Golf club honoured by R&A in centenary year

The organisation which oversees the rules of golf worldwide and organises The Open and scores of events around the world, has presented an engraved salver to Leighton Buzzard Golf Club to mark its centenary.

Ian Pattinson, captain of the Royal and Ancient (R&A) based at Royal St Andrews in Fife, travelled to the Plantation Road club last week to join club officials and members on the very date 100 years ago that the course was opened.

All but a handful of Leighton’s current and former club captains were able to attend the centenary celebration event .Pictured (left to right) are: John Preston, Robbie John, Stuart Mills, David Hawkins, Andy Wright, Tim Martin, Trevor Stimpson, Adrian Stephenson, Trevor McAleese, Nick Clarke, Graham Freer, Kevin O’Donoghue, Derek Lindley, John Bateman, Syd Pniewski, Stuart Oliver, Steve DeNisi and Mel Glover.

placeholder image — All but a handful of Leighton’s current and former club captains were able to attend the centenary celebration event .Pictured (left to right) are: John Preston, Robbie John, Stuart Mills, David Hawkins, Andy Wright, Tim Martin, Trevor Stimpson, Adrian Stephenson, Trevor McAleese, Nick Clarke, Graham Freer, Kevin O’Donoghue, Derek Lindley, John Bateman, Syd Pniewski, Stuart Oliver, Steve DeNisi and Mel Glover.

Welcomed by club president Graham Freer and captain Trevor McAleese, Mr Pattinson, a single handicap golfer and a master of golfing rules and regulations, was joined by 18 former and current Leighton club captains and lady officials, before unveiling an outdoor clock adjacent to the first tee, installed by the club to commemorate the centenary and standardise tee-time start times.

He then completed a round of golf on a course he had never even seen before, confessing: “You have a fantastic course of which you should be proud. It’s a real challenge as I discovered today, but a delight to play.”

Presenting the engraved salver to Graham and Trevor, Mr Pattinson said he had been particularly impressed by the social atmosphere in the Leighton club and the way young golfers were welcomed and encouraged, adding: “Your standards are high and I am confident the club has a secure long term future.”

The salver is now nestling in the club trophy cabinet will be relocated and housed in the club lounge in due course.

*More than 50 teams took part in a drive-in competition to kick-start the centenary celebrations.

It was won by Ian Pattinson’s fellow Scots Stuart Leslie and Gordon McNicol with 41 points, four shots clear of John Clavey and Richard Harris, Steve Marriott and Peter Sheridan and Gary Bennett and Gareth McCready.

Other forthcoming events to mark the centenary include golf competitions and a Ball in September.

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