Eight members of Ipswich Golf Club’s junior development squad visited turf care equipment maker Ransomes Jacobsen to practice their short game on the “RJ National”, the company’s own three-hole golf course at its European headquarters in Ipswich which assists the testing and development of its machines.

The young players were accompanied by the club’s assistant pro, Ian Scott, its junior section organiser, Sheila Laws,

and Katy Gregory, mother of two of the squad members, Charlotte and Natasha Gregory.

Also in the squad were Callum Brown, Ryan Goodarzi, Harry Humphrey, Tom Humphrey, Aaron Shepherd and Connor Shenfield, with Connor and Charlotte winning a contest played over nine holes.

The visit, which also included buffet lunch, was hoted by James Gotts, the greenkeeper on the RJ National, who had just returned from volunteering at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Invitational in Orlando, Florida.

Sheila Laws said: “We are really grateful to Ransomes Jacobsen for allowing us the use of their facilities. This is a fantastic little course and Ian, our assistant pro, was able to accompany each of the groups offering coaching advice as they tackled each hole.

“It might be just three short holes, but it is quite testing and over lunch we counted up and found that we had lost 15 balls in the first competition!”