Oldham ladies are flying high on the region's golf circuit

Oldham Golf Club ladies section is one the smallest in the region, but they are very proud of the success they have achieved in some top regional team competitions.

Sheila Antrobus, the ladies Team Captain, said: “The club has a very small ladies section, no professional and no catering staff, but we have learned to be very adaptable and do the best we can with what we have.

“The lady golfers work in the kitchen, organise the junior training and arrange the ‘New to Golf’ ladies sessions and six of our ladies are on the council and play a huge part in running the club.

“This season we have only ten lady members playing 18 holes of golf, three regular nine-holers and several New to Golf ladies in the process of obtaining a handicap.

“Despite these limitations, the Oldham ladies have again qualified for the LLCGA Silver and Bronze Inter Club finals to be played at Dunscar in September.

“The Silver handicap team have also qualified for the LLCGA South East Finals at Dean Wood and the bronze team, having won their section, are now involved playing at the ‘Round Robin’ stage to reach the final.

“We have also reached the quarter-finals of the prestigious MDLGA Bell Cup having beaten Blackley away 6/1, Accrington at home 4/3 and Bolton Lostock away 4/3, where we conceded the last three matches even though we were leading in two of them with a few holes to play.

“The winners at Bolton were Liz Johnson two up, Lady Captain Charlie Wade 5/3, Jane Antrobus 3/2 and myself 4/3.

“It is often difficult for us the field a team of seven from our small section, but the only secret to our success is that we are competitive, determined and proud to show other small clubs that it can be done with the right mindset.

“In the Bell Cup quarter final we will be taking on Tytherington at the neutral venue of Darwen GC and we will be giving it our best shot to try and reach finals day at Hazel Grove GC.

“Oldham Golf Club is a tricky moorland course with holes 9-18 played on a challenging hilly terrain.

“We struggle to get experienced players, but we are a small and fun-loving section and will give a hearty welcome to anyone who wants to be part of our ‘Small but Mighty’ ladies section."

Meanwhile, there has been plenty of action at Saddleworth with a Pro’s Stableford seeing the divisions led in by Adam Pritchard 40, Mike Jackson 42 and Simon Pickup 43.

The Captain’s ‘major’ final saw the nett day winners as John Nuttall 65 and Ben Pullen 67, and the best gross day winners were Lee Rowbotham 71 and Ben Pullen 68.

The overall winner was Dean Jagger after a cpo on 137 with Ben Chadderton, four less than Stephen Castle.

The Jubilee Trophy needed a cpo on 40 to see Tom Potts home from Mark Orme, one more than Will Potts.

A Stableford at Crompton and Royton had the divisions led in by Justin Smyth 40, Richard Ollerton 39 and Stephen Ashurst 37.

The current Howard Trophy standings at C and R are Aaron Freeman 406, Chris Wolstenholme 414 and John Weldon 415.

C and R ladies played for the Golf Foundation Brooch and Joanne Redford won a cpo on 39 from Yvonne Jackson, two more than Brenda Keaney and Janet Wright, and the 9-hole winner was Noreen Nicholosn 14.

---

Do you have a story for us? Want to tell us about something going on in and around Oldham? Let us know by emailing news@oldham-chronicle.co.uk , calling our Oldham-based newsroom on 0161 633 2121 , tweeting us @oldhamchronicle or messaging us through our Facebook page. All contact will be treated in confidence.