This year, the Yorkshire Ladies County Golf Association is celebrating 125 years of Women's Golf in Yorkshire, and Ilkley Golf Club was proud to host this year's Challenge Bowl, which we also hosted in 1920 & 1925! 

Past winners from Ilkley include Sue Wood & last year's winner, Vicki Braithwaite, amongst others. 

The tournament was held over three days and following a strokeplay competition on the Tuesday, the top 16 players qualified to battle it out for the Challenge Bowl over the next two days with a matchplay knockout.

The top 16 included five Ilkley members: Caroline Spellman, Julia Bennett, Vicky Downs, Vicky Jordan & Gail Austin. An incredible achievement.

However, it got even better because, before the first shot had even been hit in the semi-final, we knew we would have an Ilkley winner as the final four were Vicky Downs, Julia Bennett, Vicky Jordan & Caroline Spellman. 

And then there were two, with Vicky Jordan & Caroline Spellman battling it out in the final.

Congratulations to the eventual winner, Vicky Jordan, who is this year's YLGCA Challenge Bowl Champion. 

Not only did Vicky win the Challenge Bowl, other successes for IGC were:

Gail Austin, Camilla Dyson & Melody Svenson winners of the Helen Drake Salver & Gold Medals for lowest combined gross.

And Caroline Spellman who won the Pontefract Ladies' Trophy for best nett.

A great week for our Ilkley Ladies - well done, the Club are super proud!

It was a great three days of golf & sunshine.

Thank you to all who participated in the event, we hope to welcome you all back to Ilkley soon. 

And of course a special thank you to all our volunteers who helped with starting, spotting & scoreboard carrying. 

Following a remarkable week when there with five holes-in-one, with three on the same day…it just kept getting better.

Henry Croft didn't just beat the course record; he smashed it.

In an incredible round he shot a fantastic 60. Yes, 60! 

He went out in only 28 shots, and completed his round having had two eagles, six birdies and just one bogey.

He took the record off Chris Atkins who had held it for the last 10 years.

Well done Henry on a brilliant round of golf.

Take a look at the video of Henry answering questions from our Captain, Nick Ryle, about his incredible course record.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=owDaj6CQvkU&feature=shared

Juniors are the lifeblood of any club, and we are extremely proud of the wonderful group of youngsters who make up our junior section.

An enormous amount of credit goes to Ben Ridgway who has been running the junior section for more than five years. 

Under his mentoring and guidance, several juniors from local schools have excelled at Ilkley Golf Club, becoming junior captains, members of Ilkley’s scratch teams, as well as representing the Harrogate Union and Yorkshire.  

While many juniors have been key to the success of the junior section, there are a dozen or so who have shone through and become exceptionally good golfers. Five are now scratch or below, with another three or four low handicap golfers on the cusp.

Here are just a few examples: 

• Former member Josh Carlos was junior captain in 2021 and is plus one
• Thomas Ridgway, junior captain in 2022, is scratch
• Huey Cunningham was junior captain in 2023 and is plus one. He has also played for Yorkshire and is an Open regional qualifying winner.
• Corey Canning, junior captain in 2024, is two handicap.
• Zac Ayre, this year’s junior captain, is scratch
• Evie Graves is two handicap and achieved a US University golf scholarship.
• And Harry Richmond is plus 2, after only three years in the sport! 

In recognition of his positive influence and hard work over the years, Ilkley’s President, Sean Crannigan presented Ben with two magnums of wine. Ben is seen in the photograph being congratulated and thanked by Huey Cunningham.

Through Ben, and his predecessor’s efforts, Ilkley GC is well placed to continue to produce top golfers through its junior programme, as well as encouraging more and more local children to take up the sport. 

There was a once in a generation event at Ilkley Golf Club on Saturday when three players scored a hole-in-one while playing in the same competition. 

