Amateur theatre was in the spotlight last night as six groups competed for this year’s Brighton and Hove Arts Council Drama Awards.

Adjudicator Trevor Jones, a professional actor for 50 years, announced the winners at a reception held at BHASVIC.

Lancing Repertory Players, entering for the first time, were overjoyed to win best overall production, the most coveted award.

Their play, Bouncers, was set in a nightclub in the north of England and had a cast of four men playing 33 characters, with the only props being the odd handbag.

Mr Jones was impressed by the imaginative set-up in the auditorium, where the cabaret-style seating gave the audience the feeling they were actually in a nightclub.

He gave Lancing two more awards – Linsay Oliver was named best director and Ian Black won best sound design.

Southwick Players picked up five awards for Blue Remembered Hills, which Mr Jones described as a ‘brilliantly produced play’, awarding it the new Arthur Churchill Award for Excellence.

Directors Nettie Sheridan and Gary Cook picked up the award for best technical achievement for the ‘superb effect of the burning barn’.

Tobias Clay, who played Donald was named best actor, Beverley Grover won best lighting design and Martin Oakley was awarded best set design for the Players.

Wick Theatre Company picked up two awards and Mr Jones praised director Dan Dryer for the modern political references he wove into Accidental Death of an Anarchist.

Emily Hale, who played Superintendent, was named best supporting actress and Guy Steddon, who played Pissani, won best supporting actor. Sarah Frost, who was Felletti, was also nominated for best supporting actress.

Audrey Pickles, costumier for Rottingdean Drama Society, won best costume design for their production of Gaslight.

There were two awards for the Brighton-based New Venture Theatre, who performed The Clean House.

Stage manager Matt Bosica won best stage crew and Kerri Frost, who played Lane, won best actress.

Burgess Hill Theatre Club also received two awards for its production of The Lifesavers.

The new Coffin Mew Award was presented to the club for the accomplished use of sign language and director Phil Hawkins, who created the programme design, won best publicity.

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REVIEW: Christmas Concerts, Chichester Festival Theatre, until Saturday, December 10.

There’s no finer sound than Chichester Cathedral choir in full flow, and under Charles Harrison, they are scaling ever-greater heights.

Add to that the wonderful sight of the Band Of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines Portsmouth in all their magnificence, and it’s the perfect combination for a festive concert.

Just the one element is missing. The schools choirs used to be such an important part of this event. It would be lovely to see them restored to the occasion however unwieldy they were at times in getting on and off the stage.

Their massed voices added that special extra element. It would be good too to have the programmes restored - always good to know what you are listening to and nice to know what’s coming up.

But the main thing is that Chichester Festival Theatre’s Christmas concerts are firmly back on the programme - and joyously so.

Marines musical director Captain Ian Davis is the perfect host, pitching it just right between the seriousness and the jokes. And you can hear the respect his musicians have for him. It shows in the music, every last note of it. As ever, the Corps of Drums is quite something to behold.

As for the Cathedral choir, they are in very special hands with master of the choristers Charles Harrison. The boys brought plenty of first-half tingle; in the second half, the choir’s adults - the six lay vicars - showed admirable skill under the very appropriate name, Close Harmony.

It all adds up to a sparkling and hugely-enjoyable night. Bring back the schools, and we’ll have the icing on our Christmas cake.

Phil Hewitt

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The A27 is fully open this morning following the major crash at the bottom of Hammerpot Hill yesterday afternoon.

‘Significant damage’ was caused to a showroom next to a garage at the bottom of the hill when a white Ford Transit van crashed into a stationary car and then the showroom at around 2pm on Tuesday, December 6.

The Ford Transit van driver suffered slight injuries and was taken to hospital, police said, while there were no other reports of any injuries.

The A27 remained closed until around 8pm yesterday evening but this morning is fully open.

http://www.worthingherald.co.uk/news/pictures-a27-remains-shut-after-van-collides-with-showroom-1-7715441

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Jofra Archer has signed a new two-year contract extension with Sussex after first putting pen to paper on a professional deal in August.

The new deal will see Archer remain at The 1st Central County Ground until at least the end of the 2019 season.

The 21 year-old former West Indies Under-19 bowler enjoyed a fine breakthrough season at Hove, culminating with him winning the Young Player of the Year Award in September at Sussex’s end of season presentation.

