Ferndown digs deep for Help for Heroes charity

Ferndown Golf Club o cials recently presented Armed Forces charity Help for Heroes with a cheque for £7,500, following their annual fundraising golf day. It takes the club’s total raised for the Salisbury-based charity, over more than a decade, to almost £120,000.

Help for Heroes’ area fundraising manager, John Carpenter, said: “It’s always a pleasure to meet with the members at Ferndown Golf Club. And to receive a donation like this, when we know times are not easy for some people, is particularly heart-warming.

“Our relationship with the club goes back 13 years and I hope it will continue long into the future. The charity’s income has reduced by 55 per cent since 2015, yet our services are in demand more than ever, so this is most welcome. I can’t thank them enough.”

The golf club’s assistant general manager, Sue Helliker, said: “Members look forward to our annual Help for Heroes’ day and it is a rm xture within their gol ng calendar. Each year we are overwhelmed with the generosity and support we receive and delighted that we can donate a substantial sum annually.”

Help for Heroes champions the Armed Forces community and helps them live well after service. The charity helps them, and their families, to recover and get on with their lives. It has already supported more than 27,000 people and won’t stop until every veteran gets the support they deserve. The charity supports veterans from any branch of the UK military – regulars or reserves – irrespective of length or place of service, and locally embedded civilians (and their families) who worked alongside our Armed Forces.

If your golf club would like to support Help for Heroes, please contact John Carpenter at john.carpenter@ helpforheroes.org.uk.

Collington calls the shots at Faldo Junior Tour opener

Paul Collington (Gog Magog) took the early lead in the 54-hole event when opening with a two-under 71, with local player Harry Cox (Welwyn Garden City GC) a shot back in second. Round two saw Romford’s Harry Linley jump into share of second with Collington with a ve-under 68, but the pair were still a shot behind Colchester’s Oliver Baker who held the overall lead with rounds of 73 and 70.

Despite charges from Monty Holcombe (70) and Noah Cambridge, and a nal 71 from Linley, Collington kept the challengers at bay to secure the Boys U18 category and the overall title with a closing three-under 70, with Baker falling back into the pack with a disappointing 80.

Norwood Park’s Madeline Smith won the Girls U21 category with a +12 total that was highlighted by a closing level-par 73, while Buckingham’s Lulu Leetham won the Girls U16 category after beating Thorndon Park’s Zara Gardam in a play-o after both players tied on +16. Leetham birdied the 18th hole twice, rst to make the play-o and then to win at the rst extra hole.

All three winners will now travel to compete in the Faldo Series Europe Grand Final which is being held at Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting & Golf Club in the United Arab Emirates this autumn.

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Women’s Golf Day tees up week-long events programme

Women’s Golf Day’s week-long celebration is just a few weeks away, but there is still time for golfers, golf course owners, as well as PGA Members, to play an important role in promoting and encouraging golf as an inclusive sport for all.

Women’s Golf Day is moving to a week-long event this year – May 30 to June 6 – enabling more venues and more people to get involved. Venues that have previously registered in past years can renew thier listing by logging in to their account at womensgolfday.com/my-account and selecting ‘My Location Listings’ from the menu to access their location listing and renew for 2023. For those that have never registered a location before, registration is now open at womensgolfday. com/register. This page outlines exactly what host venues can expect and what bene ts an event registration entitles them to.

Anyone registering using the code ‘wgdgolf23’ will bene t from an upgrade to Premier Listing which entitles locations to promote their course and its events, travel packages and tuition programs throughout the year.

To nd your nearest venue hosting a Women’s Golf Day event, visit www.womensgolfday.com.