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Over the last week we have been watching the Government’s updates with bated breath, praying that new restrictions put in place wouldn’t affect our Golf Day, after all the months of planning. We have also been checking the weather app and purchasing umbrellas for what was looking like being a very rainy day… but thankfully the stars aligned, and our first ever Charity Golf Day was able to take place AND we had beautiful blue skies and sun for most of the day!
It was such a fantastic day, made possible by a touch of good luck, but mostly thanks to 19 wonderful teams who took part, the Bush Hill Park Golf Club, our sponsors KSL Capital Partners, Newland Construction, Les Hotels D’en Haut, Rimex Metals UK, London Stock Exchange Ski Club, Meriski Free Spirit Alpine and Tindle Wealth. A special mention also to volunteers Carol and Paul Newland for huge amounts of work on prizes, planning and support on the day and to Billie Newland, chair at the Bush Hill Park Club, and the team at the Club who were so supportive to us throughout. Thank you.
Armed with a bespoke Golf polo shirt, a bacon buttie and a coffee, teams started teeing off from 9am at 10-minute intervals. Our wonderful Patron Jenny Jones was on hand to greet teams and see them off with a cheer. We had some hilarious team names including Grip It and Sip It, I Like Big Putts and I Cannot Lie and Talk Birdie To Me. Our friend Damon Hill also joined us as part of team Momentum Ski, who along with Amin Momen (Momentum), Ezra Nahome (LSH) and Jonny Bramley (BBC) showed some impressive driving!
Due to Covid restrictions, we couldn’t bring all teams together at any one point as we would in a normal event, but our Founder and Director Dan Charlish joined Jenny at the first tee and thanked and greeted every team as they began their round. He also borrowed a buggy from the Club and spent time with teams as they made their way through the 18 holes.
As part of the day, teams had the opportunity to put their skills to the test at an opening ‘Putting Challenge’ just outside the Clubhouse and also at a ‘Beat the Pro’ competition on the 13th against local pro Danny Hill. Teams also met up with two of our young people, Jack and Ebony, on the 7th who were serving ice cream as a thank you to everyone for coming, whilst on the 11th a helpful Sloe Gin Pit Stop galvanised teams for the remaining holes. Finally a prize draw feature on the 18th gave participants the chance to win some fantastic prizes playing our bespoke and covid friendly golf ball prize draw. Check out the awesome prizes below! Thank you to everyone who kindly donated prizes to support the day.
When teams had completed their round, drinks and a delicious two course lunch were provided in the club house dining room, overlooking the 18th hole, on a rotating basis to keep enough space between everyone. Participants also had the opportunity to bid in our silent auction for two amazing experiences. The first, courtesy of John and Jane Pickard, was for a round of golf for four people at the stunning Archerfield Links Golf Club. The second, generously donated by KSL Capital Partners, was for a wonderful two nights of Bed and Breakfast in one of the stunning manor suites at The Belfry, plus two rounds on the Brabazon and PGA National Course. Thank you to Christopher Kololian and Mark Middlebrook for your winning bids, we hope you have a wonderful time!
In this inaugural Golf Day teams were playing to win the Gregor Michie Memorial Trophy. Gregor was our wonderful Treasurer at Switch180 for many years, a keen golfer and friend. Gregor passed away in November 2018 after a long and brave battle with cancer, we miss him and are delighted to name the cup in his honour. Congratulations to our winners, the Chamonix Veterans, for an excellent round scoring 91 and winning the trophy. Team Captain John Holmes was delighted, as he was a lifelong friend of Gregor’s and actually introduced Gregor to the charity in 2012. Worthy winners indeed. Sadly, with no awards ceremony allowed to close the event, and with our rolling system meaning teams arrived and departed at staggered times throughout the day, we were not able to present the winning team with the cup on site – but we will get the trophy to them, and here are the winners with Jenny Jones before teeing off on the day.
Here are the full results (using the countback system where there was a tie). Huge well done to everyone for taking part!
At its heart, the event was about raising money for our essential work supporting young people. During the Covid-19 pandemic, our mental health work has become more important than ever before. The impact of Covid-19 and the resulting lockdown have serious implications for the mental health of young people. From bereavement to job losses, to loneliness and relationship breakdown, the psychological strains caused by Covid-19 has intensified the need of our work. Thanks to the generous support and donations we have received through the Golf Day we will now be able to provide more young people with vital mental health support and training over the next few months. Thank you. If you would like to donate to support our work further, we would be very grateful.
Dan Charlish said: “I’m just so pleased we were able to bring our supporters together and make this event happen under the current circumstances. Yes, we couldn’t run it exactly in the way we would have done normally, but we were able to put systems in place which we hope didn’t hinder the enjoyment of teams taking part, whilst also keeping everyone safe. And the weather rewarded our efforts! To run an event of this size safely in these times was a challenge, but with the wonderful team, young people and volunteers we were able to make it happen and we are so happy to have raised some much needed funds for our work.”
Thank you to our Golf Day sponsors:
If you’d like to sign up for next year’s event or to find out more about sponsorship options, please do get in touch. Many of yesterday’s teams have already committed to return next year, Damon Hill has already put his name down!
