Apologies, the newsletter sent out earlier today was a rough draft sent in error. Please see the correct newsletter below.

Last Thursday we had the best of the PGA Professionals the South Region has to offer, vying to take the top prize in The R&CPGC Pro-Am. The Pro's all had 3 amateurs in their team and with some lucrative prizes on offer the whole team needed to be on point if they were to walk away with some goodies; 22 teams in the field the competition was going to be fierce.

The shotgun start meant that people were starting on holes they would never normally start on, holes that normally they have ruined or made their round by...luckily I managed to start on the 1st tee, I wonder how that happened? The shotgun start flowed very well and there wasn't any complaints of slow play which tends to happen in shotgun events. We even got lucky with the weather apart from a small shower for about 15 minutes but there was no evidence of the rain, as once again, the course drained fantastically well; the course was relatively soft and there to be scored on.

On the 8th tee was Steph McEvoy, a former member of The Ladies' European Tour. Steph was doing a beat the pro challenge for all the amateurs in the field where the winner could bag themselves a golf holiday to Marrakech, all they had to do was get a hole in 1...simple! Steph hit a shot in front of every group and then the team would try to hit their ball closer and if they did then they would receive a sleeve of balls and a cap, even simpler! I'm sure the sight of a 25 year old brunette on the tee was enough to put some players off and this was especially the case in Rob's team when all 3 amateurs fluffed their lines...apart from Rob who knocked it into within 3 feet for a tap in 2.

Once everybody was in and while the PGA collected and verified the scores, all the players sat down to enjoy a beautifully prepared carvery dinner from Jackie & Bernie complete with some mouth-watering desserts, well done & thankyou for great meal! Before we got to the final prizegiving MC Robin Packer took over the microphone to get the annual auction underway and once again he didn't fail to impress, selling fourball vouchers at Royal Wimbledon, London Club, Wildernesse Golf Club and Worthing Golf Club in excess of £1200. That only left 1 more thing; prizegiving...

The winning team for the 2016 R&CPGC Pro-Am was Zane Scotland's team consisting of Bernie Scotland, Daisy Kenny & Demis Farley who returned home with a fantastic score on 17 under par which, considering they had to take 2 out of 4 scores meant that they had at least 1 birdie and a par on most of the holes. Now, we don't normally announce 3rd place but I feel it needs a mention because they were the clear favourites and deserved winners so well done to Mark Powell, Anthony Harwood, Stuart Thomsitt and their Professional who I won't name but let's just say he's highly skilled... do you know who it is yet?

  

Unfortunately it wasn't to be the fairy-tale ending for Zane Scotland, winning the team and individual events for the second year running. Although he did put in a fantastic effort by shooting a superb 4 under par it was only good enough for a share of second place because Adam Wootton fired in a fantastic 5 under par, 66. Adam's round consisted of a 4 under par front 9 and a steadier yet still impressive back 9 of 1 under par, he had 5 birdies and 13 pars, and not a single dropped shot which is a very good round of golf, well done Adam!


 

The 145th Open Championship starts next week and so to celebrate the best major championship we have gone Open mad! Firstly, we have the sweepstake in which you have to pick 4 players from 4 different brackets based on the Official World Golf Rankings 1-25. 26-50, 50-75 & +76. It's very similar to our Masters sweepstake where we combine the scores and the person with the lowest score takes the spoils!

Please enter via ProShop or follow the link here.

 

The discount balloons are back as well, for just 1 weekend members can get up to 50% OFF any purchase made on either Saturday 16th July or Sunday 17th July. All you have to do is pop any balloon of your choice and whatever discount is inside you will get off your purchase.

Finally, the 1 you've all been waiting for...the best putter in the club! Just in case he hasn't told you, Terry Watts successfully defended his crown last year by lagging a long snaky putt from one side of the putting green to the other, he came under immense pressure last year but rose to the challenge to take victory in a play-off. So do you have what it takes to knock Terry off his throne? Then why not come along on Sunday 17th July between 9:30am and 12: 30pm to give it a go?


 

Balcony Opening

After weeks of waiting, the balcony was finally finished and in time for the Grand Opening last Saturday. It was fantastic to see that 100, if not more, members turned up to celebrate the new addition to the clubhouse. The 'Shake Up' Swindle wasted no time in putting the balcony to good use on Sunday by adding pressure to those trying to close their round out on the 18th; whilst giving some light-hearted stick. 

  

 

Bursary Day

There was another fun competition last weekend, The Yellow Ball Bursary Day where the proceeds are put into a pot for Young Golfers. The pot is designed to support young golfer's future progress by funding travel or tournament entries. Members teamed up into 4's in the hope the pressure of the yellow ball wouldn't get to them, the teams had to take the 2 best scores on the hole and 1 of which had to be the yellow ball. There was also a prize for the team that returned the best score with the yellow ball. Picking up the team prize were Martin Pegg, Graham Dunnachie, Ian Grant & Ray Gardner and the winners of the yellow ball score were Neil Higgins, Steve Diprose, Alan Young & Mike Davis.