THE final four are now decided, and the quartet of men from Longley Park, Huddersfield, Wortley and the host club Meltham will be chasing the first prize of a FREE golf holiday when the final of the Examiner Matchplay Championship is staged at Meltham on September 24.

Wortley golfer Ben Sharpe, who plays off five, is the lowest handicapper on finals days, just ahead of Fixby’s Jonny Heyes and Meltham’s Chris Holmes, both of whom play off six, while Longley’s Tommy Ward is the ‘high’ man off 13.

It will be Sharpe’s first-ever Examiner final, as it will for former Longley captain Ward, both of whom are making their debuts in the newspaper’s sixth annual running of the competition.

Both Heyes and Holmes however, have been in the final day’s play before, both of them losing out to Halifax, Huddersfield Union Matchplay champion Richard Broadley at Crosland Heath in 2006, while the Fixby man was also involved in the 2007 final at Dewsbury, but again came away with one of the minor prizes.

In this year’s quarter-finals, Heyes had a tremendous game against Headley’s Darren Whiting, where both men won four holes apiece on the front nine at Fixby, to go all square at the turn.

But after winning the 10th, Heyes found himself up against it, as Whiting chipped to six inches and both the 11th and 12th, and then chipped into the hole at the long par three 13th to go one up.

Heyes parred the 14th and 15th, getting up and down out of the sand, and also won the 16th to go two up, and with a half at the 17th, it was honours to Heyes 2&1.

Sharpe had a close game against Longley Park’s John Doherty at Wortley before chipping in at the 18th to win the hole and the match, 1 up.

Holmes, meanwhile, was involved in an all-Meltham clash with Ian Saxton with neither player getting more than a one-hole advantage, until the former finally gained the upperhand by winning the 15th, and then seeing his opponent lose his ball at the 16th, which left Holmes dormie two, and he wrapped it up by also winning the 17th for a 3&1 success.

In the last of the quarter-finals, Ward entertained Outlane 17-handicapper Alan Henderson at Longley Park, and won with something to spare, 4&3 to book the last place in the final.

Attention now turns to Meltham for the climax of this year’s tournament, on Thursday, September 24, when the semi-finals take place in the morning (draw prior to the matches), while in the afternoon the two winners will go head-to-head as they battle for the first prize, a FREE golfing holiday in Spain in November.

This year’s champion will win a place on the Examiner’s popular Overseas Challenge, which this year is being staged at Benidorm on the Costa Blanca, departing on November 5 from Leeds/Bradford airport.

Accommodation is at the four-star Hotel Melia, and there are five days of golf competitions at the Villaitana Levante and Poniente courses during the seven-nights holiday.

Places on this year’s Challenge trip have filled up very quickly, although there is still time to join the party (inquiries to Hanson Travel, on 0113 2393300.

OUTLANE provided the venue for the latest of the Huddersfield Wednesday Golf Society meetings and it was the host club who also produced the winner.

Trevor Pickles took the First Division prize, carding 39 points, five ahead of nearest rival, Jimmy Main, of Dewsbury, with Meltham’s Chris Holmes a further point back.

Holmes’ club colleague Tom Freeland was an even bigger winner in Division II, where he bagged 38 points, nine more than Outlane’s Neville Oldham who took second on countback from David Hoyle.

Officials will be hoping for a bigger entry at Meltham, on September 9, than the 15 who turned out at Outlane.

Leading scores, Div I: Trevor Pickles (Outlane) 14-39; Jimmy Main (Dewsbury) 14-34, Chris Holmes (Meltham) 6-33.

Div II: Tom Freeland (Meltham) 17-38; Neville Oldham (Outlane) 21-29; David Hoyle (Meltham) 17-29.