Sandra Fraser, who’s been doing course rating before me, oh, five or six years earlier than that. She was doing some work just for ladies’ golf. And then Andrew Dathan joined us as well for a short period.

And between us, we managed to get through the whole of the first cycle of course rating to get all 46 courses in the county ready and rated for the World Handicap System. But of course, when we started in 2015, the World Handicap System was just a glimmer in somebody’s eye. We had no idea what we were doing, why we were doing this course rating, except to get a better value for standard scratch score.

So, it only became later that it was obvious that it was going to be an integral part of the World Handicap System, which is where the pressure and the fuss came to get all 46 courses done. But we managed it and I think we were all pleased and chuffed to have got there.

G.S: In terms of then moving on to other roles that you’ve done in Staffordshire, you were the recipient of the Len Turner Award last year for

your services to Staffordshire, which is amazing and just shows how much you’ve done. With your refereeing side now, you’re going to referee at the JCB Championship. What are your thoughts around that?

R.H: I’m scared stiff to be honest. One of the things that the organiser, the tournament director of the Legends Tour, when he was talking to me on the phone about this, he said to me, ‘have you ever refereed a professional tournament, Roger?’ Well, I won’t use the word in the precise sense, but I went, no! So I am quite nervous about doing it, but really looking forward to the opportunity to do that. But the very idea of me potentially telling John Daly that he can’t drop his ball there, he has to do it somewhere else, makes me feel really quite nervous.

G.S: A kind of parting thought, what is the overarching message around course rating for you? Is the key for people to understand the difficulty argument around the scratch rating is more important than the slope rating in terms of difficulty? Is that something you want to get over to people?

R.H: It’s a conversation I have time and time and time again with people that come to me and say well why is this course harder than that one? Well, that’s not the judge of it, it really isn’t. And hopefully as people start to get their heads around how it really works, how it was always meant to work, which they will next year, that will become a little bit more obvious even if it is slightly more complicated to work out.

To listen to the rest of our sit down with Roger, click here:

Ahead of the JCB Championship returning to Staffordshire, we spoke to Staffordshire’s Union’s Roger Howarth, who in addition to being an SUGC course rater for WHS, has also been selected as a referee for the Championship.

THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP EXPERIENCE

In the 1970’s there were only about 70 scratch players in England. The entry for The Open was open to amateurs off a scratch handicap and members of the PGA. The famous story of the American who entered that could not actually play is true, the committee must simply have not checked his USPGA membership, but taken it on trust. I cannot remember the entry cost, but it was not high, in the region of £10/£15, I think. However, remember that at the time a new mini car was only £500!

I remember that a few of us in the Staffordshire team entered The Open when it was at a commutable course such as Royal Lytham or Royal Birkdale. In those days the only pre-qualification necessary was early in the championship week and at a course local course over 18 holes. When it was at Royal Lytham St Annes pre-qualification was at either Fairhaven or St Annes old Links. When at Birkdale pre-qualifying was at Hillside or St Annes Old Links. It was never at Royal Liverpool in the 1970’s.

For your entry fee you received a competitor’s badge and car park permit. The big, big bonus was that these were valid for the week whether you qualified for the Championship proper or not! Thus, one or two of us would make use of the clubhouse during the Championship, we could sit in the main lounge watching the event on television with the likes of Palmer, Player, Nicklaus etc. coming in after their rounds for light refreshment and wind down.

I entered when it was at Birkdale in 1971, with pre-qualification at Hillside then at Lytham in 1974 with pre-qualification at Fairhaven, and I entered again at Birkdale in 1976. In each case about 10 would qualify from a field of about 100, a 10% chance. I really can remember very little about the experience, most of my memories are from inside the clubhouse. Certainly, my scores at Fairhaven were abysmal.

When qualifying was at Hillside, thankfully I played somewhat better. I was a in three ball, I cannot remember names, but one was Australian and his wife was acting as his bag puller (no electric trolleys in those days!). She was memorable as she was exceedingly pregnant, and I remember being wary that she would go into labour before we finished.

