South Cliff Golf Club Captain, Gary Dixon, celebrated the start of his year yesterday with the traditional Captain’s Drive-In, a better-ball Stableford competition played off the white tees. A wet course and strong winds made scoring difficult.
It took a back 7 hole count back to decide the winners, Steve Deighton and Andrew Earle pipping Paul Pennock and Keith Mount to first place.
With a shotgun start all players finished together and were treated by the captain to a chille and chips lunch, followed by the highlight of the day, the Captain’s Drive-In.
A large crowd watched as Gary drove off from the first tee with a vintage Persimmon Driver, a club in popular use over 50 years ago. All players had previously marked where they thought his drive would finish and despite the pressure Gary hit the ball sweetly a full 220 yards straight into the pond!. This left lucky member Dave Dowie winning the prize as the person who had marked the correct spot.
A full clubhouse and a very good lunch made it a great start to the year for the new captain.
Full results below.

1st S.Deighton & A.Earle 39pts
2nd P.Pennock & K.Mount 39pts
3rd S.Milburn & A.Yates 38pts

Nearest pin 3rd hole I.Wright
Nearest pin 14th hole S.Milburn
Nearest in 2 on 9th hole A.Noble
Nearest pin in 2 on 12th hole S.Milburn