The Forty Fourth Mixed Foursomes Championship was played on Sunday May 25 on a mainly fine but cool afternoon. A full field of 28 pairs set out to try and win the coveted Championship and have their names inscribed on the O and S ALLOM BOWL – the winners being the combination with the best gross score over the 18 holes.
The Bowl was presented to the club in 1970 by OG and STELLA ALLOM who were founding members of the club and Life Members. The Perpetual Trophy was presented to the club in recognition of nearly 40 years of enjoyable membership.
This year’s event was once again proudly sponsored by Veni Tang and Gary Hing. Previous Champions in the field included Chris and Stewart Wharton (2020), Veni Tang and Gary Hing (2022) and defending Champions Vanessa Stephen and Bill Stephen.
Other fancied pairings appeared to be, Ali Baker and Campbell Thomson, Patricia and Steven Noske, Karen Bond and Steve Forgan and Mandy Sudlow-Brown and Shane Maloney.
A brief overview –
After nine holes the leaderboard looked something like this
Kath Fordham and Timothy Bryant 43
Karen Bond and Steve Forgan 45
Joan Brown and Timothy Tan 45
Patricia Noske and Steve Noske 45
Vanessa Stephen and Bill Stephen 45
Chris Wharton and Stewart Wharton 46
So, it looked like a race in 6
The contenders after 14 holes –
Vanessa Stephen and Bill Stephen 65
Karen Bond and Steve Forgan 68
Joan Brown and Timothy Tan 70
Chris Wharton and Stewart Wharton 70
Nikki Bellemore-Thomas and Matt Dumble 71
Kath Fordham and Timothy Bryant 71
Patricia Noske and Steve Noske 71
So, it looked like a race in 4 so we will follow their progress over the concluding holes.
Karen and Steve started with a par on the 3rd hole but followed it with 2 x Double Bogeys and finishing with a par they were in the clubhouse with 88.
Joan and Timothy finished with 4 bogeys on holes 1-4 and completed the journey with 91.
Chris and Stewart started with three bogeys and finished with a par on the 1st hole- they were also in the clubhouse with 88.
It was now left to the defending Champs Vanessa and Bill to see if they could make it back to back victories. They started with a double bogey on the 17th. Two pars followed and a final bogey on the 2nd had them at 85 and the leaders.
Nobody else made a charge so the defending champs were successful.
Special mention to Grace Furness and her professional partner Phil Mackay who shot the round of the day of 81.
So, congratulations to our two time Champions Vanessa and Bill Stephen, who claimed victory by three shots from the 2020 Champions Chris and Stewart Wharton and the first time combination of Karen Bond and Steve Forgan
GROSS LEADERS – Vanessa and Bill Stephen 85, Chris and Stewart Wharton 88, Karen Bond and Steve Forgan 88, Nikki Bellemore-Thomas and Matt Dumble 90, and Joan Brown and Timothy Tan 91.
The Nett event was keenly contested and the winners were Kath Fordham and Timothy Bryant with a fine two under par 70. Next were Vanessa and Bill Stephen on 73.5 and then Chris and Stewart Wharton on 73.5
Grace Furness and Phil Mackay were 4th on 75.5.
Other good nett scores came from defending champions Jane and Stuart Waters 76, Karen Bond and Steve Forgan 76, Joan Brown and Timothy Tan 76, Nikki Bellemore-Thomas and Matt Dumble 76.5.
Special thanks once again to the sponsors, Veni Tang and Gary Hing for their support of this year’s Mixed Foursomes Championship – the O and S ALLOM BOWL.
Our course, house and Pro Shop staff assisted in making this year’s Bowl a success.
The next Sunday Mixed event on the calendar is American Foursomes sponsored by Jill and Tony Morgan – scheduled to be played on Sunday July 6.
Finally congratulations to our 2025 Champions –
VANESSA AND BILL STEPHEN
From – Greg Fitzhardinge
