On Monday, 17th June 2024, we held the 14th M S Golf Day at Handsworth Golf Club, which raised just under £5,000 on the day (there are still some donations to be collected) so we are hoping to reach our target of £5,000).
The event came about due to the effects of MS on Annette Austin. “In 2008, we raised over £10,000 to provide event organiser Ivan’s sister (Annette) with a wheelchair, as she had been told she would not walk again due to the effects of MS.
This created the drive to continue raising money for MS, and we started the M S Golf Day in 2009. Over the last 16 years we have held the event with your help we have now raised over £97,114 for MS.
Unfortunately, Annette passed away due to the effects of MS in August 2010. To celebrate her life, we now play for the Annette Austin Memorial Trophy.” Ivan Hutchings (Organiser).
Sixteen teams participate in the event, which was an alliance with two players to count on each hole. In addition to the main competition, there was a yellow ball competition, longest drive for all, longest drive for the ladies, as well as nearest the pin on all par 3s, a silent auction and a raffle.
Thanks to help from friends and local golf clubs, the total value of the prize pool was again over £5,000, so it was worth playing well. Following golf, it was then into the clubhouse for an indoor barbecue and prize giving.
It was all tight at the top, with Adler 2 pipping Hip Flasks Ahoy (both with 92 points) with a better back 9 (by way of reference, Adler 2 had ninety-two points last year and came 4th!). The top 5 teams’ winning scores were as follows;
Adler 2 92 points (back 9 – 46 pts)
Hip Flasks Ahoy 92 points (back 9 – 45 pts)
SGD 88 points (back 9 – 44 pts)
Himbleton Hackers 88 points (back 9 – 43 pts)
Swing n Stroll 88 points (back 9 – 42 pts)
The Yellow Ball scoring was fantastic with the results of this as follows:
Weapons of Grass Destruction 39 points
BRI 37 points
The Mrs & Her Pros 36 points
Nephew & Son 35 points
Winstons Warriors 33 points
The Weapons of Grass Destruction team consisted of Mathew Taylor, Luke Taylor, Nick Rex, and Lee Millard.
Individual prizes
It was an exceptional day for Robert Hutchings, who canned a pitching wedge on the 4th hole for the M S Golf Day’s first hole-in-one. A bottle of whisky was waiting on the bar for all to enjoy. Well done, Rob!
Rob celebrating his first ACE.
Nearest the pin 4th Robert Hutchings
Nearest the pin 6th Nick Rex
Nearest the pin 13th Adam Bott
Nearest the pin 17th David Smith
Longest drive – 3rd hole (ladies) Jennie Rattlidge
Longest drive – 18th hole (all) Steve Colley
Putting Competition – 15 Putts winning on a countback – Rick Allen
Ivan gave a short speech thanking everyone for attending and all the clubs that donated four balls for their support. These donations were crucial for the event to have been so successful. Please thank your clubs for their help.
He also thanked Jodie and the bar staff for keeping everyone well watered, Steve and his team for providing the food, Lee Bashford for the difficult job of marking the cards, and finally Gareth and his greens staff for the excellent presentation of the course.
Next year’s event is already booked for Monday 30th June 2025 so please put it in the diary, it will be a very special year as we should pass the £100,000 raised at the event.
