Young golf star Oliver on cloud nine

The 13-year-old Heath & Reach based Cedars student, who only took up golf a little over two years ago – since which time he has more than halved his handicap from 54 to 24 – collected five medals and four trophies at the junior prize presentation.

He also added a club t-shirt to the list for being a member of the squad which successfully retained the coveted Tavistock Trophy during a summer of success for Leighton’s juniors.

Oliver’s haul included Medals for winning the March, April, May, June and July Medal competitions; the Winter League Millennium foursomes Shield with Shin Bateman for victory against Ed Stephenson and Andres Valentine; the Divison Two Holiday stableford trophy for his win over Shin, and he was named the Most Improved Boy player of the year.

And as if that wasn’t enough, brother Josh, a 15-year-old student at Cedars who also only took up golf two years ago and now plays off a handicap of 13, also collected another four pieces of silverware for winning the Division One Holiday stableford trophy with a win over Richard Hill; winning the Order of Merit, finishing runner-up to Oliver in the Winter League, and runner-up with Teddie Jones in the Millennium fourball Shield won by Louise Eddy and Nat Jones.

To complete the stunning Banwell hat-trick and a family silver snatch of 14 trophies, dad David got in on the act by teaming up with junior captain Elena Tizzard to win the Golf Roots Foundation Adult/Junior foursomes, with Richard Hill and Graham Briggs runners-up and Ed Stephenson and Brian Bateman finishing third.

Incoming junior captain Richard Hill won the Fred Wood Eclectic Bowl with Elena, finishing the top girl; Richard also added the Larry Blair Trophy and October Medal to his year of success.

James Connew collected the David Down Singles Trophy after his victory over Louis Eddy and Harry Noton was presented with the Brian Valentine Cup, while Rhea Horne was named as the most promising female high handicapper, Charlotte McManus the most improved girl player, and Ed Stephenson the most improved high handicap boy player.

James Connew collected three Medals for his wins in May, August and September, and other medal winners were Aiden Smith, Charlotte McManus, Tim Martin, Teddie Jones, Brandon Waddington, Nat Jones and Elena Tizzard who also won a prize for a hole in one on the Par 3 14th.

The Junior Championship was won by Tom Edmunds, now in his first year of business studies at Bournmouth, with Cedars student Jo Brinded taking the Handicap trophy and Connor Briggs the nine-hole competition prize.

Junior members who received shirts to mark their involvement in the successful Tavistock Trophy squad were Harry Noton, Richard Hill, Elena Tizzard, Tim Martin, Oliver and Josh Banwell, James Connew, Shin Bateman, Jack Norris, Danny Latimer and Tm Edmunds.

The awards were presented by club captain John Preston, president Syd Pniewski, ladies captain Rosie Hartnell, David Down and Andy Tizzard.

There was also a presentation to Mike Smith in recognition of his help in organising junior golf at the Plantation Road club.

>> With a month to go before he is installed as captain of Leighton Buzzard, Brian Carter notched an impressive 8-6 victory over current skipper John Preston in the annual Captain-V-Vice Captain match.

Not that it got off to a good start as Brian and playing partner Derek Lindley lost on the last hole to John and partner David Hawkins. But it improved from there, with the “Vice Squad” winning most matches and with an aggregate advantage score of 17 holes.

Other results (captain’s team players first) were: Mark Hammond and Philip Spratt-Callaghan lost to Manny Barker and Joe Lord by one hole; Ken Wilson and John Tarbox beat Lance Lawes and Billy O’Neill by one hole; Peter Taylor and Stuart Leslie lost to Phil Coumbe and Mark McLoughlin by four holes; Tommy Thorne and Mick Francis lost to Adrian Stephenson and Steve Leng by one hole; Peter Gadsden and Barry Wills lost to Nick King and Dave Roberts by three holes; Peter Burgoyne and Simon Long beat David Evans and Chris Mahoney by five holes; Neil Bagshaw and Eddie Young beat Syd Pniewski and Alan Roberts by one hole; Trevor Stimpson and Steve Richardson lost to Andy Sutton and Nigel Phelps by four holes; Derek Richards and Mike Manning lost to Brian Wilson and Peter Townley by six holes; Denis Leitch and John Bateman beat Steve Schmidt and Ron Foster by two holes; Geoff Dimmock and Keith Camp beat Danny Nairne and Steve Bigrave by two holes; Eric Osborne and Keith Thurtell lost to Paul Johnson and Peter Worker by six holes; Cyril Kelly and Andy Wright lost to Chris Caney and Andy Carroll by four holes; David Coleman and Trevor Stone drew with Jim Coley and Simon Rossiter, and Andy Vale and Terry Jordan drew with Jamie Stone and Chris Read.