The Return of the Norton Putter 2026

After a long-awaited return, the Norton Putter was back on Sunday 31st May at Lees Hall Golf Club, and what a fantastic day it turned out to be.

With 24 golfers, glorious sunshine and enough questionable handicaps to spark debate well into next season, the stage was set for another memorable day. There were booming drives, miraculous recoveries from the trees, putts that defied all logic and enough lost golf balls from some of our younger players to significantly boost the value of the pro shop's stock inventory.

The golf was matched only by some equally questionable fashion choices. Bright trousers, loud shirts and outfits that would have made some of the professionals from the 1980s proud all made an appearance. Thankfully, while not everyone brought their best golf, most at least brought their best effort.

The weather couldn't have been much better, providing the perfect backdrop for a day that featured the good golf, the bad golf and, in some cases, the downright ugly golf. Thankfully the scoring was based on Stableford points and not style marks!

A special thank you goes to professional golfer Libby Kilbride who joined us and, at the 11th hole, showed us all exactly how a golf ball should be struck. In a challenge that saw player after player fall short, only Simon Harrison managed to get the better of her – a feat we're sure he'll be reminding everyone about for some time! Libby is one of Yorkshire's most exciting young golfing talents and is already making her way in the professional game. Based on what we saw on Sunday, she has a bright future ahead of her, so keep an eye out for her name in the years to come.

The infamous Cardiac Hill on the 16th once again proved to be a challenge, testing both golfing ability and fitness levels, but everyone survived to tell the tale.

Huge thanks to Michael Ellin for organising another superb event, Thomas Phipps for keeping the scoring straight and ensuring everything remained fair, Aurora Managed Services for their generous sponsorship, and of course everyone who took part and helped make the day such a success.

A special thank you also goes to everyone at Lees Hall Golf Club for their warm hospitality, excellent course conditions and for looking after us throughout the day.

Michael will be adding all prize money to the winners' club cards this week.

Nearest the Pin Winners

🏆 Jon Widdup

🏆 Gary Kemp

🏆 Richard Oades

Overall Competition Results

🥇 1st - Michael Ellin – 39 points

🥈 2nd - Joshua Ellin – 37 points

🥉 3rd - Gary Kemp – 37 points

Top 10 Finishers

4. John Broadhurst – 34 points

5. Simon Harrison – 34 points

6. Carl Rodgers – 34 points

7. Dave Uttley – 33 points

8. Mark Ruffieux – 32 points

9. Richard Oades – 29 points

10. Pete Tickhill – 28 points

Congratulations to Michael on lifting the trophy and, perhaps more importantly, earning the right to remind everyone about it until next year's competition.

The feedback from the day has been overwhelmingly positive and plans are already being explored to make the Norton Putter an annual fixture in the club calendar.

Thanks again to everyone who played, supported, laughed, blamed their clubs, the greens, the weather and occasionally themselves.

Roll on the Norton Putter 2027! The only question that remains is whether Brett will make it to next year's event... ⛳🍻