The Club

The Norman Plum Trophy is a Pairs competition for mid ranking handicap players. It is for six pairs with three pairs playing at home and three pairs playing at the opposition venue on the same day. Ilford had received a bye in the first round and the second round was a potentially tough match against Abridge on Sunday, 25th April. Home advantage is a huge plus at this level so these matches usually produce close results.

The three home pairs all played outstanding golf to win their three matches by impressive margins so it was down to the away pairs to try to produce something that would turn the match in Ilford's favour.

The Ilford leading pair of Brendan Hogan and Clement Payne had started strongly and at one stage were five up but Abridge fought hard steadily reducing the deficit before Ilford finally sealed the game by 3&2 to give the team an overall victory of 4-2.

RESULTS

Home Matches (Ilford names first)

Paul Croney/Bal Kara V Steven Golding/Lewis Jacobs won 5&3, Trevor Edwards/Joe Elliott V Micky Collins/David Monk won 5&4, Rob Austin/Neil Buckley V James McDermott/Peter Wendlekem won 2&1.

Away Matches (Ilford names first)

Brendan Hogan/Clement Payne V Phil Harris/Gary Nelson won 3&2, Robert Brooks/Andrew Welsh V Spencer Denton/Adam Nossek lost 5&3, Ricky Hanna/Sachin Vanmari V Jason Mednik/Andy Monty lost 4&3.

Essex Over 55s Cup

Unfortunately, due to a change in the rules Ilford had to concede their first round match against The Rayleigh Club in this competition.

Ilford Success Continues

Ilford GC played host on Sunday 18th April to Five Lakes GC in the first round of the Leslie Woods Trophy (the cup competition for second tier golfers). On paper it looked as though it would be a very tough match as the handicap profile of the visitors was overall lower. Despite the final score being 7.5 to 2.5 it was a close fought affair with four of the ten matches being decided on the final hole. Ilford had started strongly winning three of the first four matches to set up a good lead but with the next three matches all going to the last hole it meant the team had a nervous wait before clinching victory and a second round tie away to Boyce Hill GC.

Results

William Sheen V Alan Garnett won 4&3, Daniel Antick V Charles Shepherd All Square, James Christopher V Colin Jenkins won 6&5, Sam Jones V Neil Whitelaw won 4&2, Kevin Durrant V Malcolm Pitt won 2 up, Mark Bishop V Graham Doherty won 2 up, Patrick Byrne V Michael Seely won 1 up, Chris Dietz V John Regan lost 4&2, Ray Stevens V Richard Seely won 2&1, Yasar Soyler V Jamie Adams lost 3&2.

On Sunday 11th April the first round of the Thornton Cup (the premier competition for the best players in each club) was played and Ilford played host to Orsett, traditionally one of the leading clubs in Essex.

It was a tense affair, Ilford had taken an early lead but Orsett had staged a comeback and the final match went right down to the last putt of the final match before Ilford secured victory by the smallest margin of 5.5 points to 4.5 points.

It was a great team result and all the more so as eight of Ilford's ten players have been members of the club since their teenage years and many now have their own children playing at the club.

Results (Ilford names first)

Danny Antick V Shawn Mills lost 6&5, James Landerkin V Jamie Benton won 5&4, George Durrant V Harry Wood won 4&3, Jeff Ball V Peter Knight lost 3&1, Tony Davis V Ross Dee won 4&2, Jack Bulley V Mark Whitten won 2&1, William Sheen V Joe Green lost 5/4, Jeff Geddes V Neil Gale all square, Mark Durrant V Grant Allan won 1up, Pat Byrne V Alfie Buttle lost 1 down.

With the return of Golf on the 29th March golf clubs in Essex had only a few days to prepare for the first rounds of three of the Essex Inter-Club Cups.

On Saturday 10th April 2021, the Jubilee Cup Team (for mid handicap players) had travelled to The Rayleigh Club for the first fixture of four in a league format. Traditionally Ilford have not done well away from home in this competition but came home on this occasion with a resounding 7-2 victory. Also Ilford have tended to be weak in the fourballs but on this occasion secured two points out of three and only lost the third match on the last hole. With potential countback scenarios if league positions are tied it is important that losses are kept to a minimum and wins are maximised. On this front every player made a huge contribution for a great team effort.

Results (Ilford names first)

Jim Gallagher V Gary Munday won 4&3, Chris Dietz V Andy Peek won 3&2, Jason Cepeda V Michael Foster lost 3&1, Nas Sharif V Tiny Perkins won 1up, Andrew Buntin V Simon Ruben won 3&2, Ibrahim Aziz V Sean Bath won 8&6, Ben Deane/John Mullan V Gary Marshall/John Bolton lost 1down, Faheem Aziz/Nabeel Aziz V Tony Hever/James Harris won 5&3, Ben Corless/Ron Fardell V Rob Halpin/Martin Hodson won 1up.

The Norman Plum team (mid-handicap fourball competition) should have played Rivenhall Oaks but the opposition were unable to raise a team so Ilford have received a bye into the second round.

Here are the finalists from Sunday 20th September 2020 Finals Day.
The winner of the Captains Prize Mark Durrant, and runner up was James Landerkin.

Winners of The Riordan Trophy was Nas Sharif and Andrew Buntin, runners up John Elliott and Steve Gouge.

Winner of the Ladies Parker Cup was Tracy Lawrence and runner up was Shanita Kara.

Captains plate winner was Jim Gallagher and runner up was John Hayes.

Thanks to the referees, Neil Glover, Ian Grant, Maggie Smith, Jack Bulley and Nigel Smith.
All competitors pictured with club Captain John Mullan.
Tracy Lawrence was presented with the cup by Meena Shah.
Everyone respected the COVID-19 restrictions, and hopefully next year we can have a full compliment of finals.

Over the next few weeks we are replacing the timbers on the 13th bridge and 5th bridge.
Please be careful when playing shots over.

A BIG thank you to the bridge repair team made up of 11 members and directors volunteering their spare time.

The bridge on the 13th hole will be closed for further works on Tuesday 21st July.
The bridge on the 5th hole will be closed until further notice.

Please use the bridge for the 2nd hole, but please make sure you are paying attention to players teeing off from the 1st and 2nd tee's.

A quick update on our greens. Our head Greenkeeper and his team are working hard on restoring the greens over the next few weeks to bring them back to the usual great standards.
Please be mindful when playing, Greenkeepers will have right away.
Thank you again for your continued support!!