Charity Day 2005

Sunday July 10th was the day of the Charity event at Wexham Park. Members will know that the charity this year was two-fold. The main effort was to raise money for The Shooting Star Children’s Hospice but with £1,000 of the money raised going to the Children’s Ward at Wexham Park Hospital.

Golf Competitions

It was a warm and sunny day, with a record 37 teams entering the 4-ball Texas Scramble. The start time was moved back to 9 am from 10 am to accommodate them all. There were many additional competitions including putting, chipping, beat the Pro (John Kennedy or Daniel Rees) on the 5th, longest drive and nearest the pin on each of the par threes. The Lady Captain did beat the Pro (JK) on the fifth by getting nearer the pin. Longest drive was not part of the Scramble but was a separate competition using the first fairway. This meant that, provided you pay £1 each time, you could have as many tries as you wished. A miniature paddling pool was set on the back part of the practice green for chipping into.

The afternoon concluded with a Putting Challenge. John Kennedy, Sue Carroll and Jeff Hazelgrove were to play the first hole USING ONLY A PUTTER. For £1 one could guess the number of strokes, both individually and collectively, they would take. The person who guessed correctly won a TV. It was great fun to watch and attracted a lot of guesses. The result was – JK (5), SC (7), JH (7), total = 19.

Activities

A barbecue was available and a stall selling goodies for the hospice was set up. Frank Jones, as usual did a great job as starter, fee-collector and raffle ticket seller. He sold £660 worth of tickets! Inside the clubhouse there were dozens of balloons filled with numbered tickets. For £2 you could burst a balloon and if lucky win a prize.

Fundraising

The course owner, Gill Lindsley, kindly donated the green fees for the day to the charity. The Hospice representative, Mike Hey, is himself a golfer, so he entered a team and was on hand at the end to receive a cheque for £5,300. Two of the nursing staff from the hospital came for the presentation and the donation of £1,000 was accepted by Ms Chris Chapman.

All in all a very successful and enjoyable day. Thanks are due to those ladies who entered a team in the competition, those who donated prizes and those who bought little Hospice souvenirs. You were all part of a good day’s work. Pat yourselves on the back.