Joe Cardy of Hintlesham Golf Club won the Suffolk PGA match-play championship for the first time at Diss. He beat Will Farley, a third-year trainee from Rushmere, with a birdie, eagle finish to end two up.

It was a memorable week for Cardy who was officially appointed as Suffolk men’s first team captain for next year with Ben Sayers of Felixstowe Ferry as captain of the second team.

The quarter-finals and semi-finals at Diss were completed the previous day when the two most experienced campaigners, Neil Mitchell (Ipswich Golf Centre) and Richard Beadles (Royal Worlington), both went out to Farley.

In the other half of the draw Cardy beat Ollie Rush of Haverhill and Simon Reeve of Aldeburgh.

After having seemingly done the hard work Farley started favourite in the final which looked to be going his way when he was two up after six.

A long birdie putt on the 14th saved Cardy from the possibility of going three down. Cardy then turned the tables and was one up with two to play.

Both players birdied the 17th and Cardy’s chip-in at the last settled the match in a spectacular manner.

Both players praised the quality of the greens and condition of the course.

Suffolk PGA Matchplay Championship

At Diss: Quarter-finals: Richard Beadles (Royal Worlington) beat Tim Cooper (Newton Green) two up; Joe Cardy (Hintlesham) beat Ollie Rush (Haverhill) 3 and 2; Simon Reeve (Aldeburgh) beat Kelvin Vince (Rushmere) 2 and 1; Will Farley (Rushmere) beat Neil Mitchell (Ipswich Golf Range) two up. Semi-finals: Farley beat Beadles two up; Cardy beat Reeve 2 and 1. Final: Cardy beat Farley two up.

SUFFOLK Golf Union stage their inaugural end of season showpiece event, The Race to Aldeburgh, on Sunday.

Players qualified through the Woodward Markwell order of merit series throughout the year by accumulating both scratch and handicap points.

The overall scratch winner will receive the Dick Berendt Salver and a voucher for £200 as well as an entry fee and travel expenses to an England Golf Championship next year.

The leading six players going into this final event are James Biggs (Diss), Jed Seeley (Newton Green), Luke Thompson (Rookery Park), Danny Western (Gorleston), Sam Debenham (Hintlesham) and Sam Byford (Ipswich).

The handicap leader is Gorleston junior Jack Butcher.

Prizes on the day are: Scratch: £120, £60 and £30. Handicap: £80. £50 and £25.

The junior order of merit winner will receive the David Houston Salver and £50. The senior order of merit winner will receive a voucher for £50.

Play starts at 10.45 with Bury St Edmunds junior Teddy Hall, winner of the Keith Bass Trophy in an under 14 event with Essex, Bedfordshire and Norfolk, playing with Suffolk senior Steve Duffety from the same club.

Next out will be Dominic Rudd of Thorpeness, the youngest player in the field, with Bill Stevenitt of Hintlesham.

Players must have entered the Race to Aldeburgh before winning points from any qualifying event.

LOTTIE Whyman and Abbie Symonds of Ipswich Golf Club lost in the semi-finals of the Daily Mail Foursomes at Marriott St Pierre.

The two Suffolk county players, with a combined handicap of five which was the lowest of all those in the final stages, beat Rugby 4 and 3 in the last 16 and then overcame Bovey Tracey 4 and 2.

At that stage Whyman, the 23-year-old winner of the Astor Salver at Sunningdale earlier this year, said: “It’s within touching distance now.” Twenty-one-year-old Symonds added: “When you realise how many thousands enter this competition to be down to the last four is amazing.”

The semi-final against Hooton Ladies from Ellesmere Port saw the end of the challenge by the Suffolk pair who went down 2 and 1. Hooton then lost 6 and 5 in the final against Marriott Forest of Arden.

Earlier in the season the Ipswich pair survived seven rounds against opposition from the East.

They beat Felixstowe Ferry 2 and 1, Diss one up, Harwich and Dovercourt 3 and 1, Rushmere one up, Ufford Park 4 and 3, Thetford 5 and 4 and East Herts one up.

The best of the Suffolk men were Stowmarket who lost in the sixth round.

THE Suffolk Golf Captains won the Saunton Salver. Each year captains from across the UK gather for an inter-county competition at Saunton Golf Club in Devon. This year there were 144 players representing Derbyshire, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Oxfordshire, South Wales, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Wiltshire and Worcestershire.

The competition is a team event for 12 players.

Suffolk were victorious accumulating 345 Stableford points and winning by one point from Devon and Derbyshire.

The Suffolk Team was Chris Briggs, Andrew Cornish (both Haverhill), Chris Pearson, Brian Kemp, Peter White (all Felixstowe Ferry), Dave Hornsby (Fynn Valley), John Cunnell (Seckford), David Kerswell (Bury St Edmunds), Garry Clark (Brett Vale), Andrew Johnson, Paddy Lockwood (Newton Green) and Andrew Long (Flempton).

FORMER Ipswich Town stars John Peddelty, a former club captain at Rushmere, and Mick Lambert attended the opening of a new all-weather eight-bay driving range at Colchester Golf Club.

This £30,000 investment was opened by club captain Mike Withers. The club also boasts a high-tech, indoor swing studio with lessons available from professionals Chris Cutchie and Mark Baker. There is also a nine-hole Academy course and a short-game practice ground.

Some of the first to make use of the new driving bays were the club’s juniors including members of the Youth team who won the Essex Scratch Shield last month. It was Colchester’s first success in the competition since 2001.