Tour of a lifetime to UK for golfers
GREY High staff members Gerrie Hills and Jason Bigara and 16 boys had the experience of a lifetime over the school holidays when they spent two weeks in the UK playing golf on 10 courses, of which five were championship courses.
However, the highlight of the tour was playing the St Andrews Links.
It was a long night for some of the boys whose names were not drawn in the ballot to play, and they waited in line from 11pm to put their names down to play if there were any available spaces the next day.
Fortunately all the boys got on to play, and it was a memorable experience for all of them playing at the Home of Golf.
Another of the many highlights was the final round of the tour, which was played at Musselburgh Links.
This is the oldest course in the world and has hosted six Open Championships. In true links style, all played with hickory clubs rented from the club.
The boys and staff got into the spirit of links golf as it was played by golfers during the early days and dressed accordingly. Team manager Bigara played in a kilt.
The Grey team played against three local teams, winning the three fixtures.
They played an invitational team arranged by King’s School Canterbury at Royal Prince’s GC, the course that hosted an Open Championship in 1932, winning by 6½ matches to 1½.
The Grey side beat Whitgift School in Croydon at The Addington Golf Club 257 points to 222, using the Stableford format. Whitgift beat them convincingly using a combined team Stableford format.
The Grey side managed a very close win at Formby GC against Royal Merchant Taylor’s School, winning by 5½ to 3½ matches.
The boys also played at Royal Liverpool in England and then moved to Scotland, playing at Royal Prestwick GC, Royal Troon, Kings Barns and The Castle, one of the six courses in and around the town of St Andrews.
The boys and staff got into the spirit of links golf as it was played during the early days. Team manager Jason Bigara even played in a kilt