The semi-final and final rounds of the Baxter Trophy were played at Lutterworth Golf Club on Sunday 21 October.   After a delayed start due to early morning mist we have been fortunate to have a lovely sunny autumn day.  As expected some fabulous golf was played in both of the semi-final matches.    

The first match was hard fought between Lutterworth Golf Club and Willesley Park Golf Club.  Willesley Park eventually won this match 7 and 5 and qualified for the afternoon's final.  

The second match was between Glen Gorse Golf Club and a team from Cosby Golf Club.  This match was also hard fought, the end result was much closer than the first match with Cosby winning 2 and 1 and also qualifying for the final.

The afternoon final was therefore contested between Willesley Park Golf Club and Cosby Golf Club.  Following on from the morning’s play, some more quality golf was on display in the afternoon.  Neither team pulled significantly ahead during the match and by the end of the 16^th hole the match was still all square. Cosby played the 17^th hole well to pull one ahead but Willesley managed to birdie the 18^th hole to bring the match back to all square.  The match continued to a sudden death playoff commencing on the first hole.   It took 3 extra holes to separate the teams with Cosby Golf Club finally coming out on top to become the Baxter Trophy winners for 2018.  

Congratulations to all of the teams who reached the semi-finals and final of the Baxter Trophy this year and particular congratulation to the winners, Cosby Golf Club. Thank you to all of the supporters who turned out to cheer on their respective teams during the day and contributed to making it a special day.

The teams were represented by the following players:

Cosby – Rachel East and John Fairbrother
Willesley Park – Jo Morris and Clayton Turner
Glen Gorse – Moira Page and Martin Anderson 
Lutterworth – Gemma Parkes-Walley and Charles Ray

Full results of the competition can be viewed under the County Competitions tab.

The qualifying round of the Baxter Trophy took place at Lutterworth Golf Club on Sunday 7th October.  41 teams from 21 Clubs entered the competition this year.  It was a lovely sunny autumn day for the players and a welcome change from the rain of the previous day.   There were some good scores returned, including a number that required a certain amount of count back calculation to separate them and determine the placings.  In the end the four qualifiers for the matchplay semi finals and finals, due to be held in two weeks time at Lutterworth Golf Club are as follows:

Charles Ray and Gemma Parkes-Walley - Lutterworth - Gross 75 (on count back)
Martin Anderson and Moira Page - Glen Gorse - Gross 75
John Fairbrother and Rachel East - Cosby - Gross 77 (on count back)
Clayton Turner and Jo Morris - Willesley Park - Gross 77

Best Gross prize went to Charles Ray and Gemma Parkes-Walley of Lutterworth (on count back) with a gross score of 75

1st nett prize went to Lee Wenlock and Helen Milner of Market Harborough with a gross of 81-10.5 = 70.5 nett
2nd nett prize went to Matt Reeves and Sally Sparrow of Ullesthorpe with a gross of 79-8 = 71 (on count back)

Thank you to all at Lutterworth Golf Club who helped to make this event a great success and to all of the supporters who walked the course with their teams.

The semi-finals commence at 9.30am on Sunday 21st October at Lutterworth Golf Club - all supporters welcome.

Sunday September 16th was the date set for the annual 4 Counties Championships Challenge at The Leicestershire GC.  

We hosted a field of 60 young players and their family members - and 28 of them were Foxes!! This full field included girls with handicaps from 3 to 54- embracing all girls who wanted to play. 

In the 18 Hole championship event, 41 girls played their hearts out and some excellent scores were achieved. 

The team prizes were taken by Lincolnshire- Scratch, Nottinghamshire - Nett and Lincolnshire again for the Gross award. 

Well done to all the girls who had been nominated in the county teams!!

In the 9 Hole handicap event Megan White from Cosby was runner up and in the competition for non handicappers, Sophie Fletcher of Lutterworth was the winner with Ella Cunningham of Kilworth as runner up. 

But for the Foxes the best was yet to come!,

Best gross of the day was won by our superstar Eleanor Parkinson of Willesley Park who shot 76 gross at TLGC - no mean feat- she’s 11 and played off 10! She now plays off 8!! Incidentally, she has just been offered a place in the England Golf Under 18 coaching squad!! Well deserved!!

And finally, the 4 Counties Trophy for the overall winner went to Emily Wolverson of Kibworth who shot a net 65 off her 36 handicap. Another 11 year old with great talent and a great future in her golf . And her first major competition!!

It was truly inspirational to see so many young girls playing golf!

How proud we all were of all these talented young golfers, but naturally especially for our Foxes!!

It was a lovely day at Kibworth, Claire Keogh’s home Club, for a day of enjoyable golf for all girls in the County who wanted to play!

30 girls played in the two competitions made available that day - an 18 Hole and a 9 Hole event for those with or without handicaps- something for everyone!

In the 18 Hole Stableford Comp the Trophy went to Emily Gallacher of Cosby GC with a wonderful 41 points, on local rule from fellow Club mate Jessie Sheridan who also got 41 points. 

In third place was Holly Waterfield from Lutterworth with 39 points . Laura Hallam of Glen Gorse won nearer the pin!!

The 9 Hole Comp saw Megan White of Cosby take first place with 29 points followed by Ella Cunningham of Kilworth Springs in second place with 26 points and Sophie Fletcher of Lutterworth in third place also on 26 points  

It was a lovely day with a great atmosphere. We all enjoyed sandwiches & chips after the golf - always a favourite with the girls!! Happy days!!

The Handicap League has proved problematic to resolve in that we have lost another team, Rutland County, and that, with the withdrawal of Park Hill this has resulted in only three teams in Division 5. The matter was discussed at length at the Executive Board meeting and a number of permutations were considered with the final outcome being that no club will be demoted this year and 2 clubs from Division 4 will be promoted as they had the same number of points, albeit it a slightly different game difference.

So, the overall winners of the Handicap League were Willesley Park, well done to them for winning both the Scratch and Handicap leagues.

Winners of Division 2 are Melton Mowbray who will now join Division One giving us 6 teams in that Division.

Winners of Division 3 are Charnwood Forest who will move into Division Two giving us 5 teams in Division 2.

Winners of Division 4 were Rothley Park who join Longcliffe in moving into Division 3 giving us 6 teams in that Division. That will then leave 6 teams in the new Division 4.

This will provide an equitable split across the 23 remaining teams in the league.

Full details of the results and fixtures for 2019 will be published shortly in the Competitions/Handicap section of the webiste,