Castle keeps bouncing back

FIRST MAJOR . . . Steve Castle won Saddleworth’s Mountain Ash event.

GOLF: FIRST-TIME Saddleworth major winner Steve Castle isn’t one for giving up too easily.

From suffering a serious back injury while serving in the Royal Navy, to undergoing a triple heart bypass opertion, the 50-year-old has had plenty thrown at him.

He has picked himself up from each fall — he also spent five months on the sidelines with a heel injury — and his resolve was rewarded with victory in the Mountain Ash.

Castle registered a two-round total of 164-27-137 for a narrow victory over Richard Hughes (148-10-138), with John Millward (170-31-139) back in third place.

“I was shocked,” said Castle, who is originally from Diggle, but now lives in Meltham, near Huddersfield.

“I’ve been knocking on the door in a few competitions, but I didn’t think I’d win. In fact, I thought I had blown it with a nett 69 in the second round.”

Castle hurt his back in 1983 while serving on HMS Alacrity in the Falkland Islands. The injury was so severe, it required an operation to fix it.

However, surgery to fuse two discs ended his career in the Navy.

He was still able to take up and joined Willow Valley Golf Club, which overlooks the M62.

However, he stopped playing regularly in 2000.

“I felt so tired after a round of golf, I had a sleep before setting off for home,” said Castle, who plays off 13 handicap.

However, he continued to play for the Diddlers golf society, which was based in Diggle, and it was at one of their events when his health became a concern.

Castle, who is a projects manager on the railways, explained: “It was Christmas 2006 and at Saddleworth, ironically. I didn’t feel so good, but I had just birdied the first hole so I had to carry on.

“I thought I had a stomach upset or something, only to discover I had suffered a heart attack.

“The fear before the operation was unbelievable. I always think of myself of being rough and tough, but this was different.”

Castle was back playing 12 weeks later for the society.

He said: “There was quite a bit of trepidation. The surgeon had to break by ribs for the operation, so my chest cavity was different shape, which meant my swing had changed.”

His trials and tribulations didn’t end there. He joined Saddleworth in October last year, but his clubs spent the winter in his garage as he recovered from a heel problem.

Fighting fit now, he will be looking to add to his major haul in 2011.


IT was ‘all finals day’ at CROMPTON and ROYTON, where Robert Calow defeated Andy Frizzell one up to lift the Highfield Cup.
Father and son, Mark and Stephen Barrett, took the biscuit in the ‘Top Dogs’ event — a matchplay format open to all club members — with a seven and five win over David Holme and Stephen Bower.

Mixed matchplay honours went to husband and wife, Charlies and Andrea Lowe, after recorded a four and three victory against Paul Harrison and Majorie Bray.


MARY Buckley was among the prizes at Oldham.
She added another Knock-out Cup to her tally with a three and one success over Anne Smith in the final.

Mary is a multiple victor of the matchplay competition, and on one occasion lifted the cup three times in a row.

She also came out on top in the Open Turkey event thanks to a 19-point haul after a card play-off from Linda Hall.

The bronze division went to Sheila McDonald (19pts), with Julie Ward (18pts) in second place.

Hall and Liz Johnson were the joint winners of the Flag competition after posting scores of 67.