The future of any golf club is dependent upon new members, encouraging them to join and to stay in golf.

The development of junior players is the essential life blood and building block for the future of the sport worldwide and Ramsey Golf Club is no exception.

A look back at the class list for the junior section of 2006 sees two island champions learning the game but perhaps more importantly about 40 per cent of the list still play golf which represents some significant degree of success.

This season presented many well-documented difficulties for golf and all other sports as well. The nature of the game allowed golfers to return to their beloved course earlier than other sports but the start of the season was still delayed.

Ramsey’s junior organiser, Malcolm Callow, put together a committed group of helpers who devoted their time to the development of young golfers at the club.

Malcolm, together with Rosemarie Sinclair, Linda Webb, Ruth Murdoch, Stella Jelski, Jane Gaines and Tilly Davies, gave their time, patience and expertise week in, week out and provided a full programme of instruction and competitions for the juniors.

After working out the playing requirements under the post-Covid lockdown, the junior section training and club nights eventually got going at the end of June, with the first Saturday coaching session of the year.

The take up from children - and of course their parents - was impressive and bode well for the remainder of the season.

Junior club nights started with a regular group of 20 plus players taking part, with captain Dave Boswell assisting the players as well.

Competition wins over the summer came from Oliver Morris, Ciaran Hughes, Harry Higgins, James Jelski, Landon Allison, Orry Quayle, Matthew Bell and Brodie Culshaw.

But it was the general improvements made by all the players that was the real success and it was great to see the enjoyment and determination demonstrated by all the players and helpers as well.

Generous sponsorship will always be essential to enable all sports clubs to develop their junior players and Ramsey Golf Club are very appreciative of the sponsorship they received from Christian Cowley at the Oak Group.

In the background, Isle of Man Golf have promoted the ’Safegolf’ initiative to all the clubs island-wide and Ramsey GC, from the outset, adopted the safeguarding policy and its recommendations to provide guidance to all involved in the junior section.

Without doubt, it was a successful year for the juniors and next year will hopefully see more players being welcomed to learn the game at Ramsey.

King Edward Bay

by adam caddick

Scoring was exceptional in King Edward Bay Golf Club’s open stableford competition last Saturday, which would partly be as a consequence of the new handicap systems being in place.

David Hunter was top of the tree with an excellent 42 points, shooting birdies on the 6th and 12th holes in a blob-free round.

Matthew James was one point behind, birdieing the 11th and 13th holes, before a last-hole birdie cost him top spot when a par would have sufficed.

Craig Astin’s 40 points (two under gross) included a run which resulted in a five-under-gross picture from the 9th hole onwards, thanks to birdies on the 9th, 11th, 13th, 16th and 18th holes.

Paul Grace narrowly missed out on the top three on the back nine, with a score which would normally have meant a top-one finish.

Results from Sunday’s Captain’s Graveyard event will be included in next week’s report.

This weekend the club have a Saturday open stableford followed by a shotgun start on Sunday, with players requested to be there for 8.15am. Happy golfing.