Men’s League News
Scratch League
Division 1
Northampton grabbed an excellent 4-4 draw at reigning champions Overstone Park in the opening Scratch League top division fixture of the year.
The visitors did most of their best work up front as points from Matthew Bearman, Samuel Gilkes and Ben Hawkins gave them the early advantage.
Although Overstone won the next two points, with Ben Lavender securing game six for Northampton, the hosts had to be content with a share of the spoils as Lee Hitchcock and Ryan Genner claimed the final two matches.
Division 2
Collingtree Park earned a victory on their travels at the first time of asking in Division 2 as they secured a 5-3 win at Kingsthorpe.
Away points from Max Andrews (6&5), Jody Parfitt (3&2) and Brendon Moss (4&3) were matched by Kingsthorpe victories from Steve Jackson (3&2), Jack Walding (5&3) and Simon Kerr (4&3), meaning the result came down to the other two games.
Collingtree guaranteed at least a draw when Trevor Twelftree won the 18th hole against Ian Townsend, before Jensen Parfitt confirmed the away victory by beating Jeremy Ansell 2&1 in the final tie.
Kettering had no such problems on home turf as they recorded a 7-1 victory against Farthingstone, whose lone point came from the experienced Darren Matthews.
Division 3
Brampton Heath started their third division campaign in the best possible way as they clinched a battling 3½-2½ away victory at Silverstone.
Damien Heffernan grabbed the first point for the visitors on the closing hole, before Barry Jackson quickly replied for Silverstone in the next tie.
With games four and five shared, Harry Brown put Brampton in the driving seat with a 2&1 win, before Jack Brown secured the away team victory by halving the final game with David Sanders.
By contrast, Daventry produced a dominant performance at home to Oundle as they took all six points to secure their first victory of the season.
James Berry (5&4), Matthew Simmonds (7&6), Chris Eveleigh (6&5), Jack Cooper and Daniel Haynes (both 3&2) recorded convincing wins, before Tom Green completed the perfect day on the 18th hole.
Intermediate League
The Intermediate League is living up to its billing as the most competitive golf tournament in Northamptonshire after the latest three matches all ended in slender victories at the neutral venue of Wellingborough GC.
After defeating Northampton 4½-3½ the previous weekend, Collingtree held their nerve once again against Kettering as they won two of the four games that reached the 18th hole, whilst halving another.
Overstone Park were involved in an equally tight match with Kingsthorpe as they came out on top by a single point after six of the eight ties went the distance.
A remarkable day was capped by Northampton as points from Westley Barber, Nicholas Saker, James Brough and Gareth Parker, plus a half from Graham Truby in the last tie, confirmed a 4½-3½ success over Rushden.
Handicap League
Group A
Delapre Park collected their first victory of the season in their third outing as they beat Northampton 15-9 at home in Group A.
Although both sides won three matches apiece, the hosts grabbed the plaudits, thanks to Brian Seal and Christopher Chapman (three holes), Brenden Marais and Gary Saville (six holes) and Paul Fletcher and Colin Burdett (six holes).
Group D
Overstone Park cruised to an 18-5 home success against Rushden to move to the summit of Group D.
The result never looked in doubt once Dale Burton and Phil Gardner (four holes), Dan Fowkes and Jay Vieyra (six holes), Peter Etheridge and Bill Wilson-Slight (five holes) and Martin Barrs and Andrew Hopkinson (three holes) took the opening four games.
Oundle’s home contest with point-less Cold Ashby followed the same pattern as the hosts also clinched the first four ties on their way to a 12-6 victory – David Jack and David Reardon impressing most with a five-hole win.