Essex Golf Union

Thornton Challenge Cup Final 2025

Bentley Golf Club, Sunday 7th September 2025
Orsett V Romford

For the second year running, our finalists were Romford V Orsett, this year held at Bentley Golf Club. The weather was warm but with high winds, a good yet challenging day was ahead for the players. With a massive spectating crowd, there was a great atmosphere around Bentley GC as 2 of the strongest teams in Essex battle it out to be crowned Thornton Cup Champions 2025 with Orsett looking to make it 4 in a row.

Orsett took the early lead in the morning foursomes, winning all but 1 match, with wins from Orsett's Bailee Curran & Shaun Mills (3&2), Steve McAnally & Tommy Carr Jnr (4&3) and Frankie Morton & Callum Newton (1up) - Orsett found themselves at a 3½ - 1½ lead going into the afternoon singles.  The afternoon singles saw a massive turn in momentum, with Romford storming through the first 5 games, with Shay McQueen, Karl Ochse, Henry Linley, Tony Ames and Ben Scanes all winning their singles matches and setting up a nervy finish to the match with Romford now in the lead by 3 points. Frankie Morton (Orsett) turned the tables, winning his match V Adam Murphy (Romford) 5&4, with Shaun Mills & Bailee Curran (Orsett) following suit and winning both their matches 2&1. This left it down to the last 2 games to decide the match result. The last match came in early, with Tommy Carr Jnr winning the match on the 15th green with a 4&3 victory V Romford's Finn Mellon, leaving the result down to James Hazell (Romford) V Ricky Lee (Orsett). The match was extremely tight, with it going down to the 18th green, and with a 1up win for James Hazell, the match went down to a playoff, with Bailee Curran (Orsett) & Karl Ochse (Romford) being the nominated players for each side.

The playoff got off to a bad start for Karl who found himself in the penalty area on the right side of the hole from his tee shot and in even more unfortunate circumstances, Karl's drop zone found him in a GUR zone, and his nearest point of relief as decided by our lead referee was further into the rough! Even after this, Karl produced a magnificent shot and left himself with a 25-30 foot putt for par. Bailee was up next with around a 100 yard pitch into the green which he had a great line and it just came up short of the flag. With a putt to take the Trophy, Bailee was up first with a 40 foot putt which he left short to about 10 foot. Karl was then up next, who needed to hole his putt to save par and give Romford a chance at a 2nd playoff hole, Karl had a great line, however just missed it short, giving Bailee another chance at taking the win for Orsett. Bailee holed his putt straight in the centre of the cup and crowned Orsett, for the 4th year in a row, Thornton Cup Champions!

It was an excellent day of golf played in great spirits once again. Our thanks go to Bentley Golf Club for hosting this match and providing excellent hospitality for this prestigious final. Also, to the herds of spectators who came out to watch, helping to create a great atmosphere and provide support to both teams throughout the day.

Will someone be able break Orsett's record run next year?...

Thornton Challenge Cup Final 2024

Gosfield Lake Golf Club, Sunday 8th Sept 2024

                      Orsett V Romford

  The final between Romford and Orsett Golf Clubs, who were slight favourites being the defending champions.  The morning weather was cool, windy, and overcast. This final always has a reputation of having a large group of supporters to cheer on their club and today was no different, they were in store for a day of great golf as these two teams are the among the strongest in Essex. No oncourse watering meant that the fairways and greens were playing fast and bumpy, making it difficult to hold with the approach shots.

Romford GC came out strong in the morning Foursomes, winning all but 1 match, this put them in the early lead 3½ to 1½, going into the afternoon singles matches with what was a clear advantage on the defending champions Orsett, will they go on to win the Thorton Challenge Cup 2024? There was an eager and somewhat anxious wait to see how the afternoon matches would unfold.After lunch there were some heavy showers, and the temperature dropped slightly from the morning. The pendulum swung in Orsett's favour, and they had 4 points after the first 6 singles matches. Romford managed good wins from Edward Linley and Henry Linley. However, with clear wins by Jamie Benton, Zach Chegwidden, Ryan Pitcher, Bailee Curran and Shaun Mills Orsett won the singles 6½ - 3½ and went on to retain the Thornton Challenge Cup with a final result of 8 - 7 well done to them for retaining the for another year!

It was an excellent day of golf played in great spirits both teams clearly had great respect for each other. Our thanks to Gosfield Lake Golf Club for hosting the match and providing excellent hospitality for this prestigious final. Also, to the wonderful spectators, who helped to create a great atmosphere and continuously provided encouragement to both teams throughout the day.

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Thornton Challenge Cup Final 2023
On Sunday 10th September 2023
Braintree Golf Club

Orsett 13 - Chelmsford 2

It was another hot day in early September & the occasion lived up to reputation with both sides arriving with great support and uniformed perfectly in team colours. Orsett's team were on paper a force to be reckoned with as eight of their ten player

s having represented the County in various age groups, five of which are 1st Team regulars and one, a long-standing England Squad member. Chelmsford on the other hand may have been a little short of players from previous rounds due to injury and Zach's England Squad mate Aaron Edwards-Hill had recently announced he was turning Professional.

Orsett's strength in depth was evident in the morning matches, securing a 4½ to ½ point lead at lunch. This only left Orsett requiring 3½ points from the afternoons matches to secure the Thornton Challenge Cup for the second year in a row. 