As stated before, I really can remember very little about playing in the event but for one incident. After leaving the 18th green with a score that was not brilliant, I was approached by two young lads, about 10 or 11 years old. One pushed a notebook in my face saying, “Can we have your autograph mister?” I thought ‘fame at last’ and signed with a flourish. He then examined my attempt, showed it to his companion and stated out loud “See, told you it wasn’t him!” I was so astonished that

they had gone before I thought to ask them who they thought I was!

After that I remember being in the clubhouse for a short while and being thankful that, unlike in an amateur event, no-one asked me how I had faired.

I do not know what it costs to enter The Open nowadays, but from what I understand there are about three levels of regional qualification, each one only offering a very small number of places to advance. Thus, to qualify for the tournament itself there is probably only about a 1% overall chance. The use of the clubhouse and car park is no longer included unless you qualify and even then, the top competitors seldom use it themselves. I, personally, would not have entered if these conditions had prevailed back then.

TRENTHAM PARK’S 100 HOLE CHALLENGE

Trentham Park Sextet Complete Epic Charity Challenge

Six members of Trentham Park Golf club took part in the 100 hole challenge to raise money for Cancer Research U.K. In support of TPGC General Manager Jon Farmer, who has been recently diagnosed with Lymphoma. The team set out to raise £5000 and have smashed their original target with the fundraising page still going up.

With their rounds starting in the early morning and lasting to the early evening, it’s fair to say the team of six were exhausted on the 100th and final hole. In total they covered walking 78,260 steps and over 60km in this epic challenge. The team was supported out on the course by members, friends and family ensuring they stayed hydrated and informing groups ahead of them to let them play through.

A packed patio and live acoustic music were waiting for the six ball at the end of the day, with a party atmosphere welcoming the intrepid fundraisers home. We would like to send our best wishes to Jon Farmer, and we hope he is on his way to making a full recovery. We’d also like to send our congratulations to Alec Smith, Joe Wooliscroft, Jack Redfern, Matthew Brown, Andy Winstanley and Duncan Keenan for completing the challenge.

If you would like to donate to this incredible fundraising effort for Cancer Research then click the link below.

BEHIND THE SCENES OF OPEN QUALIFYING

Before the conclusion of the 151st The Open Championship, we sat down with Staffordshire’s very own Tom Beasley. Attached to The Chase Golf and Country Club, Tom went toe to toe with Masters Champions, DP World Tour Winners, and current touring professionals as they all battled it out for their spot at a place in the field, through regional and then final qualifying.

G.S: Tom, before we get into the nitty gritty of the kind of the rollercoaster that is Open qualifying, take me back to the very beginning. How did it all start for you?

T.B: I used to play football as a kid and then my dad sort of said, do you want to get into golf? So I went for a game and just loved it from the age of nine. Got my first membership on

my tenth birthday and just took off from there really.

G.S: Could you always see it as a kind of career journey or a career path?

T.B: At the start, no. But when I got to probably about 16, 17 and got down to about scratch, then I was like I’m going to give this a go and see what happens.

G.S: After that, what was that step up like from amateur golf where you could shoot a number and you think, ‘I’m up there’, to then into the professional ranks. Has it gone up a level for you?

T.B: Oh, definitely, yeah. It’s more difficult. Amateur golf, they sort of set up the courses where par was a good score.

BEHIND THE SCENES OF OPEN QUALIFYING

company, AC Steel, is helping me out, so obviously that’s really beneficial, but it’s still up to me to put the results in and help yourself at the end of the day.

G.S: Is that one of the reasons you thought the route of Open qualifying? To elevate your game, elevate your stature to another level?

T.B: Definitely, if you get in to The Open and then you can make the cut people are watching aren’t they, millions of people, so you never know who might see you. So, you’ve got to give it a go haven’t you?

G.S: You certainly did! Just to let everybody know what is regional qualifying all about?

T.B: I did it at Kedleston and there was about 125 people and you have to come in the top 8 so, say if I was tied at tied fourth but there was more than 8 people, we had to have a playoff. There was seven of us to be honest, it was probably the best mentally I’ve been on a course all day because I didn’t play my best but I just kept grinding away and then I had to wait for about three and a half hours for the playoff and then when I got there I hit my tee shot miles right and I was like, oh god. I hacked it out, hit a bad wedge and then holed a 35-footer and made it on the first hole after thinking you’d struggle to get in.

