𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐅 𝐂𝐋𝐔B ⛳️

Top 100 course, designed by world-famed architect Dr Alister MacKenzie. Host of 50+ professional and major amateur tournaments inc The 1929 Ryder Cup🏆

[𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐅 𝐂𝐋𝐔B ⛳️ @MoortownGC]

Spot the European Tour golfers (and Ryder Cup heroes) hidden away in this £500 charity challenge match during the Car Care Plan International in 1985

The match took place at Collingham & Linton CC and was a 20 overs a side affair and featured a Fred Trueman X1 vs a European Tour XI

[Moortown Course Info @MoortownGreens]

Battling to keep some kind of moisture in the peat based fairways @MoortownGC trying to avoid cracking and shrinkage before the weather breaks

[𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐅 𝐂𝐋𝐔B ⛳️ @MoortownGC]

Tom Osborne’s course-record 62

Brabazon Trophy 2026

Round 1: Thursday May 21

7,001 yards

5
3
4
3
3
4
4
3
3
32

2
3
5
4
3
3
4
2
4
30
32

62

[𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐅 𝐂𝐋𝐔B ⛳️ @MoortownGC]

Congratulations to Alysia Rigg who has enjoyed her first hole-in-one. Alysia, who plays off 7.5, has been a member of Moortown for six years and she produced her bit of magic at the 136-yard 4th during a social '9 and wine' with the ladies' section.

"I hit an 8-iron, a baby draw, which landed 15 feet short of the pin and rolled in. We all saw it go in and couldn’t believe it, I have had a few very close calls so I was in a bit of disbelief. For the rest of the round I was still in shock more than anything and we then sat outside after the comp and had a glass of wine to celebrate."

Well played!

[𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐅 𝐂𝐋𝐔B ⛳️ @MoortownGC]

How Moortown's 5th became a very different and significantly better test

Five years ago Moortown's 5th hole underwent some sweeping changes and today it sits as one of the strongest holes on the course. It remains a risk-reward par 4 but it now appears and plays very different to in years gone by.

Architect Clyde Johnson oversaw the changes and he would carry out much of the work himself.

"This was almost universally recognised as unsatisfactory among the membership. This pocket of the course had been changed quite a bit from back in the MacKenzie day, with the 5th originally a hard dogleg to the left around a copse of trees. The original intention was to reward the golfer who could hook one against the camber to leave an open angle to the green, which was protected by a large, artful bunker to its front right.

"A pair of new holes, at 6 and 7, were added by Donald Steel in the last century. But, with much-needed tree removal to integrate those into the remainder of the course, the 5th opened up a more direct line of play. With this came the opportunity to create a tempting and teasing short 4 for the better player while restoring MacKenzie’s strategy. The two fairway bunkers, which had been added to the outside of the hole, were superfluous to the original strategy. Allowing the ball to run out to leave a bad angle was more than enough, especially as you were never going to be able to see those bunkers unless you unnaturally jacked them up."

Previously you would be unable to make out where your tee shot had finished, now it is a very different looking hole.

"The ditch that runs down the left is beautiful so we have tried to take advantage of that and encourage people to take on the green. Three bunkers, sat naturally into the face of the bank, charm the golfer towards the direct line which is a more onerous carry than it appears. It’s hard not to resist playing a tighter line and we’ve hopefully ended up with a pretty playful short 4.

"We also restored the back bunker, a classic MacKenzie feature, which is staggered deceptively beyond the new drive bunkers. When approaching the green from the fairway, this bunker seemingly sits beyond the huge, restored front-right bunker."

Martin Heggie has seen the course evolve since taking over as Moortown's Head Professional in 2003 and the 5th stands out as one of the highlights in terms of moving things to another level.

"No hole has changed more dramatically in my time here. The tee shot now is totally unrecognisable with the removal of the trees and then Clyde Johnson came in and transformed it alongside our greenkeeping team.

"You now have a proper decision to make off the tee. It used to be much more of a dogleg, now it’s more a case of how much you dare to bite off. From the yellow tees, if you can send it 240 yards, you will have a chance of making the green. It has also opened up things visually as you can now see more of where your ball’s landing whereas previously this was a lot harder to pick out with any certainty.

