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IAPS Lytham Trophy

 5 June 2009

Friday June 5^th was the date and once again the venue for the IAPS golf championship was Royal Lytham & St Annes. The weather was ideal for the golfers – sunny for most of the day with a little wind and thankfully the forecasted rain did not materialise. Even though the links course was at its best, the scoring this year was exceptionally good.

The competition as usual was played over two rounds on the 9-hole course to a Stableford format, with 3 points for a par, so that two shots over par could still earn a point. The first match starting at 07:30 a.m. and the last match finishing at 16:45 p.m. made it a long day for everyone, but was as always thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Charlie Coleman from Shrewsbury House was the proud winner of the Royal Lytham Trophy, with a score of 52 points, which matched 2007’s record score and was two points better than the runner-up Joshua Fletcher from Millfield. Joshua Davenport from King Henry VIII was third with 48 points, which was a remarkable achievement for an under 10 year old and also won him the top prize in his age group. Helen Stickler from St John’s-on-the-Hill, was the winner of the Girl’s Trophy, returning a score of 47 points, which was a record score for a girl and put her fourth overall. She is still eligible to return in 2010 to attempt to beat her own record.

The event was attended by 90 children (which is now the limit for this competition) from 28 schools and supported by parents and teachers, some of whom acted as scorers for the 30 matches that were played throughout the day. For the third consecutive year, the Top Team Trophy went to Millfield with 142 points (27 points more than last year) and the Under-12 Team Trophy winners were Warwick with 93 points (after a back nine cumulative card play-off from King Henry VIII). For the fourth consecutive year, the Girl Team Trophy went to Cranleigh with 60 points (seven points better than last year). The under-12 age group was won by Harry Hall from Millfield with 45 points and the under-11 age group was won by Tom Robinson from Bromsgrove with 41 points. There were also prizes awarded in the under-14 and under-13 age categories.

This championship dates from 1992 and so this was its 18^th year. It was the brainchild of Paddy Molloy, who had been organising it since its inception and who sadly called it a day after the 2007 tournament. However, he bequeathed a trophy to be given each year to the youngest competitor and this year’s winner of the Molloy Trophy was Hemma Alhuwalia from Farlington, who at aged 8 years and 3 months is the youngest ever competitor in this event and she was in no way the weakest golfer.

At the prize giving, tribute was paid to all the players by the current Captain of Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, Paul Gardner, who, accompanied by the Lady Captain, Eileen Johnstone, presented the winners with their awards.

Results – IAPS Golf Championship 2009

Pictures below of Horris Hill Captain on the tee, Helen (winner of the Girls Trophy & Philip (winner of the U 14 age group), The Fettes Boys on the putting green.

Letter from Fettes Captain

I.A.P.S. Golf Championships

Royal Lytham & St Annes

Last Thursday, Robert, William and I travelled south from Edinburgh, down to Lytham, near Blackpool, to play in the I.A.P.S. golf championships, involving pupils from prep schools all over Britain. When we arrived at Lytham, we went for a practice round. We all were hitting the ball well except Mr Rankin, whose ball was flying everywhere except in the right direction! Mr Morrison was giving us tips for the course, like chip and runs and playing it short to roll it onto the hard greens. On finished our round, we located our sea-front hotel and quickly retired for the night.

We rose early, to get to the golf course at 7am, to have some practice in our putting. William was first to tee off, as he alarmed some early risers with a huge, straight shot with just his 5-iron! He finished off his first nine with a score of 18 stableford points, which is exactly what Mr Morrison asked from him. I managed to score 21 points in the first nine, before Robert came in with a great score of 24. Over a drink in the clubhouse, Mr Morrison gave us a talk about what we had to do in the second nine. It is amazing that such a world-famous club welcomes us all in for the day, giving us the run of the clubhouse and the use of their short course. We really are very lucky to have this facility.

After our rest, William was first to tee off again. He didn’t play quite as well as his first nine, scoring16 and therefore 34 altogether. Next off, I too didn’t do so well, scoring 17 points, which got me the total of 38 points. Robert came in with a score of 22 in the second nine, giving him a total of 46 points. On reflection, we were all pretty pleased with our scores, higher, Mr Morrison assured us, than any of the previous four years’ Fettesians.

We kept checking the scoreboard, which, as we were off so early, saw us at the top for a while! Unfortunately, by the end of the day’s play, Robert came 4^th and William came 16^th out of 29 players in the under 14 section, while I came 6^th out of 21 in the under 13 section. As a team, we scored 118 points, a record for a Fettes team, and came 4^th out of the 26 teams participating.

We were obviously pleased with this result and grateful for all of the hard work we had put in, in practice (when school-work and cricket matches allowed!). In our kilts (raising a few eyebrows), we said our Thank You’s, particularly to the Captains of Royal Lytham & St Anne’s, and to Mr Jenkinson, who organised the entire event just wonderfully.

By Jamie Eedle

(Captain of Golf)

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2008 Results

Trophies

Royal Lytham Trophy  -  Christopher Evans - Forres Sandle Manor

Girls Trophy - Jessica Kaimakami - Chigwell

Team Trophy - Millfield

Junior Team Trophy - Warwick

Girl Team Trophy - Cranleigh

Molloy Trophy (youngest player)  Joshua Davenport - King Henry V111

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Individual winners

Under 14  Harry Gwilliam  -  Aldro

Under 13 Christopher Evans - Forres Sandle Manor

Under 12 James Waterfield - Bilton Grange

Under 11 Rory Giddens - Shrewsbury

Under 10  Joshua Davenport - King Henry V111

Girls Jessica Kaimakami - Chigwell

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