Six Man Team

2023 Yorkshire Inter District Union Six Man Team Championship

Winning the YIDU league title is a tough ask in any season, but adding the Team Championship and completing the double is a rare feat indeed.

Hopes were high of the double as Andy Lockwood's super six arrived at Wakefield Golf Club still on a high from their league title win at Harrogate one week ago.

The muggy morning play promised much, with half of the team breaking the course par of 72. Steve Uzzell shot an excellent 70 despite not having had a practice round having hot-footed his way from The Oaks where he helped Yorkshire capture the Northern Counties league on Saturday. Aaron Brettell went one better with a sparkling 69 before Jonnie Fisher carded a best of the day 67 which amazingly included a double bogey!

With only the best five scores required from six, East Riding added a solid one over 73 from Jack Northgraves and a 76 from either Ryan Gray or Jacob Hodgson (the other was discarded). That left their lunchtime aggregate at 355 (-5) just four shots adrift of a strong looking Leeds Union. There was then clear daylight to York in third and Halifax & Huddersfield a further shot back.

The afternoon groups got underway from the two tee start and East Riding birdies seemed to dry up with most of the side treading water at par or one or two over. It also soon became clear that Leeds were in a similar position with only George Heath pushing on from his morning 69.

A late charge was required, but sadly late bogies and the odd double cost the Union the chance of victory, with only Uzzell the right side of par with his 71. Brettell added a 73, Gray improved on his morning round with a 74 and Northgraves holed nothing in his 75. Jonnie could not repeat his morning birdie blitz and slipped to a 75, whilst Jacob Hodgson fell away at the end of a tiring day over the undulating terrain with a 78.

Leeds carded a couple of level par 72s to back up Heath's 70, before a 73 and 75 sealed the deal for Leeds to take their first six man crown since 2006. They finished ten shots clear of East Riding who were caught on 723 by Halifax & Huddersfield who took the runners-up Larard Trophy on countback.

So, East Riding's search for a second 'six man' victory goes on, with their solitary success being at Knaresborough in 2018.

Despite missing out on the day's honours, Team Captain Andy Lockwood was presented with the YIDU league trophy during the presentation and thanked the squad for a great season and all those unsung heroes who make all the arrangements and provide support at all matches and events.

2019 Yorkshire Inter District Union Six Man Team Championship

On a warm sunny day with only a breath of wind, The Oaks Golf Club, with its generous fairways and light rough, was at the mercy of some of the finest players in Yorkshire in the final event of the 2019 season. And so it proved with scores of 66 from Tom Pyman (York), 67 from Sam Bridges (Halifax, Huddersfield) and 68s from Jack Ward (Harrogate), Charlie Daughtry (Sheffield), Ben Rhodes (Bradford) and our own Nick Raybould. He would go on to add a 71 to his morning score for a five under total and third place behind Ward (69,68) and Daughtry (70,68) in the individual contest.

Raybould was well supported in the morning by Leigh Gawley, who posted a three under score of 69, whilst the rest of the team, Tom Duck, Tom Broadley, Dan Swales and Dan Digby were a few shots over par with scores of 77, 78, 76 and 78 respectively. East Riding's lunchtime  total of 446 put us in fourth place, ten shots behind the midway leaders, Harrogate.

In the afternoon there was a marked improvement from Broadley, Swales and Digby with scores of 70, 73 and 72 respectively to go with Raybould's 71. However, Gawley slumped to an 81 whilst Duck, nursing an injured wrist sustained in a car crash two days earlier, could only manage a 79. The total for the afternoon rounds exactly matched the morning total giving an aggregate score of 892. Harrogate was the runaway winner on 864, which represented level par, whilst East Riding were placed fifth on countback.

The East Riding Team was supported by Howard Palmer, Steve Thornton, Peter Robertson and John Illingworth, the President having tendered his apologies before departing on holiday.