"Greenside it just used to be surrounded by trees and some poor bunkering. The 5th was historically probably one of the weakest holes, now it’s become one of the strongest."

[Moortown Course Info @MoortownGreens]

Golden brown throughout @MoortownGC
with the exception of irrigated areas.
Topping up hot spots with the hand hoses.

[𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐅 𝐂𝐋𝐔B ⛳️ @MoortownGC]

What a fantastic day for one of the highlights of the Moortown golfing calendar – Captain's Day 2026. A huge thank you to everyone who took part and, of course, to our Captain for hosting such an enjoyable competition. The course was presented in excellent condition and with a full field competing, there was some outstanding golf on display.

Congratulations to Stuart Santon, who claimed the title with an excellent 40 Stableford points off a handicap of 6.

The leaderboard was incredibly competitive, with four players tied on 39 points.

Top 10

1 Stuart Santon 40
2 Jonathan Townsend 39
3 Theo McCormick 39 (Best junior)
4 Tim Brown 39
5 Joshua Pearce 39
6 Rory Wilson 38
7 Graham Hunter 38
8 Oliver Groves 38
9 Philip Murtagh 38
10 David Sayers 38

Scoring 40 points on Captain's Day is no easy feat, particularly under the pressure and atmosphere that comes with one of the club's flagship competitions. Stuart's consistent play proved enough to edge an exceptionally close leaderboard. Best gross went to Simon Stephens, who shot 35 points gross, special mention to Theo McCormick, who was round in 66 gross to take the junior prize with 39 points.

With 161 competitors taking part, the scoring demonstrated the strength in depth across the membership and 23 players returned 36 points or better.

Beat The Pro
Captain's Day means the traditional Beat the Pro at the 10th hole, Gibraltar, and 54 groups, 161 players, 29,000 steps and 13 miles later, 31 players came out on top – Karandeep Sohel was the lucky winner of the draw of those 31 people.

Thanks to everyone who contributed over £1,500 to the Captain’s Charity.

[Sir Nick Faldo @Sir_NickFaldo]

Welcome to The 154th Open!

I popped in to Royal Birkdale to take an under the radar 🤣 tour of the course, this is what a discovered!

You can watch my full preview now on my YouTube channel (link in bio).

Who do you think will be lifting the Claret Jug, a blaster 🏌️‍♂️💥 or strategy man? 🤔

[𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐅 𝐂𝐋𝐔B ⛳️ @MoortownGC]

Good luck to everyone involved today - one of the great days on the golfing calendar

Moortown’s Ollie Cage and Will Swarbrick in action at Dundonald

[The Open @TheOpen]

One day. Four venues. 20 places at The 154th Open.

Keep up with every moment of Final Qualifying here: https://t.co/TGg4psVQwg

[𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐅 𝐂𝐋𝐔B ⛳️ @MoortownGC]

Final Qualifying for the 154th Open will take place at on Tuesday across four venues; Dundonald Links, West Lancashire, Burnham & Berrow and Royal Cinque Ports.

Two Moortown members, Will Swarbrick (0700 & 1245) and Oliver Cage (0805 & 1350), will tee it up at Dundonald with the top five golfers progressing to Royal Birkdale in a fortnight.

Robert Rock is among those also competing on the Ayrshire coast, likewise Angel Hidalgo, who has secured his place at Dundonald in each of the past two years.

Elsewhere Sergio Garcia, Danny Willett and Matthew Jordan are in the field at West Lancs.

Eliot Baker, runner-up in the recent Brabazon Trophy at Moortown, is in the field at Burnham & Berrow, alongside Marc Leishman and Sahith Theegala, while Branden Grace is at Royal Cinque Ports – the South African famously shot a 62 the last time the Open was at Birkdale.

Luke Poulter, Thomas Detry, Zane Scotland and Thriston Lawrence are also playing in Kent.