G.S: Did you feel that your chances had gone then, off the tee?

Whereas in pro golf, you’ve got to just shoot the lights out and you’ve got to shoot five, six under every round to win an event over three or four rounds.

G.S: And what parts of your game did you feel, or are you continuing to try and improve to compete at that professional level?

T.B: Wedges for me. I’ve always been okay around the greens, but pitch shots and 100 yards and in, I’ve never really got it close enough. So, I’m working as hard as I can. Obviously, it’s a tough game.

G.S: Have you gone about anything to do that? Do you use data? Do you use launch monitors?

T.B: When I’m with my coach I use my launch monitors, but they’re so expensive to get one now, you’re sort of just doing it off feel and just relying on my practice and hoping that’s going to get me through, but I think it’s all got to be mentally strong as well.

G.S: Have you got any support sponsors?

T.B: Yeah, my dad’s boss’s

T.B: Well not gone, I just thought I’d made it very hard for myself so you’ve just got to stay in the moment, hit your shots and commit to them and if it happens it happens, if it doesn’t it doesn’t.

But to be honest, I’d been putting well all day and I read it from both sides, walked around the hole and I was like, I could literally just see what the ball was going to do, and it literally did exactly what I wanted to and it just went in to give it a bit of a fist pump.

G.S: Was that a relief?

T.B: It was relief but almost like I was

proud of myself and I was hitting a bad shot and I was hacking out hitting another bad shot, holing the putt, it makes you feel like you can do this.

G.S: Yeah, exactly. What did you do? Because you said you had a three hour wait, what did you do for that time?

T.B: Sat in the bar having a chat, just trying not to think about it, hoping that you haven’t got to go back out. But then you see the scoreboard and after about an hour there was eight of us and I was like one more and you’re in. I did some putting for half an hour, had another glass of water, did a bit of chipping, then went to the range to warm up when I knew I had to play.

G.S: Have you done final stage before?

T.B: It was the first time, yeah.

G.S: What was that experience like?

T.B: Yeah, I enjoyed it. It was the only one of the four final venues I’d played before. So I thought, I’ve played well around there before. It’s good memories, so go down there, give it a go. I was fortunate enough to play with Ross McGowan who has won twice on the European tour and in the group in front of me was Brandon Grace, Thomas Detry and in the group behind was Charles Schwartzel so there was like a swarm of people around us watching.

G.S: So it felt like a proper tour event?

T.B: It was yeah, there was like 200 people with Charles Schwartzel, 200 people with the other group.

G.S: And for you, you said before, it’s the mental side of it. How did you prepare mentally? Did you look at the field? Did you anticipate where these major champions were?

T.B: Yeah, well, you see them playing, you know it’s going to be tough. So you’ve sort of just got to not really think about the outcome at the end. You’ve just got to go out there and enjoy it, take every shot as it comes. And if you hit a bad one, you hit a bad one. If you hit a good one, you hit a good one.

G.S: The guys who you played with, where did you see the difference between your game and their game?

T.B: Definitely the mental side, like I say I’ve struggled with the mental side in the past, like hit a bad shot and you’re drowning in it a little bit and just watching them hit a bad shot and then he’d just be having a laugh, walking down the fairway and just still chatting as normal, walking at the same speed and then he’d walk up and hit a good shot and that’s the difference really.

G.S: Can you prep for that? Can I talk to you about your preparation before final qualifying? Did you go down there, practice round, and have you played the place before?

T.B: Yeah, well, we had our Captain’s Away Day on the weekend before, and obviously I was meant to play both days, but I only played the one. And to be honest, I wanted to play it, I was going to just go down two days before, but I just wanted to have some fun golf, sort of getting in mind that we’re enjoying the game, not playing it and just working myself up saying, oh, I’ve got this, and just trying to take your mind off it really.

G.S: Just trying to keep it like a normal game of golf.

