Sheffield men at the double

Sheffield successfully defended their Yorkshire Inter-District Union team championship in emphatic style at Rotherham, pulling away like thoroughbreds to win by 23 shots from Halifax-Huddersfield to complete a YIDU double.

It crowned a spectacular ‘double’ after regaining the YIDU league title. Sheffield were in imperious form as they hammered home runaway victories in their last two Inter District Union matches. An aggregate of 69-3 match points in their closing outings against York and second-placed Leeds, saw the South Yorkshire team crowned champions for the first time since 2018 with an unbeaten streak through their seven 2022 fixtures.

In the Rotherham shoot-out, where the five best scores each round from six players counted, their halfway lead was a handful over Halifax-Huddersfield, with East Riding a further 10 shots adrift. Sheffield, with the advantage of half their team – Charlie Daughtrey, Lewis Hollingworth and Jack Whaley – playing over their home course had produced a superb three-under-par morning's tally through Ollie Smith (Sickleholme, 68), English amateur runner-up George Ash (Hallowes, 69), Luca Houlgate (Waterfront, 69), Hollingworth (70), and Whaley (71).

Halifax-Huddersfield's two-over-par aggregate owed much to Crosland Heath's Josh McAspurn, who came in with an equal best-of-the-day 67, a score matched in the morning by East Riding's Aaron Brettell (Hessle). Skirrow was backed up by Sam Bridges (Halifax Bradley Hall, 70), Adam Rowbotham (Saddleworth 70) and Huddersfield pair Adam Walker (72) and James Skirrow (73). Halifax-Huddersfield knew they needed to rely on Sheffield faltering in the afternoon, while digging deep to find their line-up's best golf. But Sheffield's class, made abundantly clear by their clean sweep in the league, including two matches in which they surpassed 30 points, was evident again as the score they were able to discard was Houlgate's 72, better than any Halifax-Huddersfield afternoon mark other than Skirrow's fine one-under-par 69. Ash added a second consecutive 69 to claim the Leeds & District Union Trophy for the player with the best 36-hole total, but only on countback from Smith who added a 70 to his 68. Hollingworth dipped one under his level-par first round, former Yorkshire champion Daughtrey shaved six shots from his morning score with a 71, and Whaley had a second 71 in a row.