Tee times are available here

https://t.co/DEMNGK99xH

[Moortown Course Info @MoortownGreens]

Saturday morning set up @MoortownGC just about survived the high temperatures this week.
Very early starts trying to avoid the heat and humidity, fair play to the team

[Moortown Course Info @MoortownGreens]

Tough week working in the heat @MoortownGC course starting to brown off and play very firm and fast.
Ditches being flailed again, hopefully this heat will slow them down a bit

[𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐅 𝐂𝐋𝐔B ⛳️ @MoortownGC]

Regional Qualifying for The Open At Royal Birkdale is taking place today, always a special day on the calendar

More than 2,000 golfers, including no fewer than nine from Moortown, are teeing it up over 18 holes across
16 different courses

The leading finishers will then advance to Final Qualifying at Dundonald Links, Royal Cinque Ports and two of our reciprocal clubs – West Lancashire and Burnham & Berrow on June 30

Good luck to everyone involved

Live blog here 👇

https://t.co/XIsTLqnK9R

[𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐅 𝐂𝐋𝐔B ⛳️ @MoortownGC]

Why Moortown duo will be playing 126 holes in one day

On Tuesday June 23 Moortown's Head Professional Martin Heggie and Assistant Secretary Annie Bailey will embark on an ultra golf marathon in support of MND.

Martin and Annie will be playing seven rounds on seven of North Leeds' famous courses in one day - Headingley, Alwoodley, Sand Moor, Roundhay, Leeds, Scarcroft and Moortown.

Inspired by Kevin Sinfield’s ultra marathons, in aid of his lifelong friend Rob Burrow’s fight against MND, Martin and Annie explain why they will be playing 126 holes of golf in just one day.

MH - Martin Heggie
AB - Annie Bailey

What inspired you to do this?

MH: Kevin Sinfield and Rob Burrow brought me to tears. So in 2022 I played 493 holes – the number of games Rob played for the Leeds Rhinos – in one week. That was very humbling and inspiring to me and I needed a new challenge and it’s all about seven. Annie told me one of her friends had lost her mum to MND so I said let’s do seven rounds in a day. We know that it’s a difficult challenge but people with MND face much worse every day.

AB: We both know people who have been affected by the condition. It can take away so much from someone and their loved ones so we agreed it would be great to do our bit and raise awareness. Rob always wore the iconic number seven shirt throughout his career with Leeds Rhinos so we decided on seven rounds in one day.

What are the logistic challenges that you will be facing?

AB: We will be playing seven different courses in the North Leeds area so trying to get our heads around timings to play each round and travelling to get to and from each course has taken some planning.

There will be times throughout the day when courses and traffic on the roads will be quiet and busy, outfit changes (because who wants to play 126 holes in the same pair of socks!) and thinking about what and when to eat and drink, so there’s a lot to consider.

I’d like to think that we have thought about every possible challenge that can come up but you never know what can happen on the day! The support we have had so far has been amazing, family, friends, and members have offered their help whether it be caddying or driving us to and from venues which will make a massive difference on the day and has made our lives easier to plan.

What will the format be?

AB: It will be foursomes, a favourite for Martin but it also means that it will help us get round fast – 493 is a significant number but that would mean under 71 shots per round, not impossible and it would be great if we could do that but the main goal is to make sure we complete the challenge.

MH: It’s not everyone’s favourite format even though it is possibly my favourite form of golf. We just need to be quick and there is no quicker format of golf than foursomes. We won’t be beating ourselves up to beat the 493 but that’s what we would love to do though basically finishing is all we want to do.

What do you anticipate being the biggest challenges?

MH: The timings of rounds 3-6 when everybody is playing and we want to steamroll – hopefully the caddies will be persuasive!

AB: Yeah, the biggest challenge will be when courses get busy and trying to keep up with our pace to get all seven rounds in.

What part of your body are you most worried about?

MH: It’s got to be my feet. FootJoy have kindly provided us with socks and shoes so a fresh pair of socks after every round should do the trick.

