Over the last two Sundays some excellent mixed foursomes golf has been played at Scraptoft Golf Club, as 39 pairs from across Leicestershire and Rutland competed for the prestigious Baxter Trophy.   This year one of the pairs competing and representing Luffenham Heath Golf Club were brother and sister Chris and Sally Jee, grandchildren of Alex Baxter who founded the competition at Kirby Muxloe in 1985.  Alex herself played off 4 and was County Champion twice.

The weather was fantastic for both days of competition and the course was in excellent condition with some tricky pin positions, particularly on the qualifying day.   The four qualifying semi finalists from the first week were Paul Jelly and Emily Blount (Kibworth), Scott Adams and Joanne Morris (Willesley Park), Andy Mee and Diana Miller (Lingdale), and Steve Sansome and Claire Bailey (Birstall).

In the first semi final Birstall narrowly beat Kibworth (2 and 1) and in the second Lingdale beat Willesley Park (3 and 2) to set up a final between Birstall and Lingdale.  This was closely fought but Lingdale proved to be the more consistent pair beating Birstall 4 and 3 and winning the Baxter Trophy.

Thanks to Scraptoft Golf Club for hosting the competition and to the referees Phil Askew and Angela Allington. Congratulations to all those players who reached the semi finals and particular congratulations to the eventual winners Andy Mee and Diana Miller, representing Lingdale Golf Club.

Other prizes from the Qualifying Day were:

Best Gross - Paul Jelly and Emily Blount (Kibworth) Gross 74

Best Nett - Jed Davies and Sharon Statham (Cosby) Nett 69

Second Nett  - David Eden and Paula Shaw (Whetstone) Nett 72

Full results can be seen at the following link:

https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/8090929914561180931

2^nd Team Final

Leicestershire & Rutland v Staffordshire

Horsley Lodge, 1^st September 2022

The County 2^nd team finished our matches unbeaten in 2022 which meant that we topped our mini league and progressed to the Midlands North Region final against the other mini league winners, Staffordshire.

On match day, Staffordshire fielded a typically strong team. The morning foursomes were closely fought but we found ourselves down ½ - 2½ which meant we needed to dig deep in the 6 singles matches in the afternoon. Our team went about their business with focus and determination, and we won 4 matches, lost 2, leaving the teams even on 4 ½ - 4 ½. Countback of match scores left us 11 – 11 so it was a sudden death playoff between pre-nominated players from both sides. Our nominated player, Barbara Suffolk (HI 4.3) was up against Rachel Horobin (HI 1.4). The first play-off hole was halved with a par. On the second hole, Barbara sank a great putt for par but was bettered by a fantastic birdie from Rachel, and so Staffordshire won the trophy.

It was such an exciting final, and the Leicestershire & Rutland 2^nd Team did our County proud not only with their standard of play but with their commitment, determination, and great team spirit.

Huge thanks to all players who gave their time, effort and talents to the County 2^nds this year.

Alison Smith

2^nd Team Captain, L&R

The final of the Ladies County Foursomes was played today 11th September 2022 at Willesley Golf Club.

Cosby were represented by Rachel East, Leona Harris, Gill Colman and Jenny Hart. Market Harborough were represented by Jane Burley, Olivia Holyoak- Church, Helen Perry and Carole Hallam.

The sun shone on two very tight, nip and tuck games and as spectators we witnessed some great golf.

The final score was 4UP to Cosby.

Well done to all who played and especially well done to Cosby.

The second instalment into our Life Cycle of a Female Golfer webinars explores the 30+ ages and how we can engage more female golfers. We will look to provide an in depth look into the challenges and barriers that may be an issue for females accessing golf throughout their life. To sign up, click the link below and register!

13 September 2022 

Life Cycle of a Female Golfer – Part 2

If you missed Episode 1 but want to catch up, visit the link below to watch it again ahead of Part 2!

Life Cycle of a Female Golfer - Part 1

Developing Players & Retaining Young Players – Final Episode 27th September

This is the final episode in a 3 part webinar series that continues to look at the development and retention of young golfers in clubs. We are joined by Dr Ed Coughlan PhD, who is widely acknowledged as one of the top skills coaches working in elite sports today. His understanding and application of the latest techniques in coaching science and sports science provide athletes with the tools to consistently perform at the elite level. By listening to Ed and working with him you can be sure your practice will transfer to performance!

This is one not to be missed!! Sign up by clicking the link below and register!

Developing Players & Retaining Young Players – Final Episode

If you missed the first 2 episodes of this series you can watch them by clicking the links below!

Understanding Talent in Young Players - Episode 1

Retaining and Supporting Young Players - Episode 2

You can find all upcoming and past webinars here, on the England Golf Webinar Library.

We also have a couple of Activator Courses coming up in Essex and Lincolnshire - Club Activator Courses

If you are interested in hosting an Activator Course please get in touch, we are keen to get more booked in.

Finally, if you’re a volunteer please check out our Volunteer Hub on Facebook – this group has reached over 1000 members now and the community supporting each other across a range of topic areas.

Congratulations to Whetstone who beat Kirby Muxloe 4up in the Mixed County Foursomes