T.B: Yeah, it’s what it is, isn’t it? It’s a game at the end of the day. It’s your job. It’s hard to separate it sometimes, but you’ve got to enjoy it.

G.S: What did you take from the experience?

T.B: Watching Ross, I’m definitely going to put some work in to find someone who can help with exercise. Obviously, like I was saying about my wedge game, I’m going to try and sharpen that as much as I can. But I think, mainly, it’s just believing in yourself.

G.S: What’s next for you and how’s the rest of the season?

T.B: So I’ve got six events left on the Clutch Pro Tour. I’m at the Astbury in Bridgnorth next Tuesday for a three-day event and then I’ve got another week off. It’s quite sparse to be fair in August so I can put a lot of time on the practice ground.

RESULTS

2ND TEAM MATCH REPORT

Staffordshire Union 2nd Team met for the third game of the season at Sandwell Park Golf Club on Sunday 2nd July 2023 to play Warwickshire. This was a home match for Staffordshire, played on a course that is right on the border with the Warwickshire Golf County.

The day started a little overcast with the wind strengthening as the day went on. The course was very dry and firm with the greenkeepers watering the greens just before the first tee time.

The morning foursomes were started by Jack Clemson and Jack Morgan. This was a hard fought match between the two pairings. The game went all the way down to the final hole and ended in a well deserved all square match. The second group was James O’Keeffe and Dan Richards. James assured me, due to the fact he wasn’t given a new partner, that he would bring the points home.

James and Dan played some good golf and came back strongly taking the game to the final hole where they lost 1 down. Third group was James Sellman and Mark Sheldon. The Staffordshire pairing faced tough opponents and could not quite match them losing 4&3.

Fourth pairing was Alan Lones and Aarian Mattharu. The Staffordshire pair formed a strong partnership early on. Some good play by both players saw them win 6&5.

Final group for the morning session was Richard Knott (2nd Team captain) and Louis Cope. The Staffordshire pairing got off to a strong start which they would continue throughout the round. Their opponents tried to battle back on the back nine, but the Staffordshire pairing went on to win 4&2. This meant that after the morning session the score was –Staffordshire 2.5 v Warwickshire 2.5.

The afternoon session got underway with Jack Clemson. Jack made a solid start to the afternoon and went on to win 3&2. Second out was Dan Richards who battled hard in a tight game that went down the final hole and finished all square.

Third match out was James O’Keeffe, who similarly to Jack, started strongly. James took charge of the match winning 6&4. Fourth match was Jack Morgan, who fought hard against his opponent but could not quite get the rub of the green and lost 4&3.

Fifth match was James Sellman, who despite playing some good golf went on to lose 4&2. The sixth match of the afternoon was Mark Sheldon. The match was up and down all the way through with nothing splitting the two golfers. It went all the way down the final hole, where the match stayed all square.

Alan Lones was the seventh match out. Powerful hitting from the

Staffordshire player gave him the advantage over his opponent and he went on to win 3&2. The eighth match was Aarian Mattharu, who is one of our very promising juniors breaking into the team. He fought hard against his opponent pushing him all the way to the final hole where the match ended All Square.

The penultimate match of the afternoon was Louis Cope. Louis, another one of our juniors, gained plenty of confidence after gaining his first point for the men’s side and continued his good play from the morning session meaning he went on to win the match 3&1.

The final match of the day was 2nd Team Captain, Richard Knott. Richard took an early lead in the match, but his opponent battled back with birdies. Richard capitalised on a good spot of fortune on the 17th hole and went on to win the match 2&1.

The final result being Staffordshire 9 v Warwickshire 6. A well deserved victory for Staffordshire where each player battled well against their respective opponents.

Well done and a thank you to players from both sides with the match being played in the good spirit. Thank you to Sandwell Park Golf Club for holding the match and for their hospitality. Thank you to the greenkeeping staff, professional staff and the members of the golf club for making us feel so welcome.

It’s gone hole in one crazy over the last six weeks at Uttoxeter Golf Club with a grand total of three Aces being recorded at the East Staffordshire venue. Can any other club in the County top that?

The first hole in one came on Wednesday 28th June, when Ian Pattison found the bottom of the cup with his tee shot on the 16th , while taking part in round six of the Seniors Harold Wheatcroft Championship.

