This year’s Autumn Open was held at Richmond Park Golf Course on Saturday 15th October. Open to everyone, it was part of a series of events designed to shake up the traditional approach to golf tournaments.
Luke Rubra from Richmond Park Golf Course explains:
“We know that golf competitions can be daunting, especially for those that are new to golf. We created our Loyaltee™ Opens to make competitions user-friendly and open to all. An official club handicap isn’t required and the emphasis is on having fun, meeting new friends and enjoying true spirit of competition. It’s a truly open event.”
The event sold out within days and featured 72 players teeing it up on our Prince’s course in an 18-hole better ball competition. With course conditions at their best after a long summer drought, we were expecting a masterclass in golf from both our members and visitors and safe to say we were not disappointed!
Our competitors tee’d off in front of our beautiful clubhouse after a short warmup on the range and a generous helping of tea and coffee. The event included several mini challenges around the course ranging from a long drive to the closest to the pin with prizes to be won at each.
For those into the figures and statistics of golf, here is the low down for everyone’s performance on the day;
- This year’s event saw the hardest hole statistically coming out as hole number 8, with an average of 1.82 strokes over par. Closely followed by the Stroke Index number 1, 7th hole, at an average of 1.81 strokes over par.
- Somewhat surprisingly, the 226-yard par 3 13th hole only came in at an average of 1.55 strokes over par. Only 4 people were successful in hitting the green on the day, winning themselves a sleeve of golf balls, so I guess people’s short games were in somewhat fine form!
- The easiest hole of the day proved to be number 12, where the average over par was 0.78, and saw 2 birdies on the day. This was closely followed by the second easiest hole in the par 3 16th, where the average over par was 0.84 strokes.
We thought the par 5 9th hole would be the best opportunity for some longer hitters to be in for an eagle chance, but on the day, not 1 birdie was recorded here. The longest-drive winner came out at 310 yards, but par for that individual was the final result. The closest to come to a birdie, I’m sure.
And the final results…
1st Place came in with a total of 51 points! Some really great scoring by the pair, winning the prize of 2 Callaway Stand Bags.
2nd Place came in with a close 50 points, tied with 3rd place who were only bested due to a back 9 count back. They both won a case each of Callaway supersofts.
3rd Place finished with 50 points also, and were the proud winners of 2 Callaway Odyssey bobble hats, ready for the winter months.
To those who didn’t manage to get a spot in the Autumn Open, why not come try Richmond Park Golf Course for yourself? You’re just a click away: