Brilliant Brandon holds his nerve to defend Lagonda title

THIS year the Gog Magog Golf Club celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Lagonda Trophy.

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The founder and sponsor Clive Smith passed away last October. He was and will continue to be sadly missed, but it was great to see his partner Janet and also Clive’s closest friends Mike and Heather Walsh with their daughter Lucy supporting the tournament.

As usual there was a high class field of 66 competitors with the ballot falling at plus 2.1.

The first shots were struck at 7:20 am in sunny, windy conditions, to the relief of the competitors, who had been treated to steady rain during the previous day’s practice round.

Considering the dry spring, the Old Course was in superb condition, thanks to the hard work put in by Andrew Howarth and his team. The greens were true and running well on the stimp meter and the rough, although not as high as previous years, was certainly going to be testing.

Defending champion Brandon Skidmore was back to defend his trophy having just returned from his college in the USA on the day before the practice round. There were also a number of other USA college students playing in this special Lagonda Trophy.

The best round in the morning was by Joseph Buenfieldfrom the Stoneham Golf Club in Hampshire. He had the perfect start with birdie threes at the first two holes and raced to the turn in 31 strokes. Steady golf on the way home saw him return an excellent 66 and the first round lead.

Lying one stroke back, was Skidmore who returned 67 which included six birdies.