A lot has changed in the five weeks since our last edition went off to print at the end of September.
The Ryder Cup at Le Golf National produced the international golfing highlight of the year, packed with drama, tension and plenty of fist pumps from Ian Poulter. The European team showed a fighting spirit far greater than their American counterparts, and with a home crowd and golf course far more suited to their style of play proved too much for Jim Furyk’s team. With the Cup now back in Europe, I must apologise to Sergio Garcia and Henrik Stenson, whom I couldn’t believe were picked ahead of the match, and then combined to pick up six points from a possible seven. Doh!
Closer to home, an American topped the leaderboard at our Men’s Champion of Champions event at Ramside Hall. Congratulations to James Glenn on his win and a huge thank you to Helen Roseberry and the team at Ramside for their support in the second year of our Champion of Champions events. We look forward to heading back to Ramside in 2019.
The culmination of the season has brought with it success for many of our region’s top players. Our ladies and junior champions Jess Baker and Rosie Belsham starred in England’s win against Ireland, while on the other side of the world Callum Tarren produced a fine performance to top the PGA Tour Series-China Order of Merit and earn his card for the Web.com Tour.
The last Northern Golfer event of the season produced a fine final as Durham City’s Gary Atkinson and Stephen Carter lifted the Match Play Pairs trophy at Close House – read about their journey to the title on pages 24-26. A huge thank you to Close House for hosting this year’s finals and to Kevin Batty of GolfingHolidays.org for providing the fantastic prize.
A final congratulations to Chris and Keri Paisley on the arrival of their daughter, Ella Rose. I know all our readers will be wishing them the best.
This is my first edition as editor and it has been an incredibly busy month for golf in our region – from the elite level to club level. Let’s hope the mild conditions continue well into this month and that success continues to fill our pages in the months ahead.
Until December, happy golfing.