He made his first-class debut against the touring Pakistan side in July, taking match figures of 5 for 73, and quickly went on to make his bow in all three competitive formats.

He claimed figures of 5 for 42 against Somerset in front of the Sky cameras in the Royal London One-Day Cup at Taunton, and his best haul in the Specsavers County Championship saw him take 4 for 31 at Grace Road against Leicestershire, which contributed to match figures of 7 for 62.

Archer also showed promise with the bat, hitting 73 against Essex at Colchester, sharing a partnership of 140 with Chris Jordan.

It was announced in early August that Archer had signed a first professional contract at Hove, but Sussex have moved quickly to secure the services of such an exciting talent for a prolonged period.

Archer said of his new deal, “I’m really happy to extend my contract. I can develop without any pressure and the aim is to continue to build on what I did last season.

“Last season was really pleasing because I thought all my opportunities had left me due to my previous injuries, so I was really grateful to be presented with this one at Sussex.

“My aim for next season is to take 70 wickets across all three formats, and if I can cement my place in the team then I think that can be a reality.”

Sussex’s Head Coach Mark Davis said, “I am delighted that Jofra has committed to a three-year contract with Sussex.

“He is a young player with immense talent with both bat and ball and has emerged as a very important cricketer for Sussex.

“He is still a young man learning his trade but the signs are clearly there that he will be an integral part of our future success.”

A new shop for beer-lovers opens its doors on Thursday (December 8) near Pulborough.

Hepworth’s New Brewery successfully re-located to custom-built premises in Stane Street, just north of Pulborough, and is able to produce three times as much of the award winning brews.

The Brewery Shop will be open from today, just in time for beer lovers to stock up for Christmas.

Andy Hepworth, managing director and head brewer, said: “We’re just selling a range of beers until the New Year and will fit out the shop more fully in the spring.

“It’s taken much more energy than we had anticipated settling in to the new premises and increasing production to meet demand, so the shop had to be put on the back burner for a while.”

Andy added that demand is high, with the low rate of sterling boosting exports.

Norway, where the sale of alcohol is the preserve of the State, continues to increase and favoured brand is Iron Horse, a Pale Ale at 4.8%.

Russia has opted for a wide range of bottles and two draught ales, Conqueror at 4.5%, and Iron Horse at 4.8%.

“We have to work quite hard on the export side,” said Andy.

“The paperwork can be a little alarming and time-consuming, but response from our customers is very rewarding. We are expecting to expand our overseas markets. But our true priority is essentially local – and we see the shop as an important contact with all our well-wishers and loyal customers. Cheers!”

An action plan to dredge Brooklands Lake for the first time in 20 years was supported by councillors on Tuesday, following pleas from hundreds of petitioners.

Worthing Borough Council cabinet members vowed to remove 10,000 cubic metres of silt from the lake, thought to have caused annual issues with toxic blue-green algae.

Lead petitioners have welcomed the plans, which could cost up to £850,000, as they claimed the algae was responsible for the death of wildlife.

But questions remain over how the works will be funded, with the council seeking financial support from other interested parties.

Speaking at the joint strategic committee meeting on Tuesday, cabinet member for environment Clive Roberts said: “I’m sorry for the state of the lake. In all the years I have been overseeing it I think I’ve done all I can, so thanks once again for the petition which has given it a bit of impetus.

“When I couldn’t shout loud enough it has shouted for me.”

The lake, last dredged in 1995, acts as a flood relief for surrounding areas as well as being a popular beauty spot.

Numerous options were discounted, including pumping the silt out to sea, turning the lake into a tidal lagoon and even relocating the facility.

Councillors opted against the transporting the silt off-site, with costs predicted to soar to up to £4million.

Instead, silt would be gathered into containers, placed around the lake’s edges and planted. Reed beds and installation of silt traps would minimise future built-up. Work could start in autumn 2017.

Mr Roberts said he hoped boating – banned because of the lake’s algal issues – would one day be revived.

Lead petitioner Walter Smith said he was pleased with the outcome.

Council leader Dan Humphreys said after the meeting the focus was on securing funds and would not discuss ‘what if’ scenarios.

A second ward has been closed at a Sussex hospital following an outbreak of an infection.

