CRAFT Club competitions are open to pairs made up of both men and women in any combination.
The CRAFT Club Golf Days 2026
| Tuesday 5th May | Rye Golf Club, East Sussex | Foursomes: 5 clubs, including putter. Lunch followed by golf. £40 Members, excluding lunch, £80 Visitors, including 2 course lunch | Please click for the application form and send to: Jonathan Strong [email protected] |
| Monday 1st June | Wildernesse Golf Club, Kent | Greensomes: 5 clubs, including putter. Golf followed by lunch. £45 Members, excluding lunch. £80 Visitors, including 2 course lunch and coffee on arrival. | Carol Saving [email protected] Robbie Midgeley [email protected]. uk |
| Monday 6th July | Thorndon Park Golf Club, Essex | 4 Ball Better Ball with full set of clubs. 2 course lunch from 12 noon, followed by golf. £45 Members, including lunch £80 Visitors, including 2 course lunch. | Tom Carne [email protected] |
| Friday 21st August | Piltdown Golf Club, East Sussex. | Greensomes Team Event with full set of clubs. Golf followed by lunch. £47 Members £82 Visitors, including lunch. | Steve Roberts Snd.roberts1@gmail. com |
| Monday 21st September | Littlestone Golf Club, Kent | Foursomes: 5 clubs, including putter. Lunch followed by golf £40 Members, excluding lunch £80 Visitors, including lunch. | Simon Sanderson shp.sanderson@gmail. com |
Craft Club Newsletter 2025
I have much enjoyed my first year as chairman of The Craft Club, ably assisted by the Committee and particularly by our excellent Secretary, Siobhan Highwood, to all of whom the Club members are, I am sure, most grateful. It has been another happy and successful year for the Craft Club. Our President, Sir Timothy Laurence, attended the Rye day on 6th May and although a leg injury prevented him from playing he spent most of the day at the Club meeting and encouraging Craft Club players and staff for which we thank him.
Why The Craft Club? I believe there are two main reasons for our continued existence: we raise an appreciable sum annually for our three important charities – again this year we will be donating £5000 to each of them. Secondly, as members we have a lot of golfing fun. We run five successful golf days annually at five fine golf clubs. Thanks to the generosity of those clubs we offer summer golf and lunch to Craft Club members at substantially reduced rates. Members in turn are generous with their contributions on those days so that, for example, at Rye GC this year the Craft Club raised over £8,500.
What Can You Do? When you joined the Craft Club you agreed to get four new members to join. Do please try to do this if you have not done so already. Life membership costs a mere £25 and enables the member to play in the golf days and to sport the Club attire in all its splendour! Please note that a golfer may not play in any Craft Club golf day without first enrolling as a life member. You can also help by playing in one or more of the golf days – see 2026 dates below.
Does the Craft Club have a website? Yes. Go to thecraftclub.org.uk and you will find all the information you need in order to sign up for the golf days next year at Rye, Thorndon Park, Littlestone, Piltdown and Wildernesse. The website will be updated early next year to show the prices for Rye, Wildernesse and Littlestone.
Rye GC – Tuesday 5th May 2026
Wildernesse GC – Monday 1st June 2026
Thorndon Park GC – Monday 6th July 2026
Piltdown GC Friday 21st August 2026
Littlestone GC Monday 21st September 2026
Do please put these dates in your ‘diaries’ and I look forward to seeing you.
Does the Craft Club have merchandise in addition to the tie? Yes it does. Again, do please look at the website. Some of the items make handy Christmas presents. You will also see the link to the Glenmuir website from which the Craft Club also receives a worthwhile financial benefit.It only remains for me to wish you a very happy Christmas and a happy, healthy and enjoyable golfing New Year.
Jeremy Carey
Rye Golf Day: 6 May 2025
Rye Golf Club kindly hosted The CRAFT Club on Tuesday 6th May 2025 when 92 golfers attended, of whom 20 were newly enrolled CRAFT Club members, from 15 different golf clubs. A delicious Rye lunch was enjoyed by all in the presence of our President, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, who spoke movingly and amusingly about his recent attendance at VE Day celebrations as well as reminding us of the importance of The CRAFT Clubs’ support for our three charities. In the event, we raised over £8,500 on the day thanks to the generosity of those who were participating and willingly paying for mulligans, bunker bazookas and raffle tickets. Thanks also go to Louis Highfield, the assistant professional at Rye, who ran the ‘Beat the Pro’ hole at the 5th and gave his time most generously.
As for the golf, the players, with their 5 clubs, enjoyed a breezy afternoon in spring sunshine. The winners, on a count back with a score of 39 points, were Tome Carne and Iain Evans from Thorndon Heath; second were Eleanor North (Rye GC) and David Holmes (The Island Club, Ireland) with 39 points and in third place Mary Ann Colville and Jonathan Colville with 37 points.
Another splendid Craft Club day was enjoyed by all, as evidenced by smiling faces, exuberant conversation and good sportsmanship in delightful surroundings.
Thorndon Park Craft Club Day: 7th July 2025
52 golfers took part on a very successful day, coordinated by Tom Carne with the support of their Secretary, Iain Evans, and Michael Haddock, who sorted out handicaps and the results.
After a delicious lunch and in full sunshine, everyone went out to play, starting on the first and tenth tee.
The fourball better ball competition produced some very high scores:
- Winners: Simon East and David Madan with 47 points,
- Second place: Lou Leighton and John McCarthy with 46 points
- Third place: Nigel Landsman and Paul Meyer with 44 points
Closest to the pin were won by:
- Second: Paul Fairbairn
- Fifth: Andy Watson
- Twelfth: Ian Restall
- Fifteenth: Siobhan Highwood
Thanks to everyone’s generosity, over £2500.00 was raised for the Craft Club. This will be distributed to the RNLI, SAFFA and Save the Children at the end of the year.
Wildernesse Golf Day: 11th August, 2025
Piltdown Golf Day: 22nd August 2025
With the sun shining, we welcomed 19 teams to Piltdown for the CRAFT Club Day. The 19 teams (the most that we have hosted) were made up of 43 guests to Piltdown and 33 PGC members.
The course was in immaculate condition and, as always, proved to be a real challenge, particularly if the ball found it’s way into the full bloom heather.
Two nearest the pin competitions were held on the 10th, won by Adam Arnold and by Jim Lyons on the 18th.
In the team competition Harold Torrington, Peter Keith Lucas, Dean Barry and Simon Lapthorn came third with 84 points; Booby Rodrigo, Robin Cox, David Pickering and David Trench came second with 85 points, both teams being beaten by Nick & Anne Watson, Nigel Williams and Richard Charnley with 95 points.
After the Golf an excellent lunch was had and enjoyed by all.
In total the day raised £2,526, so a big thanks to everyone for their generosity and support.