CENTENARY CHARITY CHALLENGE RAISES £2,400 FOR OSWESTRY HOSPITAL

A 100-hole Charity Challenge held at Hawkstone Park to celebrate the Golf Club’s Centenary year has raised over £2,400 for The League of Friends of the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital.

The challenge to complete 100 holes consecutively started at 4.15 am and was completed at 8.00 pm.  It showcased top golfing talent associated with the club including European Tour Professional Ashley Chesters; international golf coach and former Tour Professional Michael Welch and reigning Club Champions, Rowly Jones and Molly Moore.

 Stuart Apperley, Rowly Jones, Ashley Chesters and Christine Apperley

Event organisers

Husband and wife Captains, Stuart and Christine Apperley, launched the event at sunrise on the Hawkstone Course, with the couple completing the first 18 holes in just 2½ hours.

Held across the Club’s two courses, players also included Club President Dale Benbow, Vice President Dave Greaves, Club Secretary Louisa Goff, multiple Club Champion and Senior Club Champion, Nigel Chesters; Junior Organiser Ian Balmforth and his son Max who is Junior Captain.

Funds Raised

Funds were raised by sponsorship and donations, and proceeds from a competition held for members to guess the cumulative score recorded across the 100 holes.  This was won by Mike Powell who got the closest to the total of 445.

Nigel Chesters and Michael Welch complete the 100th hole

Speaking about the success of the event, Christine Apperley said:

“This was such a fantastic and memorable Club day at Hawkstone Park and Stuart and I were absolutely overwhelmed by the support and generosity of Club members, friends and family.  The charity, The Friends of the Robert Jones an Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, is a very deserving local cause which is close to the hearts of many of us.

“A number of our Centenary celebratory events have had to be postponed or cancelled because of Covid-19 so it was great to be able to stage something really significant and also raise a large amount of money for the hospital too.

“We would like to thank the players who volunteered to join us and who represented all sections of the Golf Club and we were thrilled to have Ashley Chesters and Michael Welch joining in.  They were all great sports and along with the marshals and socially distanced followers, there was a real buzz around the club throughout the long day.

“We set ourselves a very tough challenge but to complete 100 holes in less than 16 hours was a real achievement.”

Hawkstone park

On behalf of The League of Friends

of the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, Heather Thomas-Bache said: “These are challenging times for us all, but right now we’re doing everything possible to continue to support the remarkable frontline hospital staff while also helping vulnerable patients and their families.

“As we’ve lost the ability to generate sustainable income streams overnight with the closure of our Coffee Shop and cancellation of upcoming fundraising events, this has severely impacted our financial resources. We want to do our best to continue to fundraise at a regional and local level, so we are able to continue to do this vital work.”

To find out about joining Hawkstone Park, contact the club on 01948 841775.