40 golfers tee off to help raise £2,000 for Rotary Club causes
GOLFERS from as far afield as Durham, Lancashire and Yorkshire have helped Ashbourne Rotary Club raise around £2,000 during a day of competition.
The 11th Rotary Club of Ashbourne Annual Golf Day was held at Ashbourne Golf Club in Wyaston Road, and 24 teams of four turned up to compete for an array of prizes.
Among the players were 40 golfers from Ashbourne Golf Club and they took to the greens on a breezy but sunny day to club together for charity.
Rotarian Chris Hornblower acted as starter, beginning at 10am, and the first team to tee off were the Marshalls PLC team from Yorkshire who played very steadily to finish in fifth place.
The Ashbourne Club Captain for 2022, Barrie Ritchie, and his team of two men and two women teed off second and the last team left the tee at 2.30pm.
When the competitors had completed their round they were fed and watered by Pete Randall and his clubhouse team.
The eventual winners were three past captains of Ashbourne; Steve Hall, Peter Sutton and Tony East alongside newly-retired Ian Ward.
Their score of 98 points was thanks to the fact that they played the fifth and tenth holes, where all four scores counted, and it was this that kept them ahead of Ashbourne stalwart Les Birkett and his team of course manager Richard Walker, Simon Lockwood and Andy Rogers, who had 94 points.
In third place were another Ashbourne Golf Club team of Simon Knight, Andy Teece, Peter Long and
Tim Hesketh with 93 points and vicecaptain Peter Bembridge, Nick Prince, Simon Spencer and Anthony Bates were fourth with 90 points.
Three other teams, all with 89 points, took the last three places with seven team prizes up for grabs.
The event was sponsored by Avanti Jewellers, JCB, Lester Lowe, Cotton Traders, PKF Cooper Accountants and Fidler Taylor Estate Agents.
Winning captain Steve Hall, in receiving the first prize from Ashbourne Golf Club president Gill Lockwood, thanked the Rotary Club for organising the event and praised both Richard Walker and his staff for the condition of the course and the catering staff for the quality of the food.
Event organiser Rotarian John Griffiths said that he was delighted with the day which was on target to raise almost £2,000 – half of which will go to the Air Ambulance and the rest to smaller Rotary charities.
He also thanked all of the sponsors and fellow Rotarians who had donated prizes with special thanks to Avanti, JCB and Lester Lowe for their generous contributions.