Oldham & District Golf League

BLACKLEY 'CAPTAINS FANTASTIC'

SAVE THE BEST FOR LAST

BLACKLEY had a day to remember as they stormed to victory in the Brian Atack Team Championship at North Manchester.

Their two team captains Gareth Morris and Steve Kelly quite literally saved the best for last with a scorching 47 points in the last pairing of the 160-strong field to claim top spot.

Their round included TEN nett birdies and a nett eagle – their only blemish being a dropped shot at the last.

But it was still enough to give them a one-shot victory over another of the late starters – Stamford ‘B’ captain Oli Collins and his partner Nick Goodwin who shot 46pts – they had nine 3-pointers and a four-point birdie at the opening hole.

Leaders for much of the day were the Saddleworth reserve pairing of Lee Rowbotham and Jonathan Phillips on 45 pts – the low men had five birdies and an eagle.

And Greg Burgess, the Saddeworth ‘A’ captain ,was left fielding questions that compared his decision to bench the pair to that of Keegan Bradley twice picking Harris English and Collin Morikawa! (Only joking Greg!)

Blackley got a second pairing into the prize list when Jimmy O’Loughlin and Steve Murray took fourth with 45 pts (cpo) and a third Blackley pairing of Rick Valentine and Lee Wolstenholme were only denied fifth on a play-off which went to the back three with Denton’s C Crawford and C McManus on 44pts.

With such a high scoring presence of Blackley pairs at the top it was a foregone conclusion for the Brian Atack trophy ... Blackley’s best three total of 136 an impressive TEN shots better than joint second Brookdale and hosts North Manchester.

Brookdale did have something to celebrate as veteran Dougie Sloan finally shot his first hole in one at the 11th… the sun blocking the group’s view of the ace from the tee but they most certainly heard the cheers from the group in front on the 12th!

The day’s formalities also doubled up as the ODGL’s presentation with Blackley also taking home both the ‘A’ Cup and the newly-struck ‘B’ Cup.

The League titles went to Dukinfield ‘A’ and Stamford ‘B’ with Brookdale ‘A’ captain Pete Buckley claiming the Gold Cup after a matchplay final win over Ashton ‘A’ captain Martin Wild.

As the golfers departed to what was expected to be the formality of a European Ryder Cup win (how wrong we were there!) there was unanimous praise for host club North Manchester.

The Rhodes club is undergoing exciting major changes but there is no doubt that if the new clubhouse matches the quality of their greens then everyone will be delighted. Simply superb!

See you all next season – a date for the ODGL Autumn meeting will be circulated in due course.

RESULTS

WINNERS £125 voucher each: G Morris and S Kelly (Blackley) 47pts

2nd place £90 each: O Collins and N Goodwin (Stamford) 46pts

3rd place £70 each: L Rowbotham and J Phillips (Saddleworth) 45pts (cpo back nine 23)

4th place £60 each: J O’Loughlin and S Murray (Blackley) 45pts (back nine 21)

5th place £50 each: C Crawford and C McManus (Denton) 44pts (back 9 23/23, back 6 16/16, back 3 9/7)

Nearest pin £30:G Holmes (C & Royton)

Longest drive £30: D Park (Oldham)

Hole-in-one @ 11th: D Sloan (Brookdale)

2s: 19 2's win sleeve of Pro V1s

All prizes that were not collected (including 2s) will be delivered to your home club pro-shop this week.

BRIAN ATACK TEAM TROPHY

Winners: Blackley 136 (47+45+44)

Runners Up: North Manchester 126 (43+42+41) and Brookdale (43+42+41)

*Could clubs drawn to host semi-finals please ensure these dates are in the home course diary for catering.

*League captains are reminded of the following with regard to the new matchcards.

* Please ensure that you complete match forms with full names, handicap index, playing handicap and shots allocated - 90per cent of the difference from the lower (please check these as there have been errors on a couple of Cup matchcards)

* Put result of each game indicating which team won each match and the margin of victory.

* It is the Captain’s responsibility to ensure that team members comply with handicap rules – indexes 0-9 A and 8-17 B - and that they have a fully-fledged 20-card handicap with five qualifying cards in the last 12 months.

The League was conceived as an opportunity for local golfers to play competitively against other golf clubs in the local area and at the same time develop camaraderie between them. The intention is to enjoy good golf courses with sporting companions in a friendly but competitive atmosphere.

The League was composed of 2 Divisions from the outset but the Cup competition was not introduced until 1980. Initially, the League was based on singles matches in the A Division and the first Secretary was A L Davidson (Saddleworth GC). In those early years, the league was less competitive and League Tables were not produced until the last match of the season had been played! In 1982, Barry Matthews (League Secretary) and Carl Cunnelly (Fixtures Secretary) ran the League on a more organised and formal basis until 2005. In 1991 the end of season Brian Atack Tournament was added to compete for individual and team trophies.

Since 2005, the trio of Saddleworth's John Walsh (Chairman), Ashton's Brendan Kennedy (Secretary) and Werneth's David Whaley (Fixtures secretary) guided the league through an expansion into a four division format with the addition of teams from North Manchester, Blackley, Crompton & Royton and Castle Hawk. The league changed further in 2017 with the introduction of promotion and relegation between the two 'A' divisions and Howard Lawton (North Manchester) took over as League Secretary. In 2023 David Whaley (Saddleworth) assumed the role of League Secretary with Howard Lawton standing down as Treasurer. In October 2025 John Osbaldeston (Crompton & Royton) accepted the role as Honorary Treasurer.