Sunday 18th July saw the first Horsham FC Golf Day played out on the Kingfisher Course at Mannings Heath Golf Club. On a beautifully sunny, if a little windy, afternoon 16 would be golfers turned out to compete. A good blend of players, club staff, supporters and guests made up 4 interesting four-ball groups and commenced play early in the afternoon.

A trip to the driving range before teeing off warmed the players up and gave Ian Payne a chance to lose the sole of a golf shoe!! If nothing else, it was certainly going to be an interesting afternoon.

A mixture of handicaps and abilities meant there were some unique shots that followed through the afternoon and that some golfing bandits (Ben Andrews and Mark Zawadski) were only missing their masks as they played their way around the course with some excellent golf.

The first prize opportunity was at the short 5th, with the very first shot of the day remaining unbeaten throughout with Ben ‘The Bandit’ Andrews finishing about 6ft from the pin.

As play progressed it became very obvious as to who wasn’t going to win and that the winner was almost certain to come from either Ben or Mark, with a late surge from Jim Greenstead posing a threat.

As we reached the 15th hole for the longest drive competition, with Ben being favourite having driven a provisional ball 317 yards to the green with a three wood on the 11th, it was the unlikely Andi ‘Marvin’ Marfleet who scooped the prize with his penguin wing arms hitting an impressive drive to pip Mark Zawadski to the prize.

As the golf neared completion, Mark held a 1 point lead over Ben as they took to the 18th tee. Both hit another formidable drive down the fairway. Approach shots were a little messy but found the green leaving both a lengthy putt. Mark only had to two putt to become the winner. He sent a putt flying past the hole and Ben came up short to keep it interesting. Mark then seemed to lose his nerve a little and, with shaky legs, a tweeting bum and a touch of the yips managed to sink his 4th putt on the 18th to finish with a 6! Ben had left himself a ‘Maradona’ putt (nasty little 5 footer) to win. Ian reminded him of the difficulty of a Maradona as he drew the club back and he took the opportunity to step away and rename the shot an ‘Ian Payne’. Ben then superbly sunk the putt to become a worthy winner of the inaugural Horsham Golf Day, amassing an excellent 40 points throughout the day.

At the other end of the scale some interesting shots from John Lines meant that he walked away with the last place prize of a Training Aid, although with 18 points I think John should seek more assistance, possibly in the form of a magician rather than a golf lesson.

Following the golf the players enjoyed a BBQ on the sun terrace before the prize presentation and some drinks to conclude a thoroughly enjoyable day.