Early morning pie
The annual Pork Pie Open at Melton Mowbray Golf Club, very generously sponsored by Dickinson & Morris, took place on Sunday – a day which started coolly and turned into a baking hot scorcher. This event is now in its 23rd year and a full field of 220 competitors entered. The greens staff had been out early that morning preparing the course for this very prestigious event and they did not let anyone down as the course was in superb condition. The ladies worked hard in both the club house and halfway house to accommodate the vast numbers.
The first competitors were on the scene for 6.30am and the last teed off at 3.30pm, making the day long and fruitful. Be thankful that you were not the huge pork pie placed in the middle of the first fairway as a target for Nearest the Pie. If it had not been properly baked before, it certainly was at the end of the day with temperatures reaching a sizzling 26 degrees.
The golfers came from within MMGC and from far and wide for this event and the excellent weather set the scene for some brilliant golf, with some of the attire also needing an extra pair of sunglasses!
The ladies also took up the position of starter on the first tee and explained all the rules of the competition to the competitors. The prize giving ceremony followed speeches by MMGC Captain Glenn Price and Stephen Hallam of Dickinson & Morris.The outcome was very close for the winning 10 pairs, with only 2 points separating them all.
The winners on the day were:
Nearest Pin Par 3 5th Club Vice Captain Gerry Stephens – Ping Shirt
Nearest Pin par 3 7th Jack Marr Priors Hall GC – Umbrella
Nearest Pin par 3 14th Rob Newton Trent Lock GC – Umbrella
Nearest Pin Par 3 16th James Hadley Beedles Lake – Umbrella
Nearest the Pork Pie on the 1st Mike Quarterman – A very Large Pork Pie
Longest Drive Par 5 11th Tom Westbury – Scraptoft
10th Position G Bruce Woolaton Park and B Cooper Belton Woods 41 points (OCB) – Hunt Cake
9th Position A Kind and G Chauhan Beedles Lake 41 points – Stilton (OCB) – Cheese
8th Bev Blake and Andy Blunt MMGC 41 points (OCB) – Srixon Balls
7th M Farrow and C Vose MMGC 42 points – Golf Shirt
6th Geoff Townsend and Ian Townsend MMGC 42 points (OCB) – Golf Overshirt
5th K Briggs and C Briggs Lingdale 42 points (OCB) – Putters
4th Colin Kitchen and Gary Kitchen MMGC 42 points (OCB) – Hampers
3rd G Pike and M Carter Sth Chesterfield 42 points (OCB) – Golf Shoes
2nd Brendon Boyce and John Webb MMGC 43 points Wedges
1st Danny Raven MMGC and Tom Westbury Scraptoft 43 points (OCB) – Golf Bags
Congratulations to all who took part and thanks to all workers and helpers before and during the day.
Putting out on the 9th
Winners Danny Raven and Tom Westbury, with Stephen Hallam of Dickinson & Morris and Club Captain Glenn Price
Stalwart welcoming committee – Shirley and Margaret