Hole in One!

On Saturday 3rd September I hit my 3rd hole in one. Here are all my hole in one balls.

British Airways Pairs Championship

It was a good way to mark the first day of September - an invite to the British Airways Pairs Championship at The Mere Golf & Country Club in Cheshire.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Pairs Championship, this is a brand new event for 2011, with some of the finest courses in the UK hosting the qualifying events before the winners jet off to the Bahamas for the final!

The event is a four-ball better ball competition off full handicap which means you both play your own ball and take the best net score on each hole to tally up a final stableford points total.

Being a one handicap golfer, I assumed I needed to pull in a ringer with plenty of shots for maximum chances of winning. After reading through all applications Sky Bet's golf manager John Rhodes got the nod as his 11 handicap meant we had plenty of shots to play with around the Cheshire course.

We arrived bright and early at this picturesque setting and it was obvious why so many footballers and celebrities visit the Mere on a regular basis.

After checking in we sat down to breakfast and looked through the course planner to see which holes we classed as the hardest and our complimentary goody bag which consisted of a Cleveland shoe bag, cap, towel, pitch repairer, ball marker and a dozen Srixon golf balls.

Next it was down to the driving range for a type of warm-up I hadn't experienced before - playing shots off a raised platform into a lake! As it was quite early in the morning I actually felt like I was going to either fall off the ledge or throw my club straight into the lake itself!

After our warm-up and a sly check of the European Tour scores on our phones it was to the first tee where we met Sky Sports competition winners Tony and Roger Roberts. A small crowd gathered and our names were called out one by one by the announcer to start our round. Yes I was first on the tee and after swinging with my eyes closed I actually hit possibly my best drive of the day straight down the middle of the par 5 first hole.

A birdie to start plus a 40-foot putt for a two on the third by John set us on our way and after a few up and downs on the next few holes we made our way to the 8th where there was a nearest-the-hole challenge. I flushed a 7-iron to around seven feet but it wasn't enough as the eventual winner finished just a couple inches from a hole in one! Still another birdie sent us on the way to the 9th hole where a longest drive competition was held. I was actually leading this after knocking it just a few yards past the previous attempt but the guys behind us looked like handy players and after hearing the smash from the tee I looked back to see a ball 20 yards past my attempt. Thwarted again!

After the 9th hole where John's eagle attempt had just lipped out we had accumulated 22 points which equated to four-under par. We were pleased with our efforts and high in confidence ahead of the second nine.

Unfortunately we couldn't match our front 9 and after John lost a ball on the last hole (a reachable in two par 5) we saw our hopes of winning a prize dashed. When our scores were totted up we'd finished on 41 points (5 under par) which was good enough for sixth place.

After the golf we were treated to an excellent buffet meal and the prize presentation. Winners on the day, with 47 points, were a couple of fellas from York playing off handicaps of 5 and 18. In their speech they spoke of never entering anything like this before and coming down for the day for a "bit of fun".

The guys will now jet off to the Bahamas for the final and good luck to them. I just hope they wear masks next time!!

All in all it was a fantastic day on a golf course which is surrounded by some of the most beautiful homes I have ever seen up close. If you get a chance to enter the 2012 Pairs Championship I can guarantee you'll have a great day and if you're lucky enough you could win one of the prizes!

Thanks to Roger Wolfe from Yumax for the invitation. Much appreciated.