The Princess Royal Hospital was forced to shut one of its wards yesterday (December 6) after 18 patients were suffering with diarrhoea and vomiting.

On Twitter Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust, which runs the Haywards Heath hospital, said a second ward had been closed to new admissions today due to the infection spreading.

On Tuesday the trust said strict infection control measures were in place to prevent the spread of symptoms.

Members of the public who were experiencing symptoms of diarrhoea or vomiting were advised not to come to the hospital and asked to contact their GP surgery, the out of hours GP service or the 111 service for advice.

“If you feel unwell with gastrointestinal symptoms you should stay at home and drink plenty of water and not visit friends or relatives in hospital until you are free of the symptoms for at least 48 hours,” a trust spokesman said. “Failure to do this will increase the risk of spreading the infection to patients and staff in hospital.”

The rest of the hospital remains open and is business as usual, the spokesman added.

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A mother whose son died in a freak accident is raising awareness of the emergency services who gave him ‘the best chance to live’.

Jack Berger was walking his girlfriend to the bus stop in November 5 when he slipped and hit his head on the pavement.

The incident occured in Jersey Road in Crawley. He was taken by air ambulance to St George’s Hospital in London where a team of neurosurgeons were waiting to try and save his life.

“They did everything they possibly could and gave him the best chance to live,” Jack’s mother Wendy Kane said.

“They managed to stop the bleeding but his brain stem was damaged.”

Jack died at 2.17am the following Monday.

Two years ago Jack had made the decision to register as an organ donor and encouraged his friends to do the same.

“I think in the whole scheme of this tragedy it gives me comfort to know that his death went on to save other people,” Mrs Kane, a nurse at Worthing Hospital, said.

Jack’s organs, including his heart, liver, kidneys, and lungs went to patients across the country and his mother is keen to meet those who were saved because of her son.

“Within two and a half hours of his passing it gave us great comfort to know that his lungs had been successfully transplanted and saved the life of another,” Mrs Kane said.

Jack would be remembered as a caring friend and for his one-liner jokes, his mum said.

He died days before his 22nd birthday and was about to be promoted at his job in Crawley as a sales advisor.

Jack previously studied at Central Sussex College in Crawley.

Now Mrs Kane wants to raise awareness of the work done by the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance Trust, which did everything it could to save Jack.

“Even though Jack’s life was unable to be saved, if it wasn’t for the work of the air ambulance and its crew it would not have been possible for organ donation to take place,” Mrs Kane said.

Jack’s mother is also calling for more people to have the tough conversation about organ donation.

People often do not think about it but you never know what will happen, she says.

The JustGiving for the air ambulance in memory of Jack can be found here.

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Being happy, healthy and having well-behaved children are the true signs of success - far ahead of being rich, according to new research.

Although wealth is often regarded as the sign you have made it, seven in 10 UK adults reckon being content is the true benchmark of success.

Less than a fifth of respondents said being a millionaire shows you are doing well, while over a quarter said being charitable is a true indicator of prosperity.

The research of 2,000 UK adults, commissioned by accounting firm Mazars, also found just three in 10 have some kind of plan in place to actually achieve success.

Ian Pickford, partner in Mazars’ private client team said: “Our research shows that people define success in lots of different ways.

“Having enough money is important but it’s really interesting to see ‘being a millionaire’ and other materialistic definitions of success are way down the list.”

Treating people fairly, acting ethically and feeling fulfilled in life feature in the top 15 indicators of success - along with being financially secure and being debt free.

Having a personalised number plate, a gym instructor and eating in top restaurants are among the signs you’ve made it.

While having a happy marriage, being able to retire early and owning your house outright also indicate success.

Over a quarter of men are optimistic they will achieve success in life - compared to one in 10 women.

Half of those aged 18 to 24 years old are confident they will achieve what they consider success to be.

And of those polled, almost a quarter of over 55s said they had already achieved success.

Although as little as three in 10 Brits have a plan of how to be successful, half of 18-24 year olds have mapped out how they will achieve their goals.

In comparison, just a fifth of those aged 55 or over have a plan in place to reach their life targets.

On average, people think they will retire at 62, although women think they will be working until they reach 63 years of age - and men think they’ll be able to stop working at 61.

Respondents aged 25 to 34 reckon they would retire the earliest - 60 years old - while those aged 18 to 25 and those aged 35 to 44 think they’ll retire at 64.

