Picture special: Crowborough Beacon Golf Club captains stage special events

Lady captain Shelagh Black celebrated her year of captaincy with many lady members joining her for her Prize Day. With perfect weather and the course in amazing condition, the ladies played in teams of three. There was a red, white and blue theme with each hole having a different colour flag which indicated double points if you were allocated that colour.

The winners scoring 121 points were Penny Tyrrell, Jen Boakes and Fee Blackwell. Mary Bell, Clare Yonge and Sandra Snowling were the runners-up on 119 points and Ezzie Massey, Sue Pittman and Karen Harman were third with 116 points. The best front nine went to Ruby Woolley, Alma Turner and Jan Gibb, and the best back nine went to Helen Brown, Sharon Taylor and Claire Boucher.

Gill Baxter and Claire Boucher won nearest the pins. After the game all the ladies enjoyed a buffet lunch and prizegiving. More than 300 members joined captain Paul Black to play in his Captain’s Weekend. Five competitions took place with various formats and on all three days Paul supplied refreshments at the halfway house.

The first competition saw 48 members playing an individual Stableford format. Winner with an impressive 42 points was Peter Horwood. Just one point behind was Robert Hessey with 41, with Nicholas Bunston third on 39 points. Jan Gibb was the leading lady scoring 35 points. Louis Lewis had his first hole in one on the 136-yard third.

In the junior competition, 12 juniors played a Texas scramble in teams of four and despite drizzly conditions they were all full of enthusiasm. Winners were junior captain Lawrence Patten, Frankie Willingdale, Josh Proctor and Henry Maynard. The Captain treated them all to hamburgers and chips. Next day 134 members took to the fairways for the Captain’s Prize individual Stableford competition. The scores were high with 23 members scoring 40 points or more.

With an outstanding 48 points the winner was Neil Thorburn. There was a tie for second with Dave King, Dion Austin and Liam Boyles all scoring 44. King took the runners up spot on countback. Sue Pittman, Vicky McLean and Ruby Woolley all scored an impressive 40 points, but Sue took the leading lady prize with a better back nine.

Paul Kemp and Steve Tappenden won nearest the pins and Max Buckle hit the longest drive on the 18th. John Burke won the Past Captains Prize. The men’s Fourball Betterball Stableford had 26 pairs taking part. The winners with a score of 47 points were Theo Sprague and Rob Tidey. The final competition of the weekend was the Mixed Greensomes Stableford. Winners with 49 points were Allen and Fee Blackwell.

Following play, an afternoon tea was enjoyed by winners, members and guests after which the captain presented all the weekend prizes. More than £3,000 was raised for Cancer Research and Macmillan Nurses.