AB: Considering the number of steps we’ll be doing, I am worried about my feet. Martin arranged for me to get my feet measured by FootJoy to make sure I am wearing the best shoes along with a fresh pair of socks for each round so a massive thank you to Martin and FootJoy for that!

What’s the most holes in a day that you’ve played before?

MH: I’ve played 100 holes a few times and obviously the 493 was a special challenge and will stay with me forever.

AB: Honestly, not a clue. I think one time I played more than 36 in a knockout competition but certainly nowhere near the number of holes we’ll be playing on the 23rd.

Which will be new courses to you?

AB: I haven’t played Headingley, Roundhay, Leeds (Cobble Hall) and I’m yet to play all 18 holes at Scarcroft. I know Martin has played them all in the 493 challenge so I know who to ask if I need a line off a tee.

To sponsor 👇

https://t.co/4Q6L4HaLJy

[𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐅 𝐂𝐋𝐔B ⛳️ @MoortownGC]

Mark Mouland was back at Moortown recently and was able to recreate his closing 6-iron, almost exactly 40 years later....

Mouland won the Car Care Plan International in 1986, courtesy of a one-shot win that gave the Welshman a spot in the following week's Open at Turnberry.

'I finished birdie-birdie to make the cut on the mark. Then I went 65-64 to beat Anders Forsbrand by one. I remember playing 18 in the final round as if it was yesterday, driving it down the middle and hitting a 6-iron straight at the pin.

'I left myself with about a 20-foot uphill putt, which was as easy as it's ever going to get, knowing I had two putts to win, and I left it about three feet short. Then I knocked it in despite not being able to feel my hands. Even today for the guys, if you're in a winning position, you feel as if you're in somebody else's body.

'The previous year my bank manager wanted a chat. He said that this 'professional golf lark', it obviously wasn't for me as I wasn't making any money. I was due to go to Waterville and I needed some petrol money. He wrote me a cheque for £100 and, once that was gone, then I had to get a proper job.

I think I won £2,500. I got into the Scandinavian Open and got a top 10, then I got an invite to the Benson & Hedges and, after four weeks on the road, I'd won £10,000. I went back into the bank manager and he agreed that I should keep on playing.'

[𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐅 𝐂𝐋𝐔B ⛳️ @MoortownGC]

The 23rd FIFA World Cup gets underway tonight...

Is now 60 years since England lifted the Jules Rimet Trophy and nearly 20 years since the 1966 squad would come to Moortown.

The squad repeated a golfing reunion each year, with Norman Hunter organising the 2007 version in Leeds.
They demanded no publicity, just a fun day together playing golf and they would stay in Harrogate with their wives.

In return for this favour, Hunter agreed to speak at the club's Annual Dinner.

(Standing) Sir Bobby Charlton, George Cohen, MGC captain David Sheret, Ray Wilson, Gordon Banks, Martin Peters, Nobby Stiles, Peter Bonetti

(Kneeling) Jack Charlton, Roger Hunt, Ian Callaghan and Norman Hunter

[𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐅 𝐂𝐋𝐔B ⛳️ @MoortownGC]

NORTH LEEDS ULTRA GOLF CHALLENGE

Moortown's Head Professional Martin Heggie and Assistant Secretary Annie Bailey are embarking on an ultra golf marathon in support of @mndassoc on June 23

Martin and Annie will be playing SEVEN rounds of golf (126 holes) on SEVEN of North Leeds' famous courses in one day - Headingley Alwoodley, Sand Moor Roundhay, Leeds, Scarcroft and Moortown

Inspired by Kevin Sinfield’s ultra marathons, in aid of his lifelong friend Rob Burrow’s fight against MND, Martin and Annie will be pushing themselves to the limit

They are aiming to play each round in under two hours!

To sponsor 👇

https://t.co/4Q6L4HadU0

[West Lancs Golf Club @WestLancsGC]

Huge congratulations to the winners in the Crosby Beacon today. @MoortownGC retained the Crosby Beacon Team Trophy with scores of 70, 71 and 76. Rhys Nevin of @SandiwayGolf won best Pro with a score of 70 and Josh Ashton of @SandAGolfClub best Amateur with 68!