Oldham & District Golf League

WITH the divisional leaders all sewn up it was a different story in the battle for second play-off places in the final week of the regular season.

And in three of the four divisions, it came down to a single point.

In the ‘A’ West Saddleworth went to North Manchester ‘A’ knowing three was sufficient and got a 4-4 draw.

Sam Bagshaw and Tom Potts filed an early 6&5 win but Charles Nicholson and Phil Stevenson were pushed to the final green before sealing the clinching two points with a 2up success.

The North wins came via Tom Roe and Josh Naylor (3&2) and next season’s captain Liam Walmsley and Connor Walkden (1 up).

Saddleworth ‘A’ now travel to ‘A’ West winners Stamford ‘A’.

Dukinfield ‘A’ finally claimed the second spot in the ‘A’ West after a day of problems.

For a time it looked as though Crompton & Royton ‘A’ were going to concede all four games and an 8-0 walkover with Dukinfield needing seven points to edge out Denton ‘A’.

In the end, they conceded two matches and gave the home team a fright with the other two matches going to the 17th and 18th before Dukinfield ‘A’ got the wins they needed.

They came from Matt McLeod & Josh Bradbury (3&1) and Colin McWiggin & Dean Harwood (1up). Dukinfied ‘A’ now meet Brookdale ‘A’ who finished their season with a 7-1 win over Ashton, snuffing out the last hopes of Martin Wild’s men.

Brookdale wins came from Mark Riley and Pete Thornley (4&3), Paul Spence and Steve Bland (1up) and Tom Maddocks and Sam Lees (1up) with Pete Buckley and Noah Shenton halving with Andy Lomas and Darren Wilson.

Brookdale made it a double bid for League glory when their ‘B’ team got a 4-4 draw at Ashton ‘B’.

That was just enough to edge out North Manchester ‘B’ who could only get five in a 5-3 win at bottom club Saddleworth ‘B’ and missed out by a point.

North wins came from James Bondell and Gary Hornby (3&2) Dec Fegan and Andy Bradburn (2&1) and a half from Peter Thornton and Mark Green in their match with Stuart Hanson and Dean McKenna.

Saddleworth’s sole home success came through Denis Lamb and Ian Cavanagh (2&1).

Brookdale ‘B’ now travel to Castle Hawk ‘B’.

And Denton ‘B’ showed that taking down the Hawk is possible – for only the second time in the season they were beaten 7-1, as Denton clinched their play-off spot in style.

John Berwick and Graham Rose (3&2), Mark Hart and Ash Womack (2&1) and Mark Riding and Lewis Whybrow (1up) all took maximum points while Joe Mulhern and Rob Hanson halved with Dave Trow and Dave Shaw.

That win was enough to claim second spot by a five-point margin as rivals Dukinfield ‘B’ were sunk 6-2 at Crompton & Royton ‘B’.

Denton ‘B’ must have had high hopes of a big away win when Kevin Parr and Stuart Farquharson posted an early 6&5 win but Crompton & Royton roared back through Phil Walker and Joe Lovell (3&2), Sam Clancy and Josh Wild (2up) and Andy Eastwood and Jason Jenkins (1up)

Denton ‘B’ now travel to Blackley ‘B’ who signed off with a 7-1 win over Werneth… ending the visitors’ play-off hopes.

Rick Valentine and Mark Hughes (7&6) Ian White and Gary Hibbert (6&5) and Steve Appleby and Oliver Depetrillo (1up) won for Blackley while Tony Bloomfield and Harry Aikenhead halved with Simon Flynn and Dean Hughes.

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** The ODGL Gold Cup, a singles matchplay knockout for team captains, has reached the quarter final stage with the last-eight matches to be played during the month of July

See 'Tournaments' section for Results and the Draw.

There are currently two vacancies in the A Division – interested clubs should contact ODGL Secretary David Whaley (07764638309).
The League will be pleased to consider friendly matches against teams on a free week to give potential new clubs a taste of better-ball matchplay team matches.

Four-Ball (Better Ball) Match Play: Apply 90% of the difference in Course Handicap.....

Calculation: All four players determine their Course Handicap. The lowest player becomes 0, and others adjust accordingly. Then, 90% of that difference is applied.

* Please ensure that you complete match cards with full names, handicap index, playing handicap and shots allocated - 90per cent of the difference from the lower (please check these as there have been errors on a couple of Cup matchcards)

* Put result of each game indicating which team won each match and the margin of victory.

* It is the Captain’s responsibility to ensure that team members comply with handicap rules – indexes 0-9 A and 8-17 B - and that they have a fully-fledged 20-card handicap with five qualifying cards in the last 12 months.

*Could clubs drawn to host semi-finals please ensure these dates are in the home course diary for catering.

The League was conceived as an opportunity for local golfers to play competitively against other golf clubs in the local area and at the same time develop camaraderie between them. The intention is to enjoy good golf courses with sporting companions in a friendly but competitive atmosphere.

The League was composed of 2 Divisions from the outset but the Cup competition was not introduced until 1980. Initially, the League was based on singles matches in the A Division and the first Secretary was A L Davidson (Saddleworth GC). In those early years, the league was less competitive and League Tables were not produced until the last match of the season had been played! In 1982, Barry Matthews (League Secretary) and Carl Cunnelly (Fixtures Secretary) ran the League on a more organised and formal basis until 2005. In 1991 the end of season Brian Atack Tournament was added to compete for individual and team trophies.

Since 2005, the trio of Saddleworth's John Walsh (Chairman), Ashton's Brendan Kennedy (Secretary) and Werneth's David Whaley (Fixtures secretary) guided the league through an expansion into a four division format with the addition of teams from North Manchester, Blackley, Crompton & Royton and Castle Hawk. The league changed further in 2017 with the introduction of promotion and relegation between the two 'A' divisions and Howard Lawton (North Manchester) took over as League Secretary. In 2023 David Whaley (Saddleworth) assumed the role of League Secretary with Howard Lawton standing down as Treasurer. In October 2025, John Osbaldeston (Crompton & Royton) accepted the role as Honorary Treasurer.