Last weekend was the last tournament of the playing season which determined whether you had your tour card for 2016 season or not. My news feed was full of old friends having a tense and nail biting Sunday afternoon. Ben Evans finally came to the end of his roller coaster season in Hong Kong with his tour card for 2016. The 28 year old started the week 118th position in the race to Dubai and need a top 10 finish to climb into the top 110 and secure his playing privileges for next year's campaign.
As he signed his card he was in tied eighth place, just inside the top ten he needed, but over the next anxious two and a half hours he slipped back to 11th, then back to tenth as his card hung in the balance.
"Any one of five players coming up the last could have dropped a shot and I would have been in but they all parred."
The last player on the course who could affect his position was Lahiri and there was a flicker of hope as the Indian, who has enjoyed a brilliant rookie season, found trouble. "He needed to get up and down to keep me out of the top ten and he did it."
Evans had finished with a highly credible share of 11th which moved him up seven places into 111th spot - just 1,007 points below Renato Paratore - but as he left the course to see the sights of Hong Kong with his Dad he knew he was one shy of keeping his card.
However, the thoughts of a return to the Qualifying School evaporated overnight with news that Brooks Koepka had withdrawn from the WGC - HSBC Champions and DP World Tour Championship, prompting the American's removal from the Race to Dubai for not playing the minimum requirement of 13 events. As a result, all those below him shifted up a position and Evans was elevated to 110th and safety.
"I woke up to a tweet from Chris Paisley, which said I had moved up to 110," explained Evans.
"I had no idea what was going on, checked the Tour website which had me at 110 but it wasn't until I had a call from David Park at the Tour that I had it confirmed," he said. "It was brilliant news and I can really plan for next year now. It's certainly been an extreme rollercoaster so I think I'll have a week off now."
But it was Justin Rose who lifted the trophy. He won his first European Tour title in 15 months, warding off a stubborn challenge from Lucas Bjerregaard of Denmark to win the Hong Kong Open by one shot.
The Englishman, who started the final round even with Bjerregaard on 15 under and a four-shot lead over the field, carded an impressive two-under-par 68 for a 17-under 263. It was his eighth career title on the European Tour.
Golf Members Survey…
Hopefully you have had an email recently requesting you to complete a golf members survey. This survey is your chance to have your say and give us your feedback about your Golf Club. All you need to do is click on this linkwww.59clubleisure.co.uk/survey this will take you through to a login page where you will need to enter the email address you have registered at the club. The 59 club is a unique benchmarking company that focuses on mystery shopper and member survey audits in the UK golf and leisure industry, using the 59club means that all of your surveys are completely anonymous. If anyone has trouble logging into the survey then please contact me directly at manager@thechasegolf.co.uk.
Your opinions and feedback are vital to us so that we can offer you the best membership experience we possibly can, I would like to thank you all in advance for taking the time to complete this important survey.
Junior Open Day
The junior section is going from strength to strength with new members joining each month. With this in mind Katrina decided to hold an open day so the juniors can make new friends and meet other junior members. We also invited along juniors that we teach and juniors that may be interested in taking the game up. 35 juniors attended the day, was a fantastic turn out.
There were putting and chipping competitions and coaching on the driving range. The juniors also went out and played a few holes. It was a fantastic day which was well supported and thoroughly enjoyed by all.
Congratulations to all the winners on the day and to Alfie Spinks who won the free membership for the year.
Junior Competitions
October monthly Stableford winner - Jay Sedgley 43 points
Juniors Vs Seniors - Good luck to all the juniors playing against the seniors this week. Let's hope for a win under their belts.
All Medium golf shirts 40% off!
All ladies golf shoes 40% off! (Extended for one week!)
Offer starts 30/10/2015 and ends 06/11/2015
Custom Fit & Club Repairs
All PING Grips just £5.50 per grip when you have 7 or more grips fitted
No Charge for Fitting
Staff vs Committee
Let's start with the most important news; the Staff managed a quite convincing 6-2 Win over the Committee. This meant Mr Captain had to say a few words in his loser's speech. All this said a big thank you goes out to everybody that found time to play and make this fun competition successful!
Weekend Stableford 25/10/15
Overall Winner - Leon Benson - 40 Points
Division 1
1st - Steve Bate - 37 Points
2nd - Gary Platt - 35 Points
3rd - Darren Moulden - 35 Points
Division 2
1st - Dave Wood - 39 Points
2nd - Mark Cadman - 38 Points
3rd - Graham Swinney - 37 Points
Division 3
1st - Paul McGuinness - 37 Points
2nd - Roger Brown - 33 Points
3rd - Ray Kidner - 32 Points
Twos - 4 @ £9.00
Winter PGA Pro-Am's
Players need for the Staffs PGA Winter Alliance Pro-Am on Thursday 5th November at Brocton Hall Golf Club. The event will consist of 3 amateurs plus one pro playing in a team. The format of the event is the best two scores from the four to count. Included in the day is breakfast on arrival, 18 hole tournament followed by meal after play all for £45pp. If you are interested in playing please contact PGA Professional Tom Cheetham as soon as possible as places are on a first come first serve basis.
10 Questions - Golf Club Member - Kevin Seager
1. What's the best course you have ever played? The Royal Selangor Golf Club (Malaysia)
2. What football team do you support? Wolves FC
3. Who's your favourite golfer? Seve Ballesteros
4. What's your favourite food? Chinese
5. What's your dream car? Jaguar XJ
6. If you could play any golf course, what would it be? Wentworth
7. Your favourite golf brand? Nike
8. Favourite City? Paris
9. Interesting fact about yourself? Played in a Pro-Am with Jose Maria Canizares
10. Have you ever had a hole in one? No
"REMEMBER, REMEMBER THE FIFTH OF NOVEMBER"
Range Night Returns!
Our popular Range night will see a return next Thursday 5th November Range night is the perfect opportunity to come on down to the driving range and receive some great tips, advise and drills whilst you practice. Range night will take place every Thursday in the run up to Christmas from 5.30-7.30pm and is open to both members and non-members for only £5pp. Limited range balls are also included.
