POWER IN THE PARK

Although it was still quite a cold morning the snow and frost had cleared leaving a dull and overcast day. However the golf was to be far from dull!. Steve, of course, had numerous phone calls to deal with first thing- being such a wheeler dealer. It wasn't his business contacts calling him -  it was those too scared to cope with the extensive competition on the day. And what a group of contestants they were. Pete Jones took the picture, as he didn't want to be recognised by all his mates - he has a reputation to think of.

Of course the competition had to have a pathfinder or pace maker to lay down a gauntlet to the others and who should it be on the 1st tee to do that - No not Steve Saunders, Paul Maxwell or Garry Smith! It was me - even I couldn't believe my first shot. About 10 feet from the pin and good enough to steal the 1st hole prize of a pack of balls.

Of course Steve and Pete by now were very worried. I was in their group - even though they appealed against it. However, I was back to normal on next hole with a no score.

This winter competition also has its funny moments. Rudi attended again in his Reindeer suit. At least he was able to be seen late on when it became quite dark and he had no fear of Santa catching up with him as he had already delivered all the presents. However some teenager in a hoodie caught up with him to give an early letter to Santa for 2010.

Of course some of the shots were amusing and possibly frightening. Chris Miles decided to drive his ball against the bin and managed to miss everyone in the process when it went 30 yards backwards. Chris receive a Golf Cap from Steve for his exploits. He did however manage to complete a 25 feet putt to win the longest putt award too.

John Sturgess managed to collect his favourite honour - player scoring the most shots - 147. He must own this award after the amount of times he has won it! We mustn't be cheeky though as John does have a gift in that he can find balls better than most. Plenty of practice. I witness this on the 17th when last summer competition winner Garry Smith lost his ball - John was quickly on the scene to help.

The longest drive was to be the 18th hole. Steve drove an outstanding shot which looked to be the winner. However two players were to beat this and the eventual winner of the award went to Paul Maxwell.
Paul, a previous winner of the overall competition drove a magnificent drive to take the longest drive trophy. Paul can be seen on the left completing this stroke which won the award.

For all you would be golfers - Please note how the weight has been transferred to the front foot. Unlike Jason who moves weight to the back foot and Craig who doesn't appear to transfer weight anywhere. However Craig had plenty of practice taking 145 shots on the day.

Sam Ogles needs no lessons - Sam won the overall competition prize with 40 points. He beat Dad (Malcolm) who tied for second place along with Wayne Thomas with 36 points. Dad will have words later!

Sam also won the Nearest the Pin competition on the 12th Hole. Wayne captured the prize for the nearest the pin on the 5th Hole.

Steve, our excellent organiser for this event not only deserves a special mention for planning and running this event but also for his fantastic and awesome pitch into the hole on the 1st. Thanks for another great day