Only one in 10 people have used a financial professional to help them plan for a successful retirement - although four in 10 said it was something they would consider.

Mr Pickford added: “Only three in 10 people in the UK say they have a plan in place. This means millions are in danger of not achieving their life goals and being unhappy or unfulfilled because of their failure to plan.”

BRITS’ TOP FIFTEEN SIGNS OF SUCCESS:

1. Being happy

2. Being healthy

3. Being financially secure

4. Being debt free

5. Achieving your career aspirations

6. Feeling fulfilled in life

7. Being able to retire early

8. Owning your house outright

9. Having a balanced work/family life

10. Having a happy marriage

11. Treating people fairly and with respect

12. Having polite, well behaved children you are proud of

13. Acting ethically in your day to day life

14. Being charitable

15. Feeling respected by your peers

Plans for a new state-of-the-art multiplex cinema in Horsham town centre were given the green light last night (Tuesday December 6).

The owners of Swan Walk Shopping Centre are looking to redevelop the western end of the facility to include a six-screen cinema, restaurants, and a new retail unit.

Horsham District Council’s Development Control North Committee approved the scheme last night, subject to discussions about the new building’s design, particularly its elevation facing on to West Street.

During the committee both Horsham Denne Neighbourhood Council and the Horsham Society raised concerns about the design, especially at the highest levels.

But Tony Hogben (Con, Denne) said: “I think it’s a major investment into the town centre. It’s something that has members’ support other than the aesthetics of it.”#

Philip Ayerst, speaking for the Horsham Society, called for improvements to the upper street elevations and landscape linked into the public realm of the town centre.

Meanwhile Trudie Mitchell, chair of Horsham Denne Neighbourhood Council, felt the design did not compliment the image of Horsham as a market town, describing the upper levels where the cinema would be as a ‘grey metal featureless box’.

However Matthew French (Con, Broadbridge Heath) described the scheme as a ‘vast improvement’ over the current building and explained how in London modern architecture such as The Gherkin and The Shard sat well near older buildings such as St Paul’s Cathedral.

Toni Bradnum (Con, Nuthurst) added: “Overall, it’s very dreary and I was hoping for something exciting and innovative.”

Meanwhile Roy Cornell (Con, Roffey South) described West Street as ‘lovely’ and felt the council had to maintain its character.

Peter Burgess (Con, Holbrook West) made a plea for Wilko to be found a new home in the town, while Leonard Crosbie (LDem, Trafalgar) made a similar appeal for Trend, which is based in Springfield Road.

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Firefighters were called to Five Oaks this morning (Wednesday December 7) after a lorry caught fire along a major road.

Crews from Horsham and Billingshurst attended the small blaze on the A29 at about 5.50am.

The fire service said the fire, believed to be caused by an electrical fault, was out when crews arrived.

It is being treated as an accident and firefighters helped make the scene safe.

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Southern strikes ‘show contempt for the travelling public’, Worthing West’s MP was told during Prime Minister’s Questions today (Wednesday December 7).

The RMT union’s latest three-day walkout began on Tuesday over rail operator Govia Thameslink Railway’s plans to introduce driver-only operation on Southern services.

Train drivers’ union ASLEF has also joined the dispute and is planning several strikes between now and Christmas on top of telling its members to stop working overtime.

The combined actions are expected to cripple the Southern network over the festive period, with passengers already having to endure daily rail chaos for most of 2016.

In the House of Commons today, Worthing West MP Sir Peter Bottomley said: “Perhaps thinking of rail passengers trying to get to their jobs the general secretary of the TUC spoke about shafted and abandoned workers while the Unite union’s Len McCluskey is doing a UKIP dance move resigning and then trying to return.

“Will my right honourable friend encourage union and other political leaders to tell the RMT that 250 people with guaranteed employment should not bring the lives and the jobs and the safety of 600,000 Southern rail passengers at risk?”

Standing in for Prime Minister Theresa May, David Lidington, leader of the House of Commons, replied: “It’s deeply disappointing that some unions are threatening to strike over the Christmas period.

“The Government is now investing record amounts in improving our railways, up to £40bn pounds over the next five years and we need everyone in industry both management and unions to work together to secure the best deal for passengers.

