The Junior section has really come on leaps and bounds over the last few years and is a fun section for all young aspiring golfers to be involved in. Mike Dyke is the Junior Organiser, along with our club professionals Craig Watson and Lee Laughlin, all have worked hard to establish the Junior section as not only a major part of the club but of the Cambridgeshire County.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Junior News

Junior Friendly "Huntsman Plate"
 

The Junior team won their second competition of the year by beating Cromwell Golf Club 6 - 0 in the Huntsman Plate final.
On a blustery but fine day the team played exceptionally well to defeat a Cromwell side that plays most of it's Junior golf in Bedforshire.
Playing Greensomes, match 1 saw the previously untried pairing of Tom Moody and Ali Clark win 3 - 2 against the Cromwell pair.
Match 2 saw Captain Robert Dyke and Jai Patel win by 5 - 3. Match 3 also resulted in a 4 and 2 win for Jamie Sandford and Johnny Windle. The win caped a great season for the boys and my thanks goes to all players who took part.

 

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St Ives Cup Winners 2011

Meridian juniors produced a fantastic display to beat Newmarket juniors 2 - 1, in the St Ives Cup final.
The final was held at St Ives on Friday 12th August 2011.
Having been beaten in last year's final, this was a fitting reward for the junior team and professional staff for a season of hard work. Playing a foresomes format. Sam Hills and Jamie Sandford let the way for Meridian. Sadly they got away to a slow start and were soon 3 down. Playing some good golf they got it back to 1 down at the turn only to lose the next 3 holes to 4 down. Undaunted back they came, to stand 1 down on 17. Unfortunately they they could not recover from being through the green in 2 and finally lost 2 & 1. 
Match 2, saw Captain Rob Dyke partner Ed Sandford. Both boys played superb golf and never looked back having birdied the opening hole. Despite giving away 7 shots they were 6 up at the turn and won the match 8 & 7 on the 11th green, a truely great effort.
The final and deciding match, saw Johnny Windle and Tom Porter play together for the first time. The boys started well and soon built up a handy lead with some good golf. As the match progressed you sensed that Newmarket would come back and sure enough the lead was down to one after 13 holes. A good win on 14 saw the two hole lead restored and 3 consecutive halves was enough as Johnny rolled in a 3 foot putt to win the match and the trophy.
In receiving the trophy from the CAGU president, Rob managed to thank everyone connected with the event and the teams for a match played in an excellent spirit.

I would like to thank all the boys who have taken part, but for many reasons could not play in the final. I would also like to thank the owners, staff and membership of the Cambridge Meridian Golf Club, for the continued support of the juniors. Lastly a big thankyou to Craig and Lee our club professionals who work so hard with the juniors to help them with their game.

Mike Dyke
Junior organiser

Ali Sales representing the club as Junior Captain for 2011 with Rob Dyke as the Vice Captain.

Team News

July 2011

St Ives Cup Semi Final - Sunday 31st July

Meridian v's Royston Juniors

Congratulations to the junior team on reaching the St Ives Cup final for the 2nd year running.

The match was played in fine weather and on a course in great condition, which was enjoyed by all 12 players.

The toughest contest came in match 1, where Tom Porter (9) and Sam Hils (13) won a hard fought battle, to win 1 up on the 18th green. In match 2, Captain Ali Sales (10) and Rob Dyke (7) were never in trouble as they secured a fine 6 & 5 win. Match 3 went much the same way as Hordan Harwidge (7) and Johnny Windle (11) again eased to a 6 & 5 win.

The final will take place on Friday 12th August at 2pm against Newmarket Juniors at St Ives Golf Club.

CAGU Junior League 

Meridian v Saffron Waldon - Sunday 10th July 2011

A great match was played on the Meridian and it all went down to the last putt in the final match before the Meridian clinched a narrow 7 - 5 victory.

In match 1 Ed Sandford secured a fine 3 - 2 victory to get the team off to a good start.

Matches 2 & 3 went the way of Saffron Walden with both Jordon Hardwidge and Rob Dyke losing 1 down despite playing under their handicap.

Match 4 was pivitol with Johnny Windle coming back from 3 down to secure an all important half on 18

Jamie Sandford always seemed to have the upper hand in match 5 and closed out with a 2 - 1 win.

Sam Hills in match 6 secured the final point with a win on the 18th.

It really was a fine match played in good spirit by two fine junior teams - well done to all.

