A massive thank you to my Team John Heaton, Andy Bytheway and Andy Addison for an amazing week at the Pro Am last week in Sawgrass.
We arrived in time to watch the last days play in the Players Championship and witness close up some of the magnificent golf played by Rickie Fowler in winning, and then got the opportunity to play the same course with all the grandstands still in place.
We played 6 days golf over 5 courses; Stadium and Valley at Sawgrass, the King and Bear and Slammer and Squire at World Golf village and the Ponte Vedra Inn. The boys all played well and we finished as the 4th placed Team and I was 8th in the Pro prizes.
The highlight was being the winning team on day 3 at the King and Bear where I shot a 1 under par 71 and the team was 14 under par.
And yes I did hit the 17th Green! We played the Stadium course twice and it was quite breezy both times which made it difficult, but I hit two nice shots on 17 both to around 15 ft and made a couple of easy 3's which is better than a lot of the other holes!
No matter how easy Rickie Fowler made the course look I can assure you it is one of the most difficult courses I have ever played.
On one of the nights the Tournament organisers John and Alison Hooper organised an island green challenge which was played from the poolside bar out to a floating green in the lake about 75 yards away and 6 feet wide.
Each competitor got 6 balls and if you hit the green you progressed through to the final. John, Andy A and myself were amongst the 15 finalists who all managed to hit the target, which was getting increasingly more difficult the more beers were drank.
In the pictures you will see the magnificent Clubhouse and our Team photo on the 1st tee.
John playing from the 18th Tee and hitting a superb 3 wood right down the middle. Andy Addison playing the difficult par 3 13th and Andy B missing the 17th island green and finding the only bit of dry land over the green on the walkway but facing a rather daunting chip back towards the water.
All in all a fantastic week in great company and I must mention Andy Addison's play in the 2nd round where he produced 7 Birdies!! Awesome!
Golf Trick Show
I hope all of you enjoyed the Golf Show on Sunday with my friend Paul Barrington who is a 2 time long Drive Champion and World Trick Golf Champion.
From the feedback I have received it sounds like a great day and I am sure one that Ian Shaw won't forget after getting involved in one of the Tricks which involved Ian lying on his back and Paul hitting golf balls from between Ian's legs!!!
Congratulations to Paul Maloney who has been coming into form recently on winning the Pigot Trophy with a 76-10-66.
Also to Bill Phillips who has hit some form with his New set of Callaway Big Bertha irons finishing 3rd in the Pigot and then winning the Senior stableford on Tuesday with 38 points.
Well done to Ann Garner on winning the Summer stroke on the 6th May and to Trish Mawdsley on a level par gross back 9 yesterday to complete back to back wins in the Monthly medal and Ann Hitchen Trophy.
Ashton Pro Am
Our 16th Annual Pro Am is on Tuesday, 7 July and if you would like to play or enter a Team please get in touch soon.
This is a fantastic opportunity for any golfers to play alongside a PGA Professional and also compete for a fantastic amateur prize table.
Pay us a visit in the pro shop, or click here to get in touch if you are interested.