“I have to say that the RMT’s action shows co-ordinated contempt for the travelling public, and it seems designed to do nothing except bring about the maximum damage to people’s lives.

“Mr Speaker there is some heckling from the benches opposite. This party Mr Speaker is on the side of rail passengers and I hope that the party opposite will join me in saying to the rail union leaders: ‘Sort it out, put the travelling public first, stop the squabbling and tell your members to get back to work’.”

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London’s Olympic Park and the velodrome played host to trampolining’s National League finals – and Bognor’s Dragonflyers were represented.

The top 24 qualifiers per category compete over a series of four events to jump off for medals.

Flyers had five qualifiers with four participating.

Sofija Kalnicenko ranked top out of 77 in the 11-12 years level three, Izzy Hauxwell ranked tenth in the 13-14 years level two, while Libby Morton in the nine-12 years level two and Anya Johnston in the 15-16 years level two were both ranked 13th – a fantastic end to a successful season.

Kalnicenko maintained her composure and proved why she was No1 as she performed her routines at great height with no regard for the difficulty involved to easily win gold.

Morton increased her difficulty level, adding a double back somersault, gaining her ninth place – a rise of four places – and she was less than 0.2 of a point off eighth.

Johnstone moved up three places to tenth as she bounced a 7.9 difficulty tariff for the first time. Hauxwell finished a credible 19th with her new routine. Hauxwell and Johnston have another year in their age groups.

Dragonflyers are very proud of the girls who have done exceptionally well over a long, intense and hectic season which has included travelling as far as Sweden, Austria and all corners of the UK.

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Police are asking the public for help to find a missing teenager from Bognor Regis.

Andrea Mehmetja, 16, went missing from his home in Bognor on Monday, November 28 and hasn’t been seen since, police said.

Officers believe he may have travelled to Canterbury in Kent where he has connections.

Andrea is described as 5ft 7in, slim, with short black hair. He is originally from Albania but speaks very good English, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101@sussex.pnn.police.uk quoting serial 1429 of 28/11.

People can also report online to https://sussex.police.uk/contact-us/response-to-appeal/ or call 101.

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Advent windows have returned to the Whyke area of Chichester following the success of last year’s project.

Marilyn Campbell, of Whyke Lane, first organised the Advent Window project in 2014, when 13 households in her area took part, decorating an upstairs window and lighting it up each evening from an allocated December date.

Last year, she extended the project through a mailshot and gained the full set of 24 households for the advent period, so a new window could appear every night until all windows were lit up on Christmas Eve.

Marilyn said: “We have 24 volunteers this year. Each household has been allocated a date on which they will light up an upstairs window design and then light it up each night until the New Year so that by Christmas Eve, all 24 can be seen together.

“Last year on this night, groups of people were walking around finding them all and said how much they looked forward to this as the start of their Christmas celebrations. After all our efforts, this was lovely to hear.”

Marilyn’s own window design was allocated to December 4 this year.

She said: “I decided to base my design on the Two Ronnies’ fork handles sketch, as Ronnie Corbett died in 2016.

“My window, though, is a tribute not only to Ronnie but to all the wonderful entertainers who left us this year, having left us with happy memories of their music or comedy. I won’t look at it without thinking also of Victoria Wood, David Bowie, Terry Wogan and Andrew Sachs.”

There were three French hens by an impressive Eiffel Tower for December 3, while December 5 and 6 saw Grove Road residents take part for the first time.

Windows to come are: 7th 88 Whyke Lane, 8th, 73 Grove Road, 9th 60 Whyke Lane, 10th 20 Lyndhurst Road, 11th 95 Grove Road, 12th 61 Whyke Lane, 13th 44 Grove Road, 14th 69 Whyke Lane, 15th 69 Lyndhurst Road, 16th 32A Caledonian Road, 17th 120 Whyke Lane, 18th 118 Whyke Lane, 19th 35 Cambrai Avenue, 20th 41 Cambrai Avenue, 21st 13 Whyke Lane, 22nd 78 Whyke Lane, 23rd 12 Littlefield Road, 24th 134 Whyke Lane.

Marilyn first came across the Advent Window project in the Avenues area of Hull.

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The 28-year-old, Albion's player of the season last year, has been out since September after he was injured in the 2-0 win over Barnsley but has now trained with the first-team squad for the past two days.

