The Footgolf Devon League kicked off on Friday evening with 29 eager Footgolfers looking to storm the field of dreams.
The weather so far for 2023 has been extremely wet, with records amount of rainfall for March and April since 1981 – the course was bogey in parts but thanks to the Footgolf Devon owners, the hard work had paid off and the course was in playable condition.
Group one consisted of Gareth Parker, Justin Hunt and Rob Mucklow. G-man (Gareth Parker)kicked things off by striking the ball down the fairway, off the 1st tee to officially open the 2023 FOOTGOLF DEVON league. Rob Mucklow won this group with a 6 under PAR round hitting a credible 60, Gareth followed shooting -1 (65) and Justin Hunt finished the group with 68 (+2)
Group 2 saw Footgolf Devon’s director Paul Hawkins competing and coaching two under 12’s in Jaydan Hawkins and newcomer Jenson Black. Paul “Buzz” Hawkins shot a -3 for 18 hitting 63, whilst Jaydan won the battle of the under 12’s in this group but Jenson was only 4 shots off scoring 81 whilst Jay recorded 77.
Group 3 saw newcomers Jamie Cottrell and his son Jake Cottrell, who holds the under 12 course record team up with current Southwest and Southeast Footgolf champion Chris Lewis. Chris registered the league’s first hole in one on “The Cambridge”. The Cottrell’s first outing in competitive footgolf saw Cottrell senior shoot PAR 66 with junior Cottrell hitting an impressive 71. England International Chris Lewis went 8 under par with 58 for his opening round.
Group 4 was full of talent with Andy Isaac, Luke Phillips, course record holder Talan Annear and newcomer Mark Flay. It was AI (Andy Isaac) that stole the show in this group, smashing the ball around the course and hitting the score of the night with -10 (56). Luke Phillips managed to equal the course record for 9 holes and was only one shot behind Andy with 57. Talan Annear made the trip from Cornwall and will be happy with a -3 (63) as he was carry a slight muscle strain. Newcomer Mark Flay will have learnt a lot playing in this group and will be looking to improve on his score of +4 (70) upon his next visit.
Group 5 went off at 6:20pm with experienced pros Tony Follett and Tomas Brown competing and guiding two newcomers in Shannon Beedell and his son Preston. It was Footgolf Devon’s regular customer Follett who won this group with a very good 6 under par (60). A further 4 shots back was Tomas Brown and then newcomer Shannon Beedell, was just one shot back again with 65 (-1). Preston Beedell hit a very good 71 (+5) as U16 tee from the adult tee markers.
Group 6 saw the long awaited return of Magic Man Matt Capel and his speed demon daughter Zoe. They were accompanied by the OG of Southwest footgolf Chris Hopton and newcomer Ashley Bevan-Smith. It was the OG, Hot-shot Hopton showing why he is an England international footgolfer with some delightful putts to place him -8 for 18 (58). Making his footgolf debut Ashley Bevan-Smith did not look out of place and will only get better and better the more he plays scoring 1 under par (65) the same as seasoned pro Matt Capel. Zoe Capel was representing the U16 category in this group and will look to improve next time out with her score of 79.
Group 7 hosted Steven Parry and Gary Fisher who both had been away from local footgolf recently due to injury and other commitments. Footgolf Devon’s Sam Evans and his brother Ronnie Street made up the group of 4 for a close contest. Despite an “OUT OF BOUNDS” dispute on hole 2, it was Steve Parry who won this group with a -7 score (59) Both Footgolf Devon’s Sam Evans and returning legend Gary Fisher shot a credible -1 with 65 whilst newcomer Ronnie Street hit a +9.
The final group tee’d off at 6:35pm with returning hero Matt Gardner, alongside local legends Justin Yeates and Lewis Cox…finishing off the group with talented newcomer Brett Ansley. Gardner showed that despite the absence, he still has the skill of footgolf and shot a good -4 (62) to announce his return to the game. The Ginga Ninja (Yeates) was one shot behind with a 63, whilst newcomer Bret Ansley went toe to toe with seasoned pro Lewis Cox and hit a +5 for 18. Both players will be looking to improve on this and will hope to see their scores get better and better over time.
With some great putts, solid pings and sneaky chips…it was Andy Isaac topping the table after the first event with a incredible score of 56 – Andy was absent for most of last season due to injury but certainly is making up for lost time with this score
Shannon Beedell showed that with more matches and practice, he will be a force to be reckon with as the highest scoring newcomer with 65
Jake Cottrell showed why he is the current under 12 course record holder with some amazing shots and cool putting to lead the U12 category and Preston Beedell leads the U16 category with some delightful swazz shots and strong drives, both juniors scoring 71
Shout-out to Chris Lewis for sinking a hole in one on hole 8 and also to Luke Phillips who registered a 26 to join the -7 club and equal the course record
The next league event is Friday 19th May – it is extremely early days and we still have the likes of Bobby Hopkinson, the long awaited return of Neil Keen and Steve Williams plus many new Footgolfers are yet to begin
…we go again, same place….same time…..see you on the 19th May for more footgolf league action
