CVGS Open 2018 As I arrived at the club I wasn’t the first. Beaten by Alex Henderson and David Haynes already on a mission to get the refreshment tent transported and put in place. Dave Abbot was soon there and helping to put all the ‘goody’ bags into the registration area where the registration ladies could easily give them out. The raffle ticket sales were all organized and almost immediately the team from Chestnut Tree House arrived with banners, pens, collection boxes etc. Almost without effort everything began to come together, and the players started to arrive and register. There was a real buzz around the club. The newly appointed kitchen was doing a good trade in coffees and bacon rolls and people were soon seen practicing in the nets or on the putting green. As current Captain and defending champion I had been given the undoubted privilege of teeing off first. My playing partners, Trevor Varri (Emirates) and Michael Murray (Nevill) graciously allowed me to tee off and thankfully my first strike of the ball sailed off into the distance down the middle of the fairway. I didn’t know it at the time, but this was to set the standard for my play over the whole 18 holes. As the three of us walked over the brow of the hill the first green came into view and drew immediate comments of amazement from my fellow playing partners. ‘We’ve not seen better looking greens for many months’ was a phrase I was to hear time and again over the next 4 hours. This was a very ‘feel proud’ moment for me and a great testament to the green staff at Cottesmore. As our group moved forward at quite a pace we soon found ourselves playing the 5th across the water. This prompted the next comment on our course – I’ve not seen a better start to an 18 hole course as you have here. It wasn’t long before we reached the refreshment tent situated on the junction of the 7th green 8th and 15th tees. Chestnut Tree House volunteers were serving a variety of cold drinks, cakes and savouries provided by Cottesmore ladies and some of the CVGS members. I’m absolutely sure that nobody will have gone hungry or thirsty. And so it went on. Reaching the 9th tee in a fraction less than 1 hr 40 minutes we had now caught up with the first group going off the 9th tee. Our play was bound to slow a bit as we were now in ‘traffic’ but we still completed our round in 4hrs 20 mins. Then it was then full steam ahead to the Black Swan. I must admit that my biggest worry had been how the staff at the Black Swan would cope with a constant dribble of ‘old men’ trying to remember what food they had ordered. However, they were fantastic. Food was ordered and served at the table within minutes. Nobody had to wait for their food and the quality was superb. Nearly 90 meals prepared and served over a 3 hour period and everyone happy. The scorecards were handed to our ‘expert team’ at the pub where all scores were properly checked, scrutinized and verified before being displayed on a leaderboard for all to see as they arrived at the pub. There were the inevitable hiccups, but Roger Birchmore, Dave Abbott and Nigel Tomsett did a remarkable job to ensure that the prize giving could start within minutes of the final groups cards being submitted With everyone in and the last people having ordered their food the prize giving got underway. It was a pleasure to be able to ask Jo from Chestnut Tree House to present the prizes. We won’t know the exact sums of money raised for a few days but the raffle raised in the region of £450 with another £150 or so coming from the ‘double your money’ challenge on the 7th hole. The winners are all detailed below. Congratulations to each and every one of them.
|