North Cliff ace Richardson wins national captain's crown for second time

He scored 74 points in the 36-hole final of the English Golf Captains’ tournament series at Frilford Heath in Oxfordshire to win the title by three clear shots from halfway leader Andy Vernon (Stapleford Park), while Chris Wise (Holtye) and Martin Tate (Blackburn) shared third place with 68 points.

“I’m absolutely over the moon,” said Richardson, who won his first title at Burhill in 2014.

Richardson was club captain at North Cliff in 2001 and has been a regular competitor in England Golf Captains’ tournaments since then – alongside a large number of other Scarborough North Cliff past captains.

“When we went to Southport & Ainsdale for the qualifier, there were 10 captains from our club,” he said.

“We love it. It’s great value for money, even if you don’t win, and it’s really well organised,” he went on.

“The nice thing with these events is that they are very friendly and there’s quite a bit of banter.”

After the first round, Richardson was two points off the lead and tied third on 36 points but finished the day on a positive note when he birdied the 18th with a shot, to add four points to his total.

On day two, the leaders faltered early on and he forged ahead. His only blemish on the outward nine came on the ninth, when a bird flew out of the trees and distracted him as he was about to drive, he duffed his tee shot and didn’t score any points on that hole but still posted 18 points.

On the homeward nine, Richardsonholed some really good putts at crucial times, especially on the 13th where, it being a shot hole, he salvaged a par for three points.

His haul of 20 points on the back nine secured his victory

Richardson arrived at the final playing off an 11 handicap but after returning scores of 36 and 38 points, he is anticipating that his handicap will be cut to eight, his lowest ever.

Sally Waggitt was on form again to retain her South Cliff Ladies Championship title.

Played over two rounds on the same day, the morning round saw Ali Lockwood (12) finish in a good position with a gross 86, five shots ahead of Anna Mollon (20) and Waggitt (11) both on gross 91 with Ewa Graczyk (15) and Gloria Pickering (13) still in with a shout at 92 and 93 respectively.

Waggitt responded to the pressure, upped her game and finished the second round with a gross score of 84 to add to her previous 91 and a total of 175.

Lockwood played well again for her 92 to add to her 86 but finished three shots short with a total of 178.

The Committee Cup for the best net score was played for on the same day and saw Mollon (20) pip Sandra Massender (25) by a point, Mollon finishing with a 71+80 = 151 to Massender’s’ 76 +76 = 152.

This was probably the busiest day of the golfing year for the ladies as there was also a stableford competition played as well.

The results of which were; Silver division - 1st Estelle Grimsley (20) 33 pts (bk 9), 2nd Ann Eley (18) 33, 3rd Judy Locking (15) 32, Bronze 1 - 1st Gill Skingle (23) 38, 2nd Sue Cockill (27) 33, 3rd Glenis Hoskins (24) 31, Bronze 2 - 1st Pauline Allison (33) 35, 2nd Gwen Dixon (31) 34, 3rd Elizabeth Ricketts (36) 33.

The North Cliff Ladies Club Championship, The Graneek Cup, was played over two rounds on Sunday when Clare Ellard took the title with an aggregate gross score of 173, Clare Pybus finished as runner-up on 193.

The South Cliff gents were back in action this week, when they contested their August medal on Saturday.

Division One was won by Richard Metcalfe (11) with a net score of 67 after a good round that included a birdie at the ninth and 11 gross pars.

First place in Division Two went to Tommy Risker (26) who played well under his handicap to post a net 65.