 After Lunch, Orsett came out strong again, with their top two  matches securing the narrowest of wins by just 1UP & 2UP. Then the county contingent, the next four matches were all in favour of Orsett also, with wins of 7&6, 8&6, 5&4 and 6&5 seeing four of the five County First Team players winning their matches with Ricky Lee, County Team Manager halving with Gary Fisher. Although this was Match 7, it was the last match on the course and the overall result had been reached with Orsett winning eight of the afternoon matches. Gary Fisher's Half along with Chelmsford's Alex Bradley's 6&5 win over Orsett's Dan Vaughan, were the only points added to Chelmsford's total in the afternoon.   

The match was played in great spirit throughout the day, with both captains showing upmost respect for their opponents in their speeches. A special thanks go to Braintree Golf Club for hosting the final and their hospitality throughout the day.

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Thornton Challenge Cup Final 2022
On Sunday 4th September 2022
Abridge Golf Club

The occasion lived up to reputation with both sides arriving with great support and uniformed perfectly in team colours. Orsett's team were out of the blocks early with the front two matches taking leads and Match 3 was proving to be the match to watch. After 9 holes Romford's Dylan Hussey & Henry Linley, both county boys team members were out in level par, making 9 straight pars. Orsett's duo of Thornton cup veteran Ross Dee & recent Romford Trophy winner Baillee Curran had forged a 4-up lead. If it wasn't for Ian Moore and Scott Aitchinson's efforts achieving a half, the lunch time score may have been completely one sided. However, the 4½ to ½ score at lunch, at least meant Romford had something to build on in the singles matches.

After Lunch, once again, the early matches looked to be going in Orsett's favour with several matches showing sizeable leads. Henry Styles did manage an impressive half with Essex County team captain & England squad member Zachary Chegwidden. However, the next two matches both went Orsett's way, meaning they just needed one more point for the victory. When Cassidy Steffens shook Ian Moore's hand on the 14th for a 6 & 4 win, it was all that was required for Orsett to lift the trophy for an eighth time. 

The overall score of 11 - 4 reflected Orsett's strength in depth,  with several fantastic performances that made it very difficult for Romford to mount any significant comeback after a sizeable lunch time deficit. By no means did the Romford team disgrace themselves, offering fine performances from several team members, none more so than the junior participants, Henry Styles, Dylan Hussey, Henry Linley & Edward Linley who all have county links.

The match was played in great spirit throughout the day, with both captains showing upmost respect for their opponents in their after dinner speeches. A special thanks go to Abridge Golf Club for hosting the final and their hospitality throughout the day.

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 Thorndon Park Golf Club - 2021 Champions

Thornton Challenge Cup Final 2021
Sunday 5th September
Crondon Park Golf Club

Thorndon Park 11½ - Thorpe Hall 3½ 

  At the start of this season the team from Thorndon Park Golf Club would have probably been amongst the favourites to capture this splendid old trophy. However for Thorpe Hall, winners of the inaugural tournament in 1920 and on eleven subsequently occasions, any suggestion in April that they would be contesting the September final may have raised an eyebrow. As the reader will know golf is anything but predictable and throughout the competition the Thorpe Hall team provided a fine example of what a team working together can achieve. 

Regrettably for Thorpe Hall their day didn't start well with team captain Simon Garner absent confined to barracks due to Covid and there were no signs of improvement when by lunch-time Thorndon Park had engineered a commanding 5-0 lead from the foursomes' matches.

Thorndon Park's play-off man George Gennings led their afternoon charge in the singles with a 4&3 win over Thorpe Hall's Luke King. The second match out was the battle of the youngsters and once Charlie Croker had got the better of Billy Gunyon by 3&1 it was going to take some kind of miracle for Thorpe Hall to snatch the trophy away from Thorndon Park. Thornton Cup veterans Pete Alabaster and Bobby Platts gave Thorpe Hall a measure of relief with victories over their Thorndon opponents, but Mark Downey sealed Thorndon Park's victory at the dog-legged 15th hole with a 4&3 win over Sam Manton.  

Played in wonderful golfing conditions both teams are to be congratulated for the spirit in which the final was contested and special thanks go to Crondon Park Golf Club for hosting the final and their hospitality throughout the day.

Congratulations to Chelmsford Golf Club - 2019 Champions

THORNTON CHALLENGE CUP
FINAL 2019
Played at Colchester Golf Club

The 2019 final was played on 8thSeptember between the holders Chelmsford and West Essex, on a very well presented Colchester golf course. 

The morning foursomes commenced in sunny autumnal conditions with a cool breeze. There was little between the two sides as the morning matches passed the halfway stage, apart from in match 3 where the Chelmsford pairing of Curtis Knipes & Harvey Sullivan were building a commanding lead. 

As the morning started to draw to a close West Essex' top pairing of Nick Pledger & Timmy Moncur secured a first point in match 1, just after Chelmsford's Curtis & Harvey closed out their match with an 8&6 win, four under par for the 12 holes they played. The teams shared the points from matches 2 and 4, which left match 5 to decide the lunchtime position.  

This had been a close battle all the way round, but eventually concluded on the 17th hole, a narrow 2&1 victory to Chelmsford. Both teams headed for lunch with Chelmsford holding a 1 point lead. 

By the time the afternoon singles commenced the number of supporters following the matches had swelled to over 100, and they were being treated to some excellent matchplay golf.

West Essex needed some positive results from the early singles matches, but Chelmsford's Brandon Meads had other ideas, racing into an early lead. Match 2 had thrown together a very intriguing tie, and by the 9th hole Timmy Moncur had built a good lead on his Chelmsford opponent, Arron Edwards-Hill. 

Back in match 1 Nick Pledger fought his way back into his match and secured a vital point for West Essex, and with Timmy Moncur closing his match out on the 15th green, they had the start they had wanted.