Brin the Welsh wizard at Berkhamsted
On a foggy morning, our Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Swingers congregated for one last time during a memorable season of society days. The setting this time was Berkhamsted Golf Club in Hertfordshire, a prestigious, picturesque heathland course which uniquely has no bunkers. We expected scoring to be good and our Swingers did not disappoint.
Going out in the last group were four Swingers (Jason Martin, Steve Glennon, Rebecca Gray and Andrew Gray) who arguably had the best chance of chasing down Luke Eustace in the aggregate competition for the first Team Europe spot at our S14 Final. There were plenty of nerves on the first tee! It was fantastic to welcome back so many regulars as well as three of our overseas Swingers - Andrew Lyth from Texas, and Africa's Matt Carrett and Scott Murray who have both recently moved back to the UK from Botswana.
Out on the course, big hitting Roger Harpum scooped up another Longest Drive prize winning some Srixon balls, whilst Nearest the Pin and more Srixon balls went to James Hewson.
In the main individual competition, no less than 13 players equalled par or better with Morag Hutcheon finishing sixth with 39pts. I doubt there will be many competitions Morag plays where 39pts only gets sixth place! Morag won a Trendy Golf cap and Srixon balls. In fifth place was Alan Todd, also on 39pts, winning Trendy Golf clothing. Fourth place, also on 39pts, was Martin Derrick winning more Trendy Golf clothing.
Andrew Gray came third with 40pts winning a Cleveland wedge and other prizes. Unfortunately for Andrew, with so many scoring so well, the CSS finished 2 under par, meaning he could not catch Luke at the top of the aggregate leaderboard. Second Place went to Gary Hankinson, with 40pts on the countback. Gary won a fabulous Stewart Golf R1 push trolley and umbrella. But our winner with 41pts was popular Welshman Brin Cox who not only won the day but put himself in a very good position to qualify for the finals from the leaderboard with just 4 days remaining! Well done Brin, who took home a SkyCaddie GPS watch, Dirty Dog sunglasses and a Srixon golf bag.
So completes another society day season. Thank you to everyone who has taken part in any of our days this year, and thank you for your amazing support. Thank you also to all our sponsors who have made this season so special. Congratulations to Luke Eustace, who subject to final checks, joins ROW's Clinton Heap as our first confirmed finalists.
With the season ending on Sunday, it's not long now until we find out the remaining 22 finalists, and there's no doubt that some of the performances at Berkhamsted have put a number of Swingers in a good position.
Good luck everyone and see you next season!
Aggregate Score Competition (Final Leaderboard - Top 6)
1. Luke Eustace 82pts 2. Andrew Gray 80pts 3. Ken Daly 79pts 4. Rebecca Gray 74pts T5. Martin Derrick 73pts T5. Steve Glennon 73pts