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The final edition of 2021 has brought with it a chance to reflect and look ahead to next season.
The year started with great uncertainty. Beginning in lockdown, with no golf played in England until the end of March, we had plenty of time to build our expectations for the season ahead – and what a season it turned out to be!
Writing our annual review (pages 28-31) was a fascinating journey through the many highs of 2021. Starting with Matty Lamb’s performance in The Walker Cup, our region’s golfers have shone throughout the season and each edition of Northern Golfer has been packed with success stories. The strength of our region’s female golfers again shone through in 2021 with players including Maggie Whitehead, Faye Wheatley, Rachel Gourley, Rosie Belsham and Jess Baker earning headlines regularly for their performances in the biggest national events. We also saw great golf at the professional level, which continued in recent weeks as you’ll read throughout Teeing Off. At club level, the good news also kept coming thick and fast – and the launch of the Northern Golfer Weekly email allowed us to keep on top of this during the season. If you haven’t subscribed already, visit our website and use the sign up form to keep up-to-date with what’s going on in golf around the region.
Onto this edition, our fourth and final one of 2021. This month we bring more success stories from players including Andrew Wilson and James Wilson, and the previously mentioned Faye Wheatley, Rachel Gourley and Maggie Whitehead. We also have a full report from the final of the 20th edition of the Northern Golfer Match Play Pairs tournament (pages 24-26).
We’ve also taken a trip to the fabulous Billingham Golf Club in our Course Profile, caught up with our old friend John Glendinning for A Round With, and asked tour caddy Chris Simmons to share more of what he has learned from the best players in the world. Chris Paisley’s Tour Life is again a must-read as he shares his thoughts on his season and his plans for next year.
A huge thank you to all our readers and partners for your support in 2021 – without you we would not be able to cover all of the good news in the region. Everyone at Northern Golfer wishes you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. See you in February.
