SIXTY-EIGHT Vale Golf Club seniors gathered under very uncertain skies to witness the new captain’s drive-in to open his year in office.
Fortunately the weather broke and glorious sunshine set the tone for the day as Andy Jinks celebrated his captaincy in the customary manner, enjoying a tot of his favourite tipple on the tee before driving off the tenth tee with 60 members of the senior section eagerly watching to see if they guessed the correct distance – all thankful it was not their drive under scrutiny.
The assembled company walked to their allocated tee awaiting the hooter signal before starting a round of The Vale Scramble in teams of three or four.
Having finished the competition, a celebratory lunch was enjoyed and prizes were distributed to winners of last year’s competitions.
Prize-winners of this year’s The Vale Scramble were: 1st Gerry Clayton, Mike Hird, Tony Perfect and Graham Whitehead, 66.7; 2nd Ken Vincent, John Turner and Paul Stewart, 67; 3rd Mike Pickerel, Ed Reynolds and Mick Lewes, 67.6; 4th Rob Sharp, Patrick Staines, Rob Brownsdon and Keith Watson, 68.5.
Winner of choosing the nearest correct distance of the new captain’s Drive was Rob Sharp.
The John Mckeon Salver was presented to Steve Donovan by Yvonne Mckeon in memory of her late husband – a long-time member and past captain.
The 2017 captain Derek Lambert’s chosen charity Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA) was presented with a cheque for £4,311.60 on behalf of The Vale seniors section by Dianna Lambert to Dr Anita Sharma-Jones, regional organiser for Worcestershire MNDA.
The charity chosen by Andy Jinks for 2018 is St Richard’s Hospice.
It was agreed by all taking part that an enjoyable day was made all the better by the standard of the greens and thanks were given to course manager Mark Heath and his team for their hard work throughout the past extremely wet period.