Melissa in running for national award
MELISSA Clapham is a relative newcomer to golf having started some seven years ago at Lymm Golf Club with her husband Nigel before moving to Romiley where they joined the golf club.
After taking on the role of England Golf Charter Champion for the club Melissa was delighted to see her hard work in the role pay off as she has been nominated for the England Golf Volunteer of the Year award with two other ladies, one of which is another Cheshire lady, – Abby Frodsham (Wallasey GC).
The awards evening is on February 13 at the England Golf Centenary Dinner at The Midland Hotel in Manchester.
Melissa said:“When we joined Romiley GC the Lady Vice Captain Anne Harrison remembered me from a mixed open the year before, and introduced me to some of the ladies.
“When she became Lady Captain, she asked if
I would join the ladies committee and after a few weeks the committee asked if I would also take on the role of England Golf Charter Champion for the club as well as help to recruit more ladies.”
Anne outlined the work that Melissa has done to earn the nomination: “Melissa took on the role of England Golf Champion for Romiley Golf Club in April 2022.
“A relatively new to golf lady herself, Melissa had a very good understanding of what most ladies were looking to achieve from the game and how it would fit into different lifestyles.
“Melissa’s background was primarily setting up exhibitions worldwide, specialising in computer software. This unique expertise has proved invaluable in organising various events and maintaining the enthusiasm of our new recruits.
“Her knowledge of social media has been particularly helpful and she has worked closely with the Club’s Social Media team to promote events and follow up with success stories. A WhatsApp group specifically for the new ladies has been a great help for everyone.
“All in all, Melissa’s friendly, approachable personality shines through and she is a great asset to Romiley Golf Club and thoroughly deserves her nomination.
“The Club realised the age profile was high and some new younger members were needed to sustain it’s future success.
“A key target for me was to increase the female membership but we realised this was a big task and needed someone special to take it forward. Then along came Melissa and we all breathed a sigh of relief!”
A Team of Four Stableford at Disley had the fab four of W Henderson, S
Owen, D Tennant and N McGuinness ruling the roost with two more than K O’Donnell, E Shottin, R Seddon and A Townend and T Booth, J Russell, G Evans and B Grant.
A singles Stableford at Gatley had Peter Stiles first past the post with 28 from Matthew Milnes 27. Anthony Finch 26 and Michael Brennan junior 23.
The Manchester and District Golf Alliance is the biggest organisation of its kind in the country providing competitive golf for professionals and amateurs for over 110 clubs in Cheshire, Lancashire and Greater Manchester throughout the calendar year.
It is a big year in 2024 as the Alliance celebrates its Centenary year and MDGA President Ian Brooks (Bolton Old Links GC) and his small and dedicated team of volunteers are near to completing a very busy and attractive programme for their Centenary Year which begins in August.
The Alliance has completed the first half of its
Winter Competitions which have seen full fields of professionals and amateurs playing each week at clubs in the Alliance.
Ian Brooks said: “It was a great start to the season in fine sunny weather at Dunham Forest –then it went out with a bang!
“The event at Leigh was cancelled due to what had become a very, very wet few months which caused events at Whitefield and Northenden to be cancelled.
The rest of the first half of the season went well with full fields and the Inter Club Knock Out were played in dry weather.
“A big thanks to our sponsors for their continued support and to Jim Cunliffe and Ian Hales for organising and running the competitions.
“All of us at the Alliance wish everyone a dry golfing and successful 2024.”
As well as the weekly prizes for professionals, pro am and am teams there are also the ongoing Order of Merit prizes for professionals and amateurs which finish at President’s Day at Styal GC on May 1.
Last year’s winners were Professional OoM Jamie Howarth (Davenport GC) 581 ahead of Craig Corrigan 414 and Phil Kelly 248 and the Amateur OoM winner was Paul Ralph (Hazel Grove GC) 492 from Paul Robinson (Davenport) 413 and Ian Fearns (Stamford GC 382.
The current leaders at the midway stage this season are Professional OoM Jamie Howarth 292, Callum Blinkhorn (Leigh) 195 and Ian Ridgway (Disley) 180.
The top amateur OoM is Paul Robinson (Davenport) 220 from Ross Birch (Stockport) 187 and Charles Herbert (Reddish Vale) 187.
The second half of the winter season resumes at Hart Common GC on February 14 and play continues each week until May 1.
Professional and amateur players from all of the affiliated Alliance clubs can enter the competitions and details can be found on the Alliance website www.mdga.org. uk.