Utility player Liam Rosenior has another five days of running rehabilitation before he will join the squad again. He has been out since August after suffering a ankle injury in the 2-2 draw at Reading.

Meanwhile German defender Uwe Hunemeier is set for a small period on the sidelines after a hand injury in training. Hunemeier fractured a small bone in his hand when he blocked a shot in training but is set to be available again within a couple of weeks when he can play with a cast.

West Brom loanee Sebastien Pocognoli is set to make just his second Championship start since joining Albion in Friday's match with Leeds. He will replace Gaetan Bong, who is suspended after his red card in the 0-0 draw at Cardiff on Saturday.

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Buck Barn crossroads has been blocked due to a two vehicle crash this evening (Wednesday December 7).

Police said they were called to the collision at about 4.20pm.

The road has been blocked southbound due to the incident.

Delays are being reported in the area.

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Mid Sussex is ‘failing’ to meet housing requirements and ‘needs help’, a consultant working for promoters of a new market town has suggested.

Public examination of the district council’s local plan, which sets out how many and where houses will be built over the next two decades, by planning inspector Jonathan Bore began last week.

Mid Sussex MP Sir Nicholas Soames and Nick Herbert, Arundel and South Downs MP, attended the third day of the hearings on Thursday (December 1).

During the examination QUOD’s John Rhodes, who was representing Mayfield Market Towns which wants to build 10,000 homes near Sayers Common, said parts of the country including Mid Sussex had ‘failed in relation to the obligation to residents’.

He said: “Local authorities in this part of the world will need some help in identifying their responsibilities in terms of proactive action to look a the extent of the need and the extent of the constraints that would prevent that need from being identified.”

Both MPs have opposed Mayfield Market Towns’ proposals, which are not included in the local plan.

Mr Herbert voiced his strong support for neighbourhood plans, adding: “We already have an infrastructure deficit in Mid-Sussex, with for instance local village schools becoming oversubscribed.

“There must be a sensible balance between providing necessary new housing and protecting the integrity of our villages and the Sussex countryside.”

Sir Nicholas added: “Both Nick and I were there to express our support for the council, the elected councillors, and officials for all the hard work that has gone into getting the plan to this stage and express our support for neighbourhood plan making.

“It’s clear it is in the interest of all our constituents that we have got a sound plan to prevent the free for all that the developers are trying to engage in Mid Sussex so they can go on with these terrible speculative development requests.”

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It has been a magnificent year for golf – and very importantly for British golf, writes Golf At Goodwood academy manager Chris McDonnell.

We have seen a host of British players achieve success throughout 2016.

Highlights, for me, included seeing Danny Willett lifting The Masters trophy, making him the first Englishman to do so since Sir Nick Faldo; Chris Wood winning the European BMW PGA championships at Wentworth; Justin Rose taking Olympic Gold in Brazil; seven players from Britain in the Ryder Cup team (Rose, Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy, Willett, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Wood and Andy Sullivan) and more recently, 22-year-old Matt Fitzpatrick winning the tour finale at the DP World Championships in Dubai.

Moment of the Year

If there is one abiding memory in 2016, it is surely that golf was welcomed back into the Olympic Games for the first time since 1904. There was much controversy surrounding the event, with many top players not going because they were afraid of catching the Zika virus – well at least that was the excuse they made not to attend, though others speculated there might have been different reasons.

My moment of the year was when Rose stood on the podium to receive his gold medal. The opportunity to play golf for your nation and have the national anthem played out because of your success has to be a unique moment for any golfer.

For the majority of the time, we play for ourselves and very rarely play for teams or for our country. This moment will surely stick with Rose for the rest of his life and I’m sure many players must now regret not taking the opportunity to compete.

Player of the Year

My player of the year has to be cool customer Henrik Stenson. Stenson won his first major tournament at The Open Championship at Troon, where he held off multiple major winner Phil Mickelson for the famous claret jug.

Not only did he win his first major with an awesome display of golf, he won The BMW Open in Germany and has performed more consistently than any other player in the world, proving this by winning the European Race to Dubai Order of Merit.

