The 2025 season is officially in full swing at Skipton Golf Club following the annual drive-ins by the men’s and women’s captains – Jonathan Smith and Sarah Howes.
Originally from Skipton, but now residing in Addingham, 52-year-old Jonathan is married to Carla, who holds a senior position in the local NHS. He has a son, Curtis, who lives and works in London, and two stepchildren – Thomas, himself a prolific golfer soon to return from Australia, where he has been honing his skills as a fine dining chef, and Holly – a trainee nurse looking to follow in her mother’s footsteps.
Jonathan joined Skipton in 2017 and became vice-captain of the rabbits section in 2022 before captaining the rabbits in 2023 and in 2024. He also sits on the club’s board as director of communications.
Jonathan, who takes over the captaincy from Andrew ‘Ollie’ Burton, said: “During my year of captaincy I aim to try to live up to the exacting standards that Andrew has achieved and be a good ambassador for Skipton within the Harrogate Union, also offering support to other section captains. This is a fantastic club with a solid membership and strong social side. We have a great future ahead and are definitely going places.”
Meanwhile, Sarah has begun her second year as women’s captain. From Grassington, she joined the club in 2018, and said: “My focus during my first year in captaincy was to maintain a positive female role in golf at Skipton and encourage new members to join our small, but friendly team. I shall continue to concentrate on these aims, offering ongoing support to our current lady members.”
The two captains, both also keen to support and nurture the talents of younger players, have chosen Dementia Forward as their charity for the year and will be staging a variety of fundraising events, both on and off the course.
As part of the drive-in, members paid for and placed flags on the 13th fairway predicting the distance of the new captains’ opening drives. The winners were Iain ‘Tidy’ Tyrer and John Doleman, with the event raising £205 for the charity campaign.
Meanwhile, the club has elected David Cairns as president, Sarah Coy as vice-president, and Ian Sewell as chairman. Other appointments for the new season include men’s vice-captain Barry Rawlinson, ladies vice-captain Helen Gatenby, first team captain Chris Payne, rabbits captain Simon Hunt, junior captain Seth Rawlinson, 8-15 team manager Gordon Whincup, 8-15 team captain Barry Rawlinson, and joint senior captains Richard Spencer and Roger Moore.
Following their time in office during 2024, captains Andrew and Sarah handed over a cheque for £8,758 to the Yorkshire Dales Branch of the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MND). The cheque was received by Libby Wade and Alan Robinson from the association, which has the sole aim of serving all those in the area who are affected by MND, including people with MND as well as their carers, family and friends. Ollie and Sarah praised the generosity of members, plus some extremely heartfelt donations from members and visitors who have lost loved ones to MND.
