Today we have a round up of the weekend’s Pro Am, the ladies Bridgford and Moir Cup competitions plus some Ping demo day and wood working news! Please enjoy.
Pro-Am
The forecast was mixed for Saturday’s Pro Am but we just about escaped the bad weather until approximately 7pm when the last group of Jonny Gray, Johnny Yates, Ian Goulty and their pro Matt Tottey were playing their 18th hole. The heavens opened and the rain was biblical within seconds. They were tremendous sports finishing off their round in dreadful conditions as yours truly was squidying the final green! A big thank you to the four of them for their help in enabling us to complete the competition.
So onto the results. The winners of the Pro Am were Chris Brown, Paul Hilton, Nick Maxwell and their pro Matthew Pritchard with an an excellent 122 (18 under). Second place, on 125 (15 under) after countback, went to Paul Gilbert, Andy Gething, guest Christian James and their pro Haydn McCullen. Third spot was also decided on countback and that was Tracey Thompson, Tiff Fielden, Mandy Gilbert and pro Paul Jones.
In the professional individual event, Jason Dransfield breezed it round in 63 to shoot a new course record. The previous one was 60 by Chris Sands a few years ago but that was on the old layout (before the introduction of the par three 4th / 13th) and so that no longer stands. Jason is a great player and also a great guy so I’m delighted he ended up as the winner. Second place with 68 was shared between Haydn McCullen and Anthony Waddell.
Many thanks are required after hosting an event of this nature so here goes (my sincere apologies if I’ve omitted anyone). Thank you to the club for enabling us to host the event and all the amateurs who kindly spent their hard earned money on entering a team. Thanks to my fellow pros for coming along and also Iwan and Michael the hard working PGA staff on the day. The course was in magnificient shape so big thanks must go to Russell, Dave and Phil for their hard work in preparing it. Thanks also to Ben and the bar & catering team for doing a great job before and after play in keeping the golfers well fed and watered. Finally thank you to my super team of Will and Phil for lookinng after the shop and also playing in their first Pro Am in Will’s case. Roll on 2024….
Bridgford & Moir Cup
Last week was a big one in the Hale ladies golfing calendar as the Moir Cup and Bridgford took place on Wednesday and Thursday. The winner of the Moir Cup was Tiff Fielden with a gross score of 155 over the two days. Michelle Rea was the runner up..
The winner of the Bridgford was Joanne Bryant with nett scores of 72 and a superb 62 (yes, you read that correctly!!) for a total of 134. Tiff was second with 139 and lady captain Jan Ravenscroft was third with 142.
The winner of Thursday’s 18 hole max medal was Terri Broadbent with an excellent 66 and the winner of the back nine hole max medal was Diana Harris with a nett 33. The winner of the most improved player from day 1 to day 2 was Louise Gerald.
Tiff also won the day one nett prize and Jo Bryant won the day two nett.
Well done to all the winners – there was some really great golf played. A big thank you to Gill Kay and team for organising the event.
Ping Demo Day
Thanks to everyone who attended on Monday. Alex from Ping and I had set everything up on the practice ground, only for the pesky weather to intervene again! We had a quick change of location to the swing room. Alex was very attentive so hopefully all those that came along found the experience really useful and informative. From the Pro Shop’s persepctive, we’ve made some sales which is great news for the business!
Touchscreen Cabinet
Below is a photo of Kevin Gerard posing with his handmade, beautifully crafted cabinet which now houses the computer that resides outside the Secretary’s office. It is made from oak, some of which is from fallen trees from our very own golf course. On behalf of the club, thank you very much Kevin for this wonderful looking and highly practical cabinet.
