Current world number six Justin Rose has become the official touring professional to Golf at Goodwood.
Rose, who burst on to the golfing scene as a 17-year-old amateur during the 1998 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, has become an ambassador to the complex.
Rose said: “I’m delighted to be announcing this partnership with Goodwood given the history and heritage of the estate and the fantastic facilities that they have to offer there.
“I’m also excited by their ambitions for the development of their junior golf programme and hope to be a part of their plans for many years to come.”
With four wins on the PGA Tour, plus a host of silverware on the European Tour, including the Order of Merit in 2007, Rose was a natural choice for Goodwood given his heritage in the UK along with the club’s proximity to where he grew up in Hampshire.
Following Rose’s most successful year to date, that included his first World Golf Championship victory at the Cadillac Championship, along with his invaluable contribution to the extraordinary Ryder Cup win at Medinah, Goodwood seized the opportunity to form a partnership with the English golfer.
Stuart Gillett, general manager, Golf At Goodwood, said: “We are thrilled to be working with Justin on the back of his great success last year and his heroics at The Ryder Cup.
“Justin is the perfect ambassador for us with his success both locally and nationally as a junior; this is an area we are committed to developing here at Goodwood and what better inspiration for the stars of tomorrow.
“We believe we offer a truly unique golf experience set alongside England’s finest sporting Estate and with Justin’s involvement we look forward to taking Golf At Goodwood to a new level.”
n Golf At Goodwood’s highly-successful junior golf camps get under way again at Easter under the guidance of former tour player and Goodwood PGA professional Ryan Fenwick.
There are three camps open to both boys and girls aged six to 18, with four days’ coaching and the option of staying on the Goodwood Estate for three nights.
The first camp runs from Monday, March 25 to Thursday 28 costing £299 per person for residents and £45 per day for non-residents.
Led by Fenwick, a regional EGU England coach, the camps will run from 9.30am to 4pm each day with coaching on all aspects of the game.
One professional will coach a maximum of eight junior golfers per camp to ensure each player receives the most intensive and beneficial tuition over the four days.
Junior golfers welcomed from all over the UK can learn some of the secrets of the professionals and how they train from Fenwick, who played alongside Luke Donald, Paul Casey and new Golf at Goodwood ambassador Justin Rose as an amateur for England before turning pro in 2000.
There are also camps from Monday, April 1, to Thursday 4 and Monday 8 to Thursday 11 which include breakfast, lunch, dinner and accommodation, 24-hour supervision and evening activities.
Fenwick has a wealth of experience coaching youth development through to tournament professionals including ladies European Tour players Hannah Ralph and Anna Scott, both emerging talents on the tour who will be joining him throughout the camp.
“We had some tremendous feedback from our half term camps from both the juniors and their parents and we really want to build on the junior training programme and membership this season,” Fenwick said.
“The camps create an environment for the youngsters to replicate how the top players train on a day to day basis not just in terms of practice but their intensive fitness programme, nutrition and mental approach.”
To find out more about golf tuition with Ryan, call 01243 755133 or email ryan.fenwick@goodwood.com
COWDRAY PARK
Thirty-four ladies played in the Dovetail competition. The Dovetail is played in pairs and each player must have their score recorded on nine holes.
Both partners play the hole individually, then select whose score is going to be recorded on the card. This must be done after the completion of each hole and not at the end of the round.
The winners with a score of 41 points were Imke Sanderson and Sue Melville. In second place were Jill Parry and Mandy Lucking with 39 and third were June Page and Myrna Heustice also on 39.
Meanwhile, with visibility virtually nil, 40 ladies ventured out in the foggy conditions to compete for the Syrett Bowl.
This is a Stableford played with a limit of three clubs and a putter. The choice of clubs is an important factor if the scoring is to be successful.
Eventually the fog lifted to reveal a beautiful sunny day. The winner with 33 points was Sue Brown. In second place was Pat Wallace with 32 on countback from Wendy Street and Barbara Parker.
Following the Cowdray Park seniors’ February Stableford, the tables for the Carter Trophy and Eclectic have shown some dramatic changes.
Some 31 players have already earned points in the Carter Trophy, which is based on finishing positions in the monthly Stablefords, with no one player having scored points in all three contests, showing the competitiveness of the section.
Surprise leader is 28 handicapper David Evans with 22.5 points, followed by Alan Cram on 20.5 from previous leader Brian Carpenter on 20. Outright Stableford winner Tony Castley makes his debut in seventh place with 15 points.
The Eclectic saw wholesale changes with frontrunner Paul Owen improving his gross score by three but finding his lead reduced to one point by the consistent Pat Bonner, a previous winner of this trophy.
Castley gained due reward for his nine pars to improve 42 places to 14th, while another previous winner, Phil Harrison, leapt 40 places to ninth.
Biggest gain came from veteran Des White, who advanced from 87th to 34rd. Just behind the leader are other single-figure handicappers John Doran and Dave Lucking. Last year Lucking scored 13 birdies to win the trophy and, already this year, Owen has scored five, and. with better conditions to come, an interesting struggle is likely.
Cowdray Park seniors held their annual match managers’ competition on a cold day with the wind-chill factor keeping the temperature below zero.
Players had to contend with firm fairways and rock-hard greens, making shot selection difficult. One man who coped well was Roger Poat, who won with 35 points on contback from Roy Penrose, who capped his day by winning the prize for nearest the pin on the par-three 11th.
Big-hitting Derek Smith won the nearest the pin in two on the 18th.
The match season will begin in the middle of March at Blackmoor, quickly followed by the traditional opening home match against Ham Manor.
AVISFORD PARK
Avisford Park members took on the staff for their annual competition which the staff have never lost - and the staff again beat the members 6-5.
Results: S Porter, M Mills beat B Jeffries & S Redfern; C Corbin, R Coulson beat D Rudman & G Twine; M Chitty, W Sharpe lost to R West & G Walker; G Maguire, I Denyer lost to R Blackwood & S Squires; N Medcraft, L Rogers beat M Paige & L Walker; J Walker, A Adams beat J How & C Marchant; G Kilgarriff, R Keates lost to D Bernhardt & A Kracke; C May, R Evershed beat G Gibbs & S Small
B Boulter, C Wall beat M Heron & R Gillard; D Every, R Boorer lost to N Finneran & H Burchell; P Collins, M Hopkins lost to R Kuszka & A Kinchin.
The midweek roll-up was won by Chris May with 38 points. The Saturday roll-up was won by Paul Rosin with 36.
The senior Stableford pairs were won by Peter Collins and Rodger Hill with 71 points. Runners-up with 68 points were Brian Comber and Al Winterton.