2018 Golf Day

On what turned out to be another decent day 40 golfers turned out for the 2018 LII Golf Day on 15^th June at Vicars Cross Golf Club.

The support of those companies who enter a team and allow their staff a day out of the office to attend is essential for this and thanks go to them.

Massive thanks to the sponsors of the Prizes too. Griffiths & Armour once again provided us with £50 of American Golf vouchers to be split amongst the winners. Zurich provided us with a dozen Titleist Pro V1 balls and Axa donated two dozen Callaway balls. This is most appreciated. We also have the new(ish) shiny trophy donated last year by MDIS.

After downing a coffee or two and a bacon roll it was time for the first group to tee off at noon. Once again the boys from Butterworth Spengler were resplendent in their matching gear, a move towards a more subdued navy blue was notable this time out.

We had some new support this year and so the turnout of our usual and much appreciated supporters of Griffiths & Armour, Questgates, Ship & Mitre, Axa, Zurich, Aldium, AJG, Butterwoth Spengler & MDIS was bolstered by a first appearance for Hiscox.

The weather looked gloomy early on and the forecast wasn’t amazing but we defied the weather Gods and had a dry round and even some sunshine at the end. The course was in superb condition and the greens were playing beautifully. It looked set to be a good day. I received some excellent feedback about the venue and a few commented that it was their favourite venue to date.

We had changed the format to “pairs betterball” and this seemed to work well and is in keeping with many “corporate” golf days that our distinguished guests no doubt attend! The cards were submitted and after watching the final groups negotiate the par 3 18^th whilst sat outside with a beer it was time for our food and the presentation.

After a tasty steak pie we had the presentation. The first prizes were the spot prizes. These were kindly sponsored by Axa and each winner received a dozen balls. The first prize of longest drive went to Andy Beaver who was playing with the Ship & Mitre and Mark Robinson of Butterworth Spengler won the matching nearest the pin prize. There were a tense few moments at the end when the putters were used as a rudimentary, but accepted, form of measurement that saw Paul Frost just miss out on the golf balls as he watched on in anguish from greenside.

Onto the big winners. In third place for the individual award was Martin Hawken of G&A, he was narrowly pipped to second place by yours truly (Tim Hayes of Aon) on the basis of a “countback”. Both scored a credible 37 points off a 90% handicap. Both golfers took a £10 American Golf Voucher and a sleeve of the Pro V1’s. The first prize of £30 vouchers and two sleeves of balls went to Lee Talbot of Axa who also takes home the glorious trophy. Hopefully he will get it engraved this year! A special mention must also go to Lee who managed to get news of his victory on social media before the profiteroles were even dished out!

The Team Prize was won by none other than Griffiths and Armour. They were also hampered by having a team of three and so Martin Hawken’s score counted for both of the other participants. It was Paul Frost that partnered him to victory for G&A with a winning score of 52 points, 8 more than the nearest team. A perfect display of how to “dovetail” in team golf.

Each entry fee included a £2 donation to the Insurance Charities and so the day raised a creditable £80.

I must also thank my employers Aon for allowing me the time to organise and attend the event and also to Questgates for giving me a place on their team and allowing me to compete.

So a final thanks to you all for your continued support, to your employers for their generosity of time and money, to our sponsors Griffiths and Armour, Axa and Zurich for their generous donations and also to everyone at Vicars Cross GC who helped make this another successful day.

As stated this was my last year running this event and I think it was the sixth time I have done so. I would like to extend my thanks to everyone who supports the event via participation, sponsorship or in the background. I have massively enjoyed my time at the helm and am sure that Gary Brabander at AJG will fit in nicely and enjoy more success in the role.

It’s been emotional!!!