What a player! Golf legend Gary Player drops in at Mannings Heath
Mannings Heath golfers enjoyed a surprise visit from golfing legend Gary Player.
He dropped by to pass on some tips to two of the club's rising stars, 14-year-old Kade Fullerton and 19-year-old assistant professional Dean Herbert. He also played half a dozen holes wth them.
Player, who is one of the few players to have achieved the Grand Slam of major championships, was in the area through connections at Leonardslee which is owned by Mannings Heath's proprietor, British South African entrepreneur Penny Streeter.
Seniors playing a match against Chartham Park were astonished to find him being driven in a buggy and politely asking if he might 'play through'.
He was happy to pose for pictures and give some delighted golfers a memory to cherish.
Aged ninety in November he can still produce some excellent golf too. He was level par for the six holes he played.
Meanwhile, the main event on Heath's playing calendar was the Keith Etheridge Texas Scramble which saw seventeen teams competing for a trophy that commemorates a popular former captain.
Winning team with nett 54.4 were Martin Kennell, Joseph Wood, John Cripps and Dick Hemsley. Ben Whitehouse, Kevin Dixon, Mark Jefford and Richard Tullett were second with 55 and third place went to Stephen Keast, Peter Wilson, Simon Cripps and Oliver Spence on 55.4.
Earlier, two regular playing partners Paul Holmes and Bob Binning, finished neck-and-neck in the seniors' Alan Blick Trophy but it was Binning who was left gnashing his teeth after Holmes gleefully claimed the trophy - and the bragging rights - on a back six countback.
Mike Byford was third with 38 and Dave Gardiner's eighth place kept him top of the seniors' Order of Merit.
Mina Burton, off 14, claimed the Kathleen Barnett Tropy with seven pars and only one blob for 36 points. Debs Battle was her nearest challenger with 33.
Richard Reid won the mid-week Stablefiord on Kingfisger with 22 points for his nine holes. Runner-upn Paul Treanor kept his order of merit lead with 20 points and Charlie Boyes was third with 18.
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