It was Clive Barnigham’s turn next just a week later. Representing Uttoxeter in a Seniors match against Mickleover, Clive made it nearly impossible for his opponents to win the 12th hole following his ace. This incredible feat contributed to 87 year old Clive shooting a gross score lower than his age!

The final one (that we know about), was Stewart Bradshaw’s on Friday 21st July. The 16th hole was again centre of attention, as the short part 3 claimed another hole in one.

Unbelievably, the hot streak of Uttoxeter members getting hole in ones was kicked off away from the venue by Graham Gill who was playing in the Sandiway Open AmAm on Tuesday 27th June. Graham’s ace came on the 18th, which was witnessed by everyone on the patio overlooking the final green.

If you, or anyone at your club, has had a hole in one then let us know and you could be featured in the next issue of the Staffordshire Golfer.

INGESTRE PARK COURSE UPDATE

County Secretary, Gareth Shaw, went over to Ingestre Park Golf Club to take a look at their progress with their course redesign. In this short video, we chatted to Greens Director, Martin Cox, about the course changes and he acts as a caddy for Gareth as he navigates his way around the new holes.

Clive Barningham

Ian Pattison

Stewart Bradshaw

CLUB DELEGATE MEETING INFO:

County Secretary, Gareth Shaw, will be hosting the first of a series of club delegate meetings on Monday 25th September 2023, hosted at The South Staffordshire Golf Club. We will be running two sessions, giving delegates the flexibility to pick between a morning and afternoon session. This is a great chance for us to connect with the clubs, we look forward to seeing all of the delegates to discuss County plans and much more.

AM SESSION:

8:30 am Arrival

Bacon Sandwich/Tea & Coffee

9:30 am - 10 am

9 holes of golf (golf optional)

12:30 pm - 2:30 pm

Meeting

PM SESSION: 2:30 pm Arrival

3:00 pm

9 holes of golf (golf optional)

5:00 pm Sandwiches and Chips

6:30 pm - 8:30 pm

Meeting

To become a delegate contact: secretary@staffsgolf.org.uk

WHAT’S THE RULING?

You’re standing over a 10 foot birdie putt when, in your practice stroke, you accidentally cause your ball to move on the green. Do you…

A. Get an automatic one shot penalty

B. Replace the ball with no penalty

C. Play the ball from its new position on the green

See back page for the answer

PRO TIP - TOM GIBBS

Do you want to hit the ball further to gain a marginal advantage in the final competitions of the season? With this short video with Staffordshire Union of Golf Clubs analyst Tom Gibbs, he will show you how your grip could be effecting how far you hit the ball. Tom has had a busy few weeks, he was in the Swing Zone at The Open Championship and will soon be making his way over to Italy to teach during the Ryder Cup, so this is definitely worth a watch!

THE ALDRIDGE ARTISANS

Artisan golf can be traced back to 1864 when the Royal North Devon Golf Club was founded in Westwood Ho and is said to host the oldest course in England. It was here in 1888 that the Northam Golf Club was founded by members of the Northam Working Mans Club including the former gameskeeper, caddie and legendary professional, John Henry Taylor.

A pioneer of the modern game, Taylor is considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time having won the British Open five times and captained the 1933 GB Ryder Cup team. On top of this, Taylor co-founded the PGA in 1921 and was made an honorary member of the R&A. He never forgot his roots and went on to help form the Artisan Golf Association which maintains the principle of honest labour in return for fairway access to this day.

For Taylor, “everyone, regardless of their financial standing, should have access to the game of golf.”

Since then, artisan golf has evolved; the professions of members are linked to skilled trades and artisans can support both each other and members of the host club. A good

example of this was the time the Aldridge Artisans were based in Sutton Coldfield Golf Club. Members worked together to build a brick headquarters near to the club’s main building, a structure which is still in full use today.

Originally beginning life in 1898 under the name Sutton Coldfield Working Men’s Golf Club, the Aldridge Artisans name derived from the active parts played by the founder members working at the Sutton Coldfield golf course. Stewards, greenkeepers, gatekeepers and numerous caddies ‘carried’ for members of the host club, one of whom was founder member Jack Matthews, a caddie master at Sutton Coldfield for 55 years.

