Tournament Reports 2007
NEW YEARS EVE MIXED STABLEFORD 31/12 07
22 teams competed this year for the New Years Eve Mixed Stableford Competition, which was placed on a Fourball Stableford format. A few scratch players such as Kris Gray and Chris Langford participated on the last competition of this year.
In first place, with 42 points, Kris Gray and playing partner Brenda Clark-Whittle played great golf to beat by 4 points to Sir Ian Botham and Chris Langford, who donated their price to Charity. Both Chris Langford and Ian Botham have been very supportive and active with Charities. On the third place, Catherine and Brian Chapman scored 37 points.
CHRISTMAS PAIRS STABLEFORD 28/12/07
The day after Boxing Day The Indiana Course at Desert Springs challenged the 8 pairs who competed on a Fourball Stableford to win the Christmas Pairs Stableford. It was a very tight competition for the first 3 places of the podium.
Patrick and Sue Wood won the competition with 41 points, while James Hudd and Daniel Rooke took the second place with 40 points. On the third place, with 39 points, Paul Taylor and Daryl Kirby closed the podium.
The Prize presentation was held at The Deck in the Clubhouse, hosted by Desert Springs Golf Professional, Alfonso Castiñeira..
BOXING DAY PAIRS MEDAL 27/12/07
Desert Springs received one more year The Boeing Day Pairs Medal on the 27th of December. 8 teams competed to win this special event at The Indiana Course, which once more showed superb conditions to all participants.
Paul and Lynne Taylor took the win with a team score of 66 strokes (-5), and led by 2 strokes to Patrick Wood and Martin McLellan, with 68 shots. Peter and Daniel Rooke closed the podium with 69 strokes, 3 behind the winners..
THE PRESIDENT'S CUP 10/11/07
On the 10th of November, Desert Springs hosted The President’s Cup. For this event, and hoping to use this rule more often, the ball had to be played as it lied, even on the hardpan, which affected the final scores. 17 contestants competed for the trophy on a Stableford competition.
On the men’s side, Hugh Mullins won, on countback, with 33 points, same as Patrick Dunphy, who came in second place. Third, with 32 points was Roger Andrews.
On the ladies side, Rose Dudley took the win on countback with 31 points. Betty Meldrum came in second, andJean Carroll, with 29 points finished 3rd..
SPANISH SENIORS & LADIES PROFESSIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 01/11/07
On the eve before the start of the Spanish Professional Seniors and Ladies Championship, Desert Springs hosted a Pro Am, where the best Seniors and Ladies Professionals shared a beautiful sunny day with amateurs. The teams were formed by 3 amateurs and 1 professional, on a four ball, better ball competition. 26 teams entered this fun and enjoyable competition.
The team of José Maria Garcia Vaillo, Pedro Vicente Buendía & Michael John Davies, captained by professional Manuel Montes Agudo came home in first place with a very impressive score of 53 stableford points.
Two teams were equal on 52 stableford points, only one point behind the winners!
Winning on count back on the second 9 holes were the local team from Desert Springs of Hugh Mullins, Paddy Carroll & John Dudley, captained by professional Juan Rosa Flores.
Third place was taken by Juan Manuel Pérez Moreno, Martín García Pèrez & Antonio Rubio Viciana captained by professional Antonio Garrido.
All competitors enjoyed a buffet lunch in El Torrente restaurant after completion of play whereupon Town Mayor of Cuevas del Almanzora, Jesús Caicedo Bernabé was present to lead the prize presentation..
PINK WEEKEND 26-28/10/07
Desert Springs Resort and Golf Club dressed in Pink to welcome the Pink Weekend.
On the 26th of October Desert Springs hosted the Autumn Trophy. It was the opening of the Pink Weekend.
A field of 38 pink entered this competition on which everybody had to wear pink, in order to avoid a fine.
Brent Clark-Whittle took the win on countback over Patrick Craig with 39 points. Jacob Carver was third with 36 points.
On the ladies side, Sue Garrod took first place with 34 points, followed by Sue Wood and Yvonne Morrison, both with 29 points.
Prize presentation was held at the Courtyard, hosted by Helen Lavis.
