He put his name on the trophy once again after scoring an excellent two round total of 142, two under par.

There was a high quality field for the event, with a wealth of category one golfers, including three playing off a scratch handicap, so it was always going to be a close contest.

Richard has had to take a back seat in recent months to the success of his son James, who has played for the England under-16 team and was the Sleaford Standard Junior Sportsman of the Year.

But this was to be Richard's weekend, as he became the first person to win the championship six times.

However, he didn't have it all his own way, with one handicapper Michael Ward pushing him hard to the very end.

Michael took the lead well into the second round but Richard fought back to win by two shots, completing the last third of the course in three under par.

In third place, a further two shots behind, was Steve Lawson and another shot behind was defending champion Mark Hipworth. In fifth place came Richards' brother Geoff.

Run in conjunction with the championship was the net competition for the Peake Medal. Tony McCauley won this trophy with a net total of 138, beating Steve Lockwood on count-back. Two shots further behind in third place was Ron Bingham.