The original setup comprised 35 members, a number which has more or less been maintained throughout the club’s history. Unlike the artisans playing now, the members present at the turn of the 20th century were not allowed to play on Sundays. Instead, their playing time was limited to the remaining six days of the week, fitting games in around their working patterns. Early links with Little Aston Golf Club, where

the Aldridge Artisans have been based since 1978, were initiated through matches between the working men and Little Aston members between 1910 and 1920.

Two of the club’s early members were brothers AJ and MJ Lewis, artisans who played for Sutton Coldfield Working Men’s Golf Club in matches against Little Aston in 1912. MJ Lewis progressed to become Little Aston’s professional whilst AJ Lewis became the professional at Sutton Coldfield.

In the late 1930s, Sutton Coldfield Working Men’s Golf Club became Sutton Coldfield Artisans’ Golf Club. Demand for membership remained very popular, often with long waiting lists but with priority given to sons of members.

Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, artisan ranks were bolstered by Charlie Ward, a man whom Peter Allis described as “Britain’s finest professional in the post-war years.” Ward played as an artisan for many years prior to the war and became the club’s touring professional at Little Aston. Ward went on to play in the Ryder Cup in 1941, 1951 and 1953.

2023 marks a momentous occasion for the Aldridge Artisans who will be celebrating their 125th anniversary. Based at Little Aston Golf Club, the 37-strong club are rightly proud of their history and will celebrate their quasquicentennial with various events, culminating in a golf day and dinner.

In 1951, he went toe-to-toe at Pinehurst with Ben Hogan who had that year won both the Masters and the US Open. In 1965, Ward won the World Seniors Championship at Formby Golf Club, defeating Sam Sneed on the 37th hole.

Charlie ‘Whippet’ Ward, as he was nicknamed for his fast play, won many more competitions and accolades and, as said by Ward’s nephew and fellow artisan at Sutton Coldfield and Little Aston, John Matthews, “He wasn’t bad for an artisan!”

As with all things, the golfing world was changing and evolving and the necessity for caddies and park keepers dwindled, directly impacting the future of many artisan clubs around the country. The same fate appeared to be about to condemn Sutton Coldfield artisans to the annals of history.

However, their continued close links with Little Aston Golf Club stood them in good stead and in 1978, Little Aston members John Lewis and secretary Norman Russell raised the notion of a move to Little Aston after which Russell became the artisans’ president. At the same time, and as part of the move, the club changed its name to the Aldridge Artisans, predominantly because there was a policy that members had to reside within a 5 mile radius of the course.

Initial Artisan duties included working on the 91 bunkers at Little Aston’s renowned championship course, divoting duties every Sunday and helping out during the many tournaments held at Little Aston.

It was during this time that the Aldridge Artisans became affiliated with the Staffordshire Union. After settling in well at Little Aston, the Aldridge Artisans developed a strong relationship with the host club with their work enhancing the condition and beauty of the golf course. Matches against Little Aston continued, as well as the Vice President’s annual ‘Blades’ matches and pairs competition with the Little Aston Ladies.

Today, Artisans are honoured that the past Little Aston President and

captain, Brian Cooke, is the current Aldridge Artisan President and the club’s committee are confident that the Aldridge Artisans are in a healthy position to thrive. As well as matches and strong relationships with neighbouring courses such as Druids Heath, Bloxwich and Staffs Castle, the Aldridge Artisans also have the opportunity to play on magnificent courses like Birkdale, St Georges on-the-Hill and Hoylake.

The ethos of the Aldridge Artisans is and always will be to offer stalwart support to the parent club by working closely with the Little Aston Golf Club committee and its greenkeeper, Dave Gibbon. Let’s hope golf and its traditions, and Little Aston Golf Club’s support for The Aldridge Artisans, will continue to blossom for many years to come.

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@staffsgolf.org.uk

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Staffordshire Golf Union

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Answer: B – According to rule 9.4 you can accidentally hit your ball on the green with no penalty