Junior Medal - Saturday 30th July

Congratulations to Rory Sheppard (29) for a first win in a medal competition. Playing off 29 for a nett 12 under 61, he can expect a hefty cut for his performance.
Continuing his fine form of late in 2nd place was Rob dyke (7) with a nett 68. Followed in 3rd place with a nett 69 by Jordan Hardwidge 97)

Some great scores all round and credit to the green keeping staff for continuing to produce the course in top condition.

Rob Dyke remains at the top of the "Order of Merit", followed by Johnny Windle and Sam Hills.

Next competition Saturday 6th August Stableford.

Junior Stableford

A good turnout and excellent playing conditions greeted the players for the July stableford.
The course as ever was in an excellent condition with some testing pin positions on many of the holes.
The ever consistant Jamie Sanford (13) finished in 3rd place on 37 points. Ali Clark (24) was second with 39 points. The winner on countback also with 39  points was Rob Dyke (7).
Congratulations to all who took part.

The next competition is a medal on 30th July, first tee at 1pm

The Order of Merit is now very close, following his win on Saturday, Rob Dyke has now moved to the top with Johnny Windle in second place closely followed by Jai Patel and Jamie Sandford.

 

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June 2011

CAGU Junior League
St Neots v Meridian

The junior team came down to earth with a bump having been well beaten 5&1/2 to 1/2 by St Neots on Sunday 26th June.

In not conditions Rob Dyke lead the team and despite carding a fine 3 under his handicap score, went down 3 & 2 to his opposite number.

Ed Sandford in match 2 went one better than Rob but still suffered a defeat this time on the 18th green. Both played some great golf and can count themselves unlucky on the day.

In match 3 Sam Cranwell went down 5 & 4 with a similar fate for Sam Hills in match 4.

Johnny Windle salvaged a half in match 5 in a hard fought contest that saw both player with a healthy lead at times.

In the last match Jamie Sandford fell 5 & 4 to complete a poor showing for the team on this occasion.

I am sure we will be able to bounce back in the next match at home to Saffron Walden.

Mike Dyke team coach.

Junior Medal

Jamie Sandford finally won his first Junior competition this weekend with a fine 3 under par 70. Jamie won on count back from Jordan Hardwidge who was playing his first full round since breaking his collar bone two months ago.

Third pace witha nett 71 went to Ali Clark.

johnny Windle still leads the "Order of Merit" from Jai Patel and Sam Hills.

Next competition Sunday 9th July.

Junior Stableford

Sam Hills bounced back to form with a fine win in a keenly fought Junior Stableford on Saturday 18th.

In wet and again windy conditions Sam scored 37points to win by 1 grom Ali Clark 36points with Sam Cranwell 34points in third place.

Despite not playing Johnny Windle still leads the "Order of Merit" from Jai Patel and Sam Hills.

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Played at Brampton Golf Club on Sunday 29th. A good match ended in a 3 - 3 draw.

Jamie Sandford lead the team out and was the only home player to receive shots and he finally won his match 1 up on the 18th.

Captain Ali Sales took the second match 3 & 2 having at one time been 5 down.

Johnny Windle in match 3 hit the ball well but never got a head on his opponent and lost 6 & 5.

It was a similar story in match 4 and 5 with Rob Dyke losing 3 & 2 and Ed Sandford going down 5 & 4.

Match 6 saw a good 6 & 5 victory for Sam Hills as the match finished all square.

Well done to all involved.

Junior Medal

Played on Saturday 28th and in very windy conditions. The wind has been a mahor feature over the past 6 weeks and once again this was relected in the scoring.

Ed Sandford (6) won with a very creditable 81(g)  nett 75, Rob Dyke (7) came in with a nett 79 and Johnny Windle (10) also for a  nett 79.

In the "Order of Merit" Johnny Windle has a commanding 10 point lead over 2nd placed Jai Patel with Rob Dyke 3rd a further 2 1/2 points behind.

Meridian v's Girton Juniors

Sunday 22nd had a fine win for the Meridian juniors against a very strong team from Girton golf club.

Wearing the new jumpers and polo shirts. Junior Captain Ali Sales enured a tough encounter before finally losing 2 & 1.

Johnny Windle found things much easier in match two, completing an easy 7 & 6 victory.

Matt Graver in match 3 played some fine golf but to a one hole defeat on the 18th.

Unfortunately match 4 never got started as the Girton player couldn't the game. This resulted in a 3up win for Sam Cranwell without a ball even being struck.

Match 5 saw Ed Sandford come from behind to secure a fine 3 & 2 victory.

Match 6 was to be the decider and Rob Dyke secured a 3 foot birdie on the 17th to give him a 2 & 1 win and the team a 4 & 2 victory.

