Whitings Golf Day 2023

The annual Whitings Golf Day took place on Friday 22 September at Pidley Golf Club.

At the start of the week, the weather forecast did not look too appealing, however, the weather held out for us and could only be described as, in the words of U2, a ‘beautiful day’. We had a great turnout with 14 golfers in total covering all offices. Some making their debut, some being veterans of the event and probably due a couple of testimonials.

We kicked off the morning with the individual competition where the stakes are high and possibly the only competition where coming second place is the real winner, avoiding the delight of having to organise the following years Golf Day. So, amidst the great golf, the poor golf and the majority of golf somewhere in between, there can only be one winner and our winner for 2023 was… Scott Bishop, who scored an impressive 39 points going one step further than last year after coming second to yours truly (had to squeeze that in). Scott will now enjoy minimal desk space for the next year but will have the pleasure of looking at his winning trophy and the company of the Whitings Golf Day teddy bear as we all know it can be lonely at the top.

2022 Whitings Golf Day Winner James Selby pictured with Scott Bishop winner of 2023 Whitings Golf Day.

In second place, putting in a great score of 37 points, especially playing off a low handicap of 8 was… Daniel Walker. If only Daniel avoided getting a ball stuck in a tree, the outcome may have been different. Other winners for the morning included Nearest the Pin, won by… Luke Crisp, and Longest Drive which was shared by… Adrian MacKenzie and James Gibson.

A highlight of the day was none other than Richard Alecock’s valiant attempt for the longest drive (pictured below) which went the grand distance of 1cm. Let’s just hope he manages to get further in the Peterborough half marathon in a couple of weeks.

Richard Alecock’s longest drive

In the afternoon, the usual Texas Scramble took place which allows everyone to chip in and make a difference in the better ball format. It was a close contest with two teams level at the end, but after a count back of the scorecards, the victorious team were Richard Franks, Luke Crisp, Ben Burtenshaw and Nick Edgley pipping Richard Alecock, Matthew Kerling, James Selby and Robert Smith which means Richard retains the title for a consecutive year and Richard Alecock’s 190 yard approach shot followed by a 30 foot putt (which he does not like to talk about) was all for nothing.

So again, it was a great day had by all and well done to all prize winners and of course everyone that took part. Roll on next year, courtesy of our new winner, Scott Bishop.