Written by DMH organiser Dan Peach
Another DMH season has passed, and what a year it was.
We began our season at Bewdley Pines, which has become a regular opener for us as it’s one of the few courses that holds up fantastically well in rainy British weather in March.
Wayne Furber won, and won comfortably, shooting a silly 46 points. A score which he has continued to receive abuse for all year long!
We had a hastily rearranged date at Stoneleigh Deer Park in May – with the weather forcing us to cancel our original date. Matt Hayward came out on top of the field, scoring 34 points, edging out Mark Robbins on countback.
The following day we headed to Robin Hood for our first major of the season, the DMH Open, with Pete Bailey claiming a maiden major victory with 35 points. Maxstoke Park held our next event, where Dan Peach claimed the win with 40 points.
July saw us head to The Players Club in Bristol for the 8th annual Ryder Cup. Team USA was being led by Andy Lakin with Joe Jones leading Team Europe.
Day 1 is played as pairs betterball, with USA taking a small lead of 4 ½ – 2 ½ into Sunday.
The captains, as is tradition, head out first on Sunday and play each other in singles.
Joe Jones scored an early blow for Europe, taking Andy down 6&5. The remainder of the day was very close, but USA edged the day 2 singles 7 ½ – 6 ½ and claimed their 7th title with a winning score of 12-9. Dave Ellis and Pete Bailey have been chosen to lead Team Europe and USA respectively in the 2025 edition.
During the same weekend, our next major, the Lug Jug, and Steve Lawrence took that title across the weekend with an impressive score of 74 on two difficult courses.
Walmley played host to us in August, where we had the penultimate major, the DMH Masters. Tom Butlin won his 2nd major title, following his Open victory in 2023.
Our penultimate event was played at Redditch, in some mixed conditions, but Martin Furber took the win on 39 points.
Then came finals weekend, and the season long race for the KO Shield and Order of Merit would soon be concluded. We chose this year to visit St Pierre, and it did not disappoint.
Saturday, played on the Old Course, saw the KO Shield final contested between Liam Hogan and Martin Furber. The match could not have been tighter, with Martin rolling in a putt off the green on 18, to leave Liam with a putt to win the match from around 8ft – and how close he came, but his putt lipped out, despite his attempt to walk it in. It then took three extra playoff holes before Martin finally edged out Liam and claimed his first KO Shield win.
Sunday was the conclusion of the Order of Merit race. There were more than a few people in contention around the Mathern course, but Wayne, who led for most of the season, beat off the competition and claimed back to back Order of Merit titles.
Sunday also saw a society and player first – a hole in one!
Joe Jones (above) notched his first on the 11th hole, striking a gap wedge just past the 129-yard pin before spinning it back into the hole.
Capping off another tremendous season full of great courses, laughs, club breaks and more. Roll on 2025!
