On Saturday our captains' John Kendall and Liz De Bay hosted their charity day on the common in support of Young Minds. Things weren't quite the same this year with Covid restrictions limiting what we could do. The day went ahead with limited numbers, social distancing, no auction and most upsetting of all... no Karaoke (I was really looking forward to our Captains' duet!). Neverthenonetheless we had a fantastic day! The weather stayed fair despite the ominous forecast and everyone was in good spirits, I'm sure just grateful that the event could go ahead!

The winners on the day, with a magnificent 51 points were Chris Hutber and Jez Warren. From what I've heard Chris did most of the scoring although I must hand it to Jez as he did do most of the drinking afterwards! Special mention to Brian Jackson and Andrew Copeman who were long time clubhouse leaders with 49 points.

The straightest drive, which was on the 6th hole, was won by Denis Lenihan, who's tee shot actually came to rest on the white line!! How anyone can hit it that straight off the tee is beyond me!

Nearest to the pin in 2 on the 9th hole was hotly contested! A few people had Eagle putts narrowly miss the hole (myself included) but John Harrington deservedly claimed the prize, holing out for an eagle two from just off the green!

The ladies longest drive, which took place on the 15th hole, was won by our very own chair of handicap Jo Elder!

Nearest to the pin on 16th was another hotly contested prize! Andrew Copeman laid down the gauntlet early on with a magnificent shot to about 3 feet but the man in form on the day, Chris Hutber, went one better hitting a magnificent shot that couldn't have been far away from a hole-in-one (there were no hole-in-one prizes this year so I'm sure Chris was just saving it for next year!)

The Men's longest drive was of course won by... me, pipping Justin Shore to it and just about withstanding the challenge of Martin Finn. Poor Ben Turner was so confident he could out-drive me but he buckled under the weight of expectation and smashed his tee shot straight into the trees. Learn to hit a fade Ben and you might fare better next year!

Let's not forget the raffle the highlight of which was Martin Finn, the current club champion and lowest handicapper in the club, winning a putting lesson with our pro Charlie! Other prizes included fourball vouchers at Clandon Regis GC, North Downs GC, Horne Park GC and here at WCGC plus a bottle of Haymans gin (thanks Justin Shore for donating), a meal for 4 at the Crooked Billet and oven cleaning vouchers courtesy of Gordon Tibos!

The fish and chips provided by Paddy's were a real hit! I think we can all agree that it was a great idea from our Lady Captain to get them to cater for us.

Massive thanks to Emma and our Captain's for doing such a good job organising the day. Thank you also to our volunteer helpers Brian Cox, Peter Thompson and Carole Munn. Lastly, thank you to everyone for participating and supporting our Captains' Charity, Young Minds. We raised over £2000 on the day which is a fantastic effort.

See you next year!

Jack