Charity Golf Day - 15 August 1997

We arrived at 11.15 having driven up from Dorset on a beautiful Summer's day. Brocket Hall is quite select and electrically operated gates block the way to anyone without an invitation to enter.

We met Jane Herbert on the terraces and sat down with a coffee and gazed out across a lake and rolling gardens. The gardens were in fact part of the golf course and it soon became apparent that to finish up on the 18th green an expanse of water, some 100 odd yards wide, had to be navigated. In fact during the game this lake had to be crossed 4 times.

Mary Kovalcik arrived soon after laden down with bags of polo shirts and other items. The other guests arrived during the morning but no sign of Johnny.

Pete got changed in to his regulation "tailored shorts with knee length white socks" & blue shirt and went in search of the driving range. As it was getting very near tee off time and no sign yet of Johnny, Kevin Whately was asked to present the cheque to the representative of Sidney's Kidney Appeal.

At 14.00 the first players teed off. Pete was partnered with Kevin Whately, Eddie Nugent & Brian Howe. Kevin was the first to play and whilst addressing the ball he had to ignore the fact that the local press photographers were only yards away ready to take his photo as he hit the ball. Fortunately there interest was only in Kevin and when the other 3 teed up they could play their shots without distraction.

The course was a delight to play. The 2nd hole was a drive of some 191 yards across water to a green on the far side of the lake. Not one for the feint hearted. Still Pete was in good company as Kevin also failed to reach the far bank! Some of the fairways resembled a links course with narrow fairways and lots of bunkers to catch out the odd stray shot. Fortunately Kevin had recently played this course in a Sparks Charity match and remembered a lot of the hazards and was able to steer us in the right direction.

At the half way post, aptly named the Ice House where ice cold drinks were available, I decided that my roll as a caddy was over and left Pete and the others to play on whilst I went in search to find Jane, Mary and the other lady guests on the terraces. After I left their game went off some what. Eddie reckoned it was due to the beer but I prefer Kevin's notion that their mascot had deserted them!

Two hours later the last of the players were coming down the hill of the 18th fairway on the opposite side of the bank. Kevin's shot over the water resembled one of Barnes Wallis's bouncing bombs. It skipped across the water and landed on the green. Not all were as lucky as that and the level of the lake was raised slightly that afternoon! A novel feature of this particular hole is that players then take a small ferry across to the green and finish off.

After changing we all met on the terraces again before the evening meal under a darkening sky which brought with it a pleasant cool air.

News had at last filtered through that Johnny had been detained in Italy due to his testing commitments with the team. He was missed but work comes first and it is with that understanding that these events are held. None the less a great evening was had by everyone and a large sum of money was raised for the Sidney's Kidney Appeal. The evening was very informal with the celebrities mixing well between the guests. The Red Bull representative, Harry Drnec asked that everyone pledge to bring a playing partner with them next year to swell the numbers and he promised that Red Bull would ensure that Johnny will be present next year. (No Bull!!!)

I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Mary Kovalcik for all the hard work that she put into making this and past Charity Golf days happen and look forward to next year. To Red Bull for their generosity and good humour during the evening. Last but not least, to the Celebrities for joining our day and to Sidney's Kidney Appeal for the work they are funding in the fight against kidney disease.

Thank you to Fan Club member Carole Aisthorpe-Buckley for the above report
This page prepared 30th August 1997