Despite appalling weather conditions, and a very strong field, 15-year-old Ben Farthing won the Club Championship on July 19th.

Ben's rounds of 75 and 73 were enough to beat Ian Brown and Cornelius McCarthy by four strokes.

His marvellous effort, played in torrential rain and gusty wind, makes him the youngest winner in the history of the championship.

If that was not enough, he also became the first winner of the J. Ross Mashie, the new net score trophy for this event.

The new trophy, donated by past captain Ivan Gooch, is a mashie club made by John Ross, the pro at IGC from 1897 to 1900

HAMBRO CUP RETURNS AFTER 30 YEAR GAP

BRYETT'S TEAM WINS LAST PAIR THRILLER AT WOODBRIDGE

Big gallery watches great golf from old rivals for Suffolk's premier club prize

History repeated itself when Ipswich Golf Club took on their old rivals from Rushmere at Woodbridge and won the Hambro Cup, ending a drought in the competition lasting 30 years. A warm and sunny day brought out a large following to watch the matches, with a stiff breeze from the North East testing the skill of the players. Led by their tireless captain David Bryett, who must have travelled three times the distance walked by the players, the Purdis team took an early lead and managed to hang on to it despite a spirited afternoon comeback by Rushmere.

Richard Davies and Jeff Hosking led the way for Ipswich, pitted against county players Will Wright and Andrew Robinson. They pulled back from 3 down on the 13th, only to go back to 2 down on the 17th tee, but, unlike their opponents, they kept their nerve to pull back the deficit by lunch.

The big win of the morning belonged to Paul Elliston and Mark Lewis, who established a six hole advantage over Michael Buck and Ashley Durrant. The Rushmere players must have wondered what hit them

Rushmere pulled 3 of the holes back courtesey of scratch player James Wright and his partner Peter Robinson, who pulled away from Ian Brown and Alan Scruby towards the end of a tight match.The Ipswich lead was restored to 5 up at lunch, however, by the anchor pairing of Daniel Bryett and Gavin Richards who took 2 holes from Aaron Cavanagh and Danny Barton.

The afternoon pairings saw a rematch in the first group, but this time Wright and Robinson kept Jeff Hosking and Richard Davies at bay and reduced the Ipswich Lead to 2 holes.

Rushmere made changes to the pairings lower down the order, and Buck and Cavanagh restricted runanway morning winners Paul Elliston and Mark Lewis to victory by just 1 hole. The Ipswich pair looked relaxed and confident all day, and they hardly put a foot wrong, despite pressure from their afternoon opponents.

Rushmere were now only 3 behind, and their pairing of Wright and Robinson won for the second time over Ian Brown and Alan Scruby to pull the deficit back to only 1 hole with 1 match still on the course.Daniel Bryett and Gavin Richards had gone out to a 4 hole lead, but their opponents Barton and Durrant, spurred on by the news coming from the matches in front, won the 14th and 15th, and were in the driving seat at the long 16th when they found the green in 2 with Ipswich in the bunker short of the green.

Despite a good bunker shot by Bryett, the Ipswich pair still made a bogey, leaving Rushmere with 2 putts to reduce the match lead to 2 holes with 2 to play. The pressure proved too much and Rushmere 3-putted. Their comeback came to an end when the Ipswich pair took the last 2 holes to restore the lead to 5.

After 30 years it's no surprise that there were scenes of great joy by the 18th green as the last pair came in. For club captain Ivan Gooch it was a double celebration since it was his birthday as well, and he looked like the Cheshire Cat who'd got the cream. It was only fitting that he should fill the old trophy with champagne to toast a great success and the achievements of a talented and well-led team.

Back row (l to r) Chris Mayhew, Julian Todd, Pete Moss, Non-playing captain Dallas Dron, and Ben Hancock.
Front row (l to r) Robert Adams, James Godbold, Brian Boyton and John Little

For the second year running IGC has reached the final of a county inter-club competition when our Tolly team beat Cretingham at Fynn Valley by 13 holes.

Although Cretinham took the early advantage in the first two matches, the Purdis pairings of Ben Hancock and Julian Todd, and James Godbold and Robert Adams soon pulled the matches round at lunch to lead by 2 and 5 holes respectively.

Julian and Ben doubled their lead in the afternoon, while James and Robert's opponents pulled a couple of holes back.

John Little and Brian Boyton had a closer match, leading by 2 at lunch, though eventually getting a half against gutsy opponents with a good short game.

Chris Mayhew and Peter Moss also led by 5 at lunch, and although their opponents made a better fist of it in the afternoon they still managed to increase their lead by a hole to win by 6.

They meet Stowmarket in the final at Felixstowe on August 15th. Caddies and supporters will be welcome, particularly as the club will now be paying for caddie's meals.

James Godbold flips the ball out of the greenside bunker on the 5th