Well done to all who played.

Junior Stableford

Saturday 21st May saw dry conditions and a strong wind greeted the players in the May stableford, that said the course was in excellent conditions.
First place went to Jai Patel with 41 points. Johnny Windle was seconed on count back from Sam Hills both with 37 points.

Johnny and Jai continue to dominate the early season form and are 1st and 2nd in the "Order of Merit".

It was good to see Matt Clark back at the club and able to play again following recent surgery. 

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APRIL 2011

Junior medal

Tuesday 19th April 2011 saw the first medal of the season being played and Johnny Windle was again in fine form to win. Johnny sho a gross 78 nett 66 to win by 7 shots from second placed Sam Hill. Sam shot a gross 85 nett 73. Rob Dyke was in third place with a gross 92 nett 82.
The win also see Johnny replace Matt Clark at the top of the "Order of Merit"

The next competition is a Junior Stableford on Saturday 21st May 2011.

New Member

The club and the Junior section in particular would like to extend a warm welcome to Tom Porter who joined us on the 19th April. Tom who plays off 9 has come to the Meridian from Royston Golf Club.

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Congratulations to Ed Sandford on winning the Winter Singles with a final win against Roger Harrison.
Ali Sales and Jamie Sandford followed up this with a 6 & 5 victory in the winter pairs against Dave Godden and Dave Collins. As if that wasn't bad enough the first 3 places in the Midweek Medal went to Ed Sandford nett 66, Jamie Sandford nett 69 and Rob Dyke nett 70.

Well done to all the above, its good to see all the boys out on the course and practice ground working hard on thier games.

Matt Clark continued his impressive start to the season by winning the Junior Stableford on 2nd April on 39pts. In second place was brother Ali on 37pts with Jai Patel in third place with 35pts.

In the "Order of Merit". Matt Clark leads on 22.5 pts from Jai Patel and Johnny Windle.
Next competition - Medal Tuesday 19th April at 11am

 

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Meridian v's County U14's

The juniors took on a strong county U14 squad at the Meridian on Saturday 26th March. In excellent conditions, Meridian raced into an early lead. The county boys staged a comeback in the middle matches before the Meridian closed out with a 6 - 4 win. A good win and more importantly good practice prior to the start of the season.

Mike Dyke
(Junior Organiser)

 

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MARCH 2011

In the league, we are drawn against Girton, St Neots, St Ives, Saffron Walden and Brampton Park Golf clubs.
In the St Ives cup we got a bye in the first round. We will now be playing away to either Brampton Park or Girton golf club.
The Friendly League Cup also sees us drawn away to Saffron Walden golf club. Both are tough draws but it will be a great opportunity to play some good courses. KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR THE FIXTURE DATES.

Junior Stableford   The first stableford of the year took place on Saturday 29th January in very blustery conditions. In 3rd place was Sam Hills on 34pts. 2nd place went to Jordon Hardwidge on 35pts but in 1st place and with his 1st win in any competition was Elliot "Tank" Rosher with 37pts.

February Stableford was held on Saturday 26th. With a good turnout and excellent playing conditions some very good scores were returned in the clubhouse. Jordon Hardwidge continued his good early form to finish in 3rd place with 38pts. Matt Clark making his first appearance since december was 2nd with 40pts and the winner was Ali Sales again with 40pts on count back.

Elliot Rosher still leads the Order of Merit with 15.50 pts from Jordon Hardwidge on 13.50

The new team shirts and jumpers should arrive before the end of March. All team members are also asked to wear beige trousers when representing the club.

Competitions are coming thick and fast now, so pleae keep an eye on the web site and notice board for future dates and events.

Click HERE to view our 2011 Membership Prices

JUNIOR FIXTURES LIST- Click Here

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 2010 saw the juniors entered into the St Ives Cup for the very first time in the clubs history and reached the final. An excellent achievement. The section consists of a full range of handicaps and levels, from single figure juniors to beginners just finding their way. The great thing about the section is that they all play together both socially and competitively and everyone gets on well with no divisions between the section. This is important for any junior looking to get into the game and a friendly, welcoming introduction to golf is definitely what the junior section offers at Cambridge Meridian. The juniors are well respected and supported by the other sections of the club, again adding to the enjoyable golfing environment.Craig also has a strong interest in developing the juniors games, as an under 16 county coach himself and a senior coach with the Cambridgeshire Golf Partnership with Sport England. He offers several junior coaching sessions throughout the year and has a good relationship with all the juniors.