Slaley Hall’s John Lee and Jim Bruce lifted one of amateur golf’s most hotly contested trophies after winning the final of the Daily Mail Foursomes at St Pierre Country Club.
John and Jim won the men’s competition after 11 rounds of matches featuring more than 1,200 teams from across the country. In the final against the team from Birch Grove, having been 4dn with four holes to play, they rallied over the closing stretch and ultimately sealed victory on the first extra hole.
“Being a national champion is new for me – it’s a fantastic thing to achieve at my age,” said 68-year-old 15-handicapper Jim. “I think being members of Slaley Hall stood us in good stead throughout the competition – we tend to travel well and it’s a tough place to come and try to beat us. We had some great matches throughout the season, at home and away, and we needed some luck and a lot of good golf throughout the year to keep progressing.
“With four matches over two days at St Pierre, we knew it was going to be tough, but we did our homework and planned who would hit which tee shots – as we did throughout the competition.
“In the final, having made a couple of mistakes, I didn’t think we’d get much further than the 10th. When we were 4dn with four to play, it looked to be over but we won one back, then they found some trouble and we got another one back. With a bit of momentum, and our opponents making mistakes, we kept going and ended up only having to putt once in the last five holes we played.
“It took me a week to realise the magnitude of what we’d done to be honest. All the messages have been amazing and it’s great to have our hands on such a brilliant trophy.”
Meanwhile, the win added to John’s on-course success throughout a long amateur career.
“I’ve been fortunate to play in lots of events through the years and had some success – winning this one alongside a great friend is very special,” said the 66-year-old eight-handicapper.
“We did OK in our first go in the event three years ago, and having qualified again for 2025, we did our homework on each round, put the practice in, and ground out some good wins away from home while making home advantage count throughout the season.
“The trip to the final was fantastic and we can’t thank the organisers enough for all their work. We played the practice round and worked out our gameplan. Jim’s a good listener and we play to his strengths by prioritising where he hits tee shots with driver. From there, as long as I kept him out of the bunkers we were alright. We have a lot of fun playing together and we never give in, which was so important in the final as we fought back from dormie to win five holes in a row including the first extra hole.”
Meanwhile, in the women’s event, Kendal’s Sue Howell and Rosie Waller stormed to a 5up lead with five holes to play and closed out a 3&2 win over the team from Taunton and Pickeridge.
“We could have finished earlier so we were relieved when we got it over the line,” said Sue. “We wanted to win it for a friend of ours. She was here when we got through to the last eight last time, but sadly she died the year after, so this is for Jen.”
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