Clearly enough people crossed their fingers and hoped for better weather than last year as thankfully the memories of 2016 – or what is now referred to as “The Year of the Rains” – were soon banished and we were treated to warm sunshine and pink faces once more.
After everyone had had their fill of coffee and bacon baguettes the shotgun sounded at 1pm sharp and the good turn-out ensured tee offs on 17 out of the 18 holes.
The halfway house, instead of being welcome shelter from a downpour was a much needed pit-stop where the jugs of Pimms went down extremely well and of course the fruit content counted towards everyone’s 5 a day!
 
The course played beautifully laying testament to the green keepers at Greetham and after all 18 holes had been played, or at least attempted a few well deserved pints were consumed.
 
Dinner in the Rutland Suite was, as always, met with friendly chat and catching up over a delicious 3-course meal and a couple of glasses of wine. Les, although warned by his good lady wife not to cross the line with his jokes, didn’t let the side down and delivered some classic material.
 
This year’s chosen charity was Sightsavers, a wonderful charity that helps to restore and save the sight of millions of people – particularly in third world countries – giving those they help a real chance in life and giving them access to treatment they would otherwise have no way of gaining access to.
 
Rob King, the charity representative was absolutely delighted to receive a cheque on the night totalling £3,713.00. And due to further donations made later on, in particular an incredibly generous additional £500.00 donation from Plasto-Sac, the revised grand total for Sightsavers this year was £4,273.00 – a truly impressive and hugely appreciated amount of money.

Sincere thanks to all who donated and of course a big thank you for the continued support of those companies who sponsor the event, namely:
Caps Cases, Goglio, Pallet Network Anglia, DR Wakefield, Floryn, Saffron Insurance, MHA MacIntyre Hudson, RGS Labels, Maxilla Packaging, HSBC Bank, Plasto-Sac, Lotus Bakeries, Schluter, InterAmerican Coffee, Complete Coffee, Quest Employment & Lindum Group.

The time then came for our ever present Master of Ceremonies, Dennis “Big Mac” MacNamara to step up and reveal the winners (and losers) of the day.

For the men:
It was a closely run contest with the first two places being decided on count back resulting in a fantastic win for John Harrison from Select Coffee Services. 2nd place went to Daniel Graham from Birchall Tea and 3rd place, again decided on count back went to Don Wiid from CRM Insights.
 
For the ladies:
1st and 2nd places for the ladies were also decided on count back with Dee Hinch of Greetham Valley clinching the top spot, Julie Lightowler from Select Coffee Services coming in 2nd and Masteroast’s own Eve Mills taking 3rd place.
 
Team Prize
The team prize went to Team 12 with a finishing score of 90 points. Congratulations to Stuart Manning from MHA MacIntyre Hudson, Don Wiid from CRM Insights, Neil Hoskins from Barclays Bank and Martin Herson from Buckles Solicitors.
 
The birdie prize was decided in the most traditional way – by flipping a coin – and was won by Engelhart’s Matthew Mills. The booby prize went to a seemingly very popular loser – Masteroast’s Alex Dalton.

And so another enjoyable golf day came to an end. We look forward to seeing you all again very soon.