Jack Winterbottom (pictured above), aged 16 and a handicap of 5.4, achieved his on the third hole, while Thomas Ridgeway (bottom pic below), aged 19 and a handicap of 0.4, and Ross McMillan (top pic below), aged 28 with a handicap of 11.9, celebrated theirs on the fifth hole. 

According to the National Hole-In-One Registry, the chances of one amateur scoring a hole-in-one are 12,500 to one. For three players to make a hole-in-one on the same day, at the same course, in the same competition, has been estimated at 17 million to one.  

It is estimated that if all the members played every day it would happen every 500 years. 

It is such a rare occurrence that it featured on TV, and in the press, with Jack and the Lady Captain Marie-Louise Milbourn being interviewed!

However, that is not where this remarkable achievement ends, as there were two more holes-in-one celebrated in the same week. 

On Wednesday, visitor Guy Hammond, who was playing a charity golf day, had a hole-in-one at the 15th hole. And on Friday, member Oliver Moulton, playing in a Summer Solstice friendly competition, also celebrated his on the 15th.  

Commenting on this phenomenon, the captain of Ilkley Golf Club, Nick Ryle, said, 

“What an incredible week we have had at Ilkley Golf Club.  It started well with two holes-in-one earlier in the week, but this was simply the pre-cursor to something quite extraordinary.  

“The odds on three players from the same club achieving a hole in one on the same day are 17 million-to-one.   I am so pleased for the three young guys, Jack, Thomas, and Ross, as they are now part of an historic achievement and one which they will be able to talk about for many years.”

We were delighted to welcome two famous names from the world of tennis, and a rising star in the game, when they took time out from the LTA Lexus Ilkley Tennis Open for a round of golf. Jeremy Bates, David Felgate and Jack Pinnington-Jones, who was this year’s beaten finalist, thought the course was fantastic and even suggested that we had ‘Ilkley’s very own Swilcan Bridge.’

We were delighted to welcome members from other clubs to Men’s Invitation Day. Well done to Duncan Campbell and the greens staff for preparing the course magnificently and to the front of house team, led by Jaine Collington, for providing such a warm welcome and excellent service for both members and their guests. 

The weather stayed fine which led to some excellent scoring. Congrats to winners, father and son Ross & Jonathan McMillan and their guests M. Helme and D. Bairstow with an impressive 93 Stableford points, with two scores to count. Nearest the pin was Andy Land (35cms) and longest drive Thomas Ridgway.

Thanks to Marie-Louise Milbourn for a fabulous Lady Captain’s Day. Her hospitality was superb; the course was in magnificent condition; and the weather was glorious. A full field thoroughly enjoyed a great day of golf, followed by a wonderful dinner and prize presentation. 

Congratulations to the winner of the competition, Cathy Lambert, best gross winner, Evie Graves and 9 Hole Strokeplay winner Sarah Cockcroft.

It was particularly special to see that our ‘Ladies Get into Golf’ participants were invited to join in the celebrations. A true testament to the welcoming and inclusive spirit of our ladies’ section.

Well done to all 70 teams who competed in the Ilkley Golf Club's Men’s Open on 9 June 25, we hope you had a very enjoyable day. Congratulations to winners Fabio Close and Shaun Cavagin from Penwortham Golf Club and Prestwich Golf Club, who were winners, in a closely fought contest, with an excellent score of 44 points. 

To enter a team in future men's, ladies and mixed #OpenDays click on this link 

It was great to welcome new members with an enjoyable afternoon of golf for those who have joined in the past year. It provided an excellent opportunity to meet club officials, the management team and other golf club members. Well done to the winning team of James Whittington, Jonny Lonsdale and Neil Benstead.

To enquire about membership of Ilkley Golf Club email office@ilkleygolfclub.co.uk.

We are delighted to welcome Phil Jones as our new General Manager. Phil joins Ilkley GC with a wealth of experience, having worked in golf club management across the world. We are looking forward to him steering the Club through its next stage of development and improving further the experience for members and visitors alike.

Phil (centre) is welcomed by President, Sean Crannigan (L) and Vice-President, Robbie Downs (R)