My 2017 Predictions

The Masters – Rory Mcllroy

The US Open – Jason Day

The Open – Justin Rose

The US PGA – Patrick Reed

2017 Player to watch – Tiger Woods!

golfacademy@goodwood.com

01243 520162

@goodwood_golf

Read Chris McDonnell’s golf column each month in the Observer series

AROUND THE COURSES

GOODWOOD

Golf At Goodwood has won the Golf Club of the Year award at the 2016 Hospitality Social Media Awards in Manchester.

The awards celebrate the most media-minded outlets, from hotels and restaurants to pubs and sports clubs, and are judged by professionals from the world of marketing and communication.

Goodwood was up against a number of top clubs to be nominated such as Windlesham, Close House, Farleigh Golf Club and the London Golf Club. The award was shared with Farleigh.

Judges were impressed with the way Goodwood uses Twitter and Facebook to engage with the audience and keep people up to date with news and developments at the club, as well as the tips and advice videos that are regularly posted on Instagram.

Stuart Gillett, Golf At Goodwood general manager, said: “Winning this award is testament to the great work that our team has done in creating an online community for Golf At Goodwood.

“I’d like to give praise to my whole team, who have all had an input in ensuring we have used social media as a platform to tell our story.

“Our marketing team have been able to utilise the social media platform to create commercially-successful initiatives for our business. I firmly believe the work done in 2016 has been instrumental in us having another record year at Golf At Goodwood.”

COWDRAY PARK

Cold gale-force winds prevailed throughout Cowdray Park seniors’ final competition of the season, the Triple Sixes.

The format featured drawn pairs playing a mixture of three different games – foursomes, greensomes and better-ball.

Early scoring among the pairs was fairly even, until John Doran and Mick Colban came in with a score of 39 points.

Nobody really threatened that score until near the very end of play, when two pairs came in with 38. David Tilley and Mike King beat Tony Pike and Tony Sapsworth on countback to claim second spot.

A fund-raising raffle was held for the captain’s charity, Chestnut Tree children’s hospice, with the prizes going to Paul Owen and Gordon Kendall.

* Cowdray ladies played a best-nine-hole competition on a sunny but chilly day.

Results: 1 Vicky Lush 25pts; 2 Kate O’Kelly 23 (cb); 3 Marnie Evans 23; 4 Marilyn Davis 22 (cb); 5 Catherine Staples 22; 6 Janice Leath 21 (cb).

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Three Bridges 0 Worthing 1

With no fewer than five efforts blocked on the line in the last quarter of an hour, Bridges could certainly bemoan their misfortune at not at the very least taking this tie into extra-time.

Having said that, Worthing could easily have had three goals themselves in the opening 15 minutes with Lloyd Dawes actually being denied by the post in the very first minute.

Kane Willis wasted a good chance soon after, while Kieron Thorp made a brilliant save to deny Dawes.

But Bridges steadied themselves and Hakeem Adelakun fired just over from Tony Garrod’s pass. The ever passionate Jamie Crellin had a header cleared off the line and the bustling John Lansdale had a decent effort held by keeper Jack Fagan.

But in between Thorp was almost caught out by a speculative long distance shot by Aaron Hopkinson which cannoned off the crossbar.

Sadly, the statistics say that Bridges are most vulnerable in the opening minutes of the second half, and so it proved once more as what proved to be the winning goal arrived within a minute of the restart as a cross from the left was helped on its way by Dawes.

But Garrod almost levelled immediately with a curling effort that Fagan managed to hold.

Thorp was forced to another fine save to deny Will Hendon, but a lot of neat passing from the back by the likes of Tom Howard-Bold and Crellin encouraged Bridges in the latter stages, and the two young substitutes Mitchell Casselman and Tim Cook both came close to levelling the score.

There was a minor shout for a penalty when Casselman went down in the box and Adelakun saw the loose ball cleared off the line, and it seemed inevitable that somehow Bridges would force the ball home.

Casselman even saw a header cleared whilst Fagan made a brilliant point blank save to deny Lansdale.

But the equaliser just wouldn’t materialise and Bridges are now out of all the Cup competitions and can now concentrate on improving their league position.

Bridges: Thorp; Hayles; Fender; Lansdale; Howard-Bold; Crellin; Toussaint (Casselman 69); Pierre; Tait (Cook 69); Adelakun; Garrod

Unused subs: Clark, Djilali

Aerotron Man of the Match: John Lansdale

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