Peter Jackson celebrating his hole-in-one
I had long wished to organise a golf day, and after adopting our charity, The Pickering Drop in Centre, I had the perfect motivation to do so.
We decided to hold the day in the middle of Kent at the Kings Hill Golf Club. I was superbly supported by the Perrys team of Caroline Goodsell and Emma Palmer, who both put a huge amount of effort into ensuring that the day went smoothly.
We were supported by 14 teams who arrived at the club to the forecast of gale force winds and rains of biblical magnitude. The golfers were optimistic and in good spirits however, and this positive mood seemed to help as although we had to cope with strong winds, the predicted heavy downpours were completely avoided.
The winds and thick rough did prove challenging, with numerous balls being donated to the surroundings, nevertheless a good time was had by all.
To top off the day, the Café Du Monde team reported that one of their members, Peter Jackson, had achieved a hole in one on the 17th hole, a rare event and the perfect way to finish such a special day. It was a shame that it didn’t happen on the 11th hole which would have resulted in Peter winning a brand new £15,000 Ford Fiesta – many thanks to Haynes of Maidstone for supplying the car.
The day ended with a well earned three course meal, followed by enthusiastic bidding on an assortment of auction items. Raffle tickets were purchased, the timings of the goals in the England v Sweden match were bet upon, and finally everyone joined in a ‘top and tails’ competition fronted by Polly from the Pickering Centre.
My congratulations to the Newmans team who all won a brand new Callaway stand bag and my thanks go to the helpers on the day, Heather Broad, Leanne Burcher and Lizzie Pope who, alongside Caroline and Emma, ensured that everyone was booked in, organised, watered and fed during the day.
A mention should also be made of the England team who managed to beat Sweden 3-2 and entertained around half the golfers who stayed behind at the club to watch the game and again topped off the day perfectly.
Finally, of course, my sincere thanks go to all those who took part and who together made the day so memorable and such a success in raising funds for the Charity. I will update the blog with the final amount raised once all the funds have been banked and reconciled. I have been asked by most who took part when the 2013 golf day will be held, so we will be getting a date in the diary very shortly!
We have a few auction items unsold after the day so please contact Caroline or Emma at Tunbridge Wells on 01892 543900 and they can supply the details should you wish to support the event further.
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