Stonham Barns hosted the UK Kids East Region Qualifier on Sunday 27th July 2014. The winners of each category are aiming to compete in the 2014 Grand Final, on Saturday 30th August, at the Brampton Heath Golf Centre, in Northamptonshire.

In the Final all players will receive a Grand Finalist certificate and the top three finishers in each boy and girl age group will each receive trophies and an invitation to enter the 2015 US Kids European Championships held in Scotland. In addition the winners of each boy and girl age group will receive an invitation to enter the 2015 US Kids Golf World Championships held in Pinehurst, USA. 

The event on Sunday at Stonham Barns produced six winners from different age categories. Well done to these winners, Boys 6-7 Charlie Goodridge, Boys 8-9 Henry Meadows, Boys 10-11 Joshua Hulyer, Boys 12-13 George Fricker, Girls 10-11 Rio Everitt and Girls 12-13 Layla Farthing.

The junior events at Stonham Barns are an ideal introduction to competitive golf for many of the youngsters as it’s played in a relaxed friendly environment and it’s always great to see the juniors enjoying their golf even when they have not been their best day.

The next junior event at Stonham Barns will be on the Sunday 24th August. For more details see the website. www.stonhambarnsgolf.co.uk/junior-tournaments.html or call on 01449 711545.

Rob Gillan won the July FootGolf UK Ranking Tournament at Stonham Barns on Sunday 20th July with an excellent score of 56. Rob won on count back as Alex Sutton also scored a 56 and the title had to be decided on the last 9 hole score and Rob scored 27 to Alex’s 28. This was Rob Gillan’s first win at Stonham Barns and his score of 2 under par included 6 two’s.

Rob was delighted to be presented the 1st Prize trophy by ex England and Ipswich football player Russell Osman. Russell, playing his first ever round of footgolf, also played in the event and said he really enjoyed playing and could see why this new sport has become so popular. He said he certainly will be playing more footgolf in the future.

Pele Haydon won has won the last three UK Ranking events at Stonham finished 4th with a score of 57 and now moves up to second in the UK National Ranking Table.

The ladies prize was won by Faye Trigg from Millers Barn who are just building their own FootGolf Course and the junior prize was won by Joe Sims.

On a day when it looked like thunder and lightning may halt play over 50 footgolf players from around the region played 18 holes in pursuit of some ranking points. This was one of six UK FootGolf ranking events that are being held on the scenic Stonham Barns 9 hole course this year. Full details of other ranking tournaments around the UK can be found at www.ukfootgolf.com. 

Footgolf is one of the fastest growing sports in the UK and combines two great sports, golf and football. The game is played on a golf course to larger holes (21” diameter cups) with a size 5 football. Players then play around the course kicking the football using rules largely based on the rules of golf. 

Stonham Barns has achieved fantastic success this year by opening their golf course to both golf and footgolf players. Tony Dobson, the PGA professional and owner of Stonham Barns Golf Centre, has been amazed by bookings for footgolf and said “We opened the FootGolf course at the end of last year and this year we have had over 800 players go round the footgolf course with more bookings already for July and August. I think the numbers have been boosted by the World Cup as we have been particularly busy this month.”

The next FootGolf UK Ranking event at Stonham Barns will be on Sunday 17th August.  This event is open to anyone, men, ladies and juniors and there are prizes for all the categories. All footballs and equipment is provided. To enter contact Tony Dobson at Stonham Barns on 01449 711545 or email tony@midsuffolkgolfacademy.co.uk. For more information on FootGolf at Stonham Barns go to www.stonhambarnsgolf.co.uk/footgolf.