Club Championships

Seniors Club Championship 

Club Championship week started in fantastic fashion with the Seniors taking place on Tuesday 4 and Wednesday 5 June with 59 competitors taking to the course.

Day one took place on The Park Course, in what was difficult conditions. After a good start, competitors were met with torrential rain in the afternoon which made for a difficult end to the round.

John Hall took the lead into day two with a score of eight-over-par (80), with Russell Braham, John McGregor and Paul McLaren all finishing with (81). For the nett competition, John McGregor was one ahead with overall leader, Hall, in second.

The Downs Course played host on day two in what was much better conditions. Hall was unable to continue his good form, and finished with 89 to leave him fourth overall in the competition.

The star of the round was Mike Walsh. After finishing with 89 on day one, he finished seven-over-par on The Downs claiming top spot on day two. It wasn’t enough to take the championship title though, Walsh finished third with a respectable 168.

John McGregor finished day two on The Downs on 84 and secured an overall score of 165 to take second place in the gross competition. He did, however, secure the Nett Competition ahead of Paul McLaren, Richard Brooks who was competing in the event for his first time and John Donaldson.

Overall, it was a great couple of days for Paul McLaren. After an eight-over-par round on The Downs, combined with his score of 81, on The Park Course, he took the title of Golf At Goodwood Senior Club Champion for 2019.

Men's Club Championship

There was a lot of excitement building up for the Men’s Club Championship which started Saturday 8 June on The Park Course and welcomed 113 competitors.

Day one on The Park was borderline unplayable with the standard scratch rising to 75 due to 40 miles per hour winds and torrential rain. 

Day one certainly didn’t disappoint, with battles taking place all over the course. It looked like the usual contenders were in prime position to challenge for the championship. The reigning champion, Dave Porter, finished day one tied for the lead with Chris Kerr, two-over-par. 14-year-old Joe Sykes finished just one shot off the lead with a gross 75, and Nick Tull hot on his heels two shots off the lead.

Paul Millard was leading the nett competition with a nett 71, notably the only player in the entire to field to shoot under handicap.  

As well as Joe, our other promising Junior Golfers were also in contention. Max Herring was level par through the front 9, but a couple of birdies and a double birdie on the back 9 meant he finished with a score of 78. Jamie Burchell finished one behind Max with 79.

With it all to play for, day two welcomed glorious sunshine, a light breeze and The Downs course prepped to perfection by the Greenkeepers for an exciting climax.

It was a frustrating afternoon for joint overnight leader Kerr, finishing his round eight-over-par with an overall score of 154, finishing ^tied for 4^th.

Mike Howard surged through the field with a fabulous round of one-under-par gross to move from 14^th after day one to finish on the podium in 3^rd place overall.

Juniors Herring and Burchell stepped up on the final day with impressive rounds of 74 and 76 respectively. Herring finished 4^th in the gross competition but clinched the nett competition with a score of 142. Burchell finished 7^th.

Rob Irving joined our leaders with a breath-taking live broadcast from the 16^th which is available to view on our Facebook page.

Despite starting with a birdie on the first hole, four-time club champion Porter misfired on the third hole, losing his ball in the righthand trees, eventually leading to a triple bogey. This set up a three-shot lead for the young gun Sykes, but Porter soon recovered to bring it back to a level playing field at the turn.

Joe Sykes opened up a healthy lead with three birdies on the back 9. The pressure eventually started to show as Porter could not respond, scoring three bogies from 13 – 15. And despite parring in, Sykes managed the pressure with a cool, calm head and claimed an emphatic three-shot victory.

On his Men’s Club Championship victory, Sykes said: “I knew that day one was going to be a tough day and just tried to get it round. No-one was really going to shoot a good score in those conditions, so I just wanted to keep it under the wind, keep it in play and keep myself in it. I knew today being one shot behind that I’d still be in it.”

“It hasn’t quite sunk in yet, it’s really good. I’m really proud of myself, I’m really happy”

General Manager Stuart Gillett said, “I am thrilled that Joe was victorious.  He is a special talent but more importantly a very well mannered and articulate young man.  We are extremely proud to have him.  This year's Club Championships had 21 category 1 golfers playing which is a record in recent years and shows the continued improved standard of golfers playing at Golf At Goodwood.”

A huge congratulations to all of those who took part over the weekend, as well as those who helped organise the competition.

Congratulations to Seniors Club Champion Paul McLaren and Men’s Club Champion Joe Sykes.