Hintlesham Golf Club was looking green and picturesque as they hosted our first championship of 2026, the Suffolk Amateur Foursomes. Thrilled to have such a huge field, the board elected to run the tournament in 3 balls allowing for excellent participation.
The field wasn’t just big, it was strong too. Last years champions Peter Revell and Alan Henry were ready to defend, Jack Cardy and Will Wright winners for 3 years ago were back for more too plus many pairs made up of county first and second team players.
It was county pair James Tyler and Mark Fosker who set the early pace, a -1 (71) saw them 1 shot ahead at lunch from a chasing pack of Cardy/Wright, Oakey/Hedges and Robertson/Crisp. There was also another big group of pairs on +2 so the afternoon promised excitement.
Unfortunately for the leaders, their tournament faded quite quickly with big numbers on the 6th and 7th. Meanwhile the chasing pack where finding momentum, Cardy/Wright had got themselves to -1 as had Crisp/Robertson but it was Oakey/Hedges who had really began to fire. Through 10 afternoon holes they were -5 and looking out of sight.
The new leaders where now well in control and if there were any nerves they weren’t showing. A few holes ahead a three birdie finish saw Cardy/Wright put some pressure on but by this time Hedges/Oakey had turned themselves into a ‘par machine’. A solid finish to an excellent day and the first championship of the year went to the very deserving partnership of Russell Oakey and Daniel Hedges.
There were other brilliant wins on the day in the tournaments within the tournament. Our Junior foursomes champions were Jacob Severn and Ethan McCleary who with +3 finished 4th in the main event showing the county has some great promise. The winners of the senior prize were Michael Penman and Andrew Shepherd with +12 whilst the handicap prize went to David Spittle and Jack Warwick.
A huge congratulations to the winners on the day and thank you to the team at Hintlesham Golf Club for hosting the event.