On Saturday, the Pink team competition kicked off at 09.00 with a shotgun start. It was a very fun competition, and competitors played a fun pink ball competition, parallel to the main competition.
Lots of pink prizes were given in the evening at El Torrente Restaurant at the Clubhouse.
Closing the activities related to the Pink Weekend, The Pink Eye tournament took place on Sunday. It was a Stableford Competition. A great field of 44 players entered this event. After the competition, the Prize presentation took place at the BBQ, held at the Cave Bar and hosted by Club Captain Helen Lavis. The winner on the men side was John Morrison, with 38 points, followed by Freddie Beames, with 36 and Stephen Wright came in third with 32.
On the ladies side, Sue Wood took the win with an astonishing 43 points, and lowered her handicap from 30,6 to 25,9. Catherine Dunphy was second with 37 points and Helen Lavis finished third with 30 points..
DESERT CLASSIC 26/10/07
Mike Thorpe continued his excellent golfing form with a fine victory in the Desert Classic at Desert Springs this weekend. Mike´s second round score of 41 points gave him an overall score of 75 which was enough to finish 5 points ahead of his nearest rivals Pat Dunphy and Michael Costello.
The leading lady of the tournament was club captain Helen Lavis with 68 points followed by Mary Higgins in second place and Anne Thorpe in third.
There was a record turn out for the event and much fun was had by all. Joe McDaid scored his first ever hole in one at the 12th hole on Sunday. Roger Andrews won the mens´ longest drive with a monster tee shot on the 10th hole. The Indiana Course was in immaculate condition and thoroughly enjoyed by all the participants. The prize giving was held in the courtyard after play..
THE CONSTITUTION CUP 07/10/07
The day after the singles of the annual Ryder Cup match between Desert Springs and Redbourn Golf Club welcomed a field of 24 slightly weary heads to the Indiana course to compete for The Constitution Cup.
The Indiana course was in pristine condition with the weather perfect for good scoring.
The competition was played in a Medal Play format and the players did not disappoint, with some great scores being posted.
On count back, with a Gross score of 75, Nett 67, Paul Vorster piped Martin Streets to victory. Both John and Martin were waving the flag for Redbourn Golf Club gaining respect after their team’s loss in the Ryder Cup.
Great play was also shown by Helen Lavis, who shot a Gross 82, Nett 72 to claim victory of the Ladies section.
The prize giving hosted by Club Captain Helen Lavis was held at the Clubhouse..
DESERT SPRINGS V'S REDBOURN RYDER CUP 5 & 6 06/10/07
For the second year, Desert Springs hosted the Ryder Cup between the clubs of Desert Springs and Redbourn Golf Club.
Desert Springs was the defending champion of the precious trophy, and Redbourn put together a strong team of 12 players, full of low handicap players to try to beat Desert Springs on a 2 day match play competition.
On Friday 5th, the players competed on a four ball, better ball competition. The competition on Friday was very close, with a score of 3 points for each team, everything was left to be decided on the Saturday singles.
On Saturday, both teams had the opportunity to win the Ryder Cup, however, Desert Springs made use of the home course advantage and started with some early victories that decided the winner of this competition. Desert Springs achieved 6 points of the possible 9 on Saturday, for an overall score of 12 - 6 for Desert Springs.
As Keith Davies (Redbourn Team Captain) said, “The Indiana Course was in perfect conditions and the weather during the competition was really nice. It is a really enjoyable competition and we will be back next year”.
The Cup presentation to the winners was held at El Torrente Restaurant, at the Gala Dinner with all contestants, Team Captains and Director of Golf at Desert Springs, Simon Coaker.
SEPTEMBER STABLEFORD 08/09/07
On September 8th Desert Springs hosted the September Stableford on the Indiana course. It was a sunny and warm day, and the course was in perfect condition for the players.
A total of 15 players entered the tournament, prizes were given to the top 3 players on both men and ladies categories.
A very close match was held between Kenneth Lee and Paul Taylor, who finished their round with 39 points. Kenneth Lee finished first due to his great back nine.
On the ladies side, the battle was very close too. Anne Thorpe took the win with 34 points, while Wikkie De Graaf finished second just one point behind.
The prize living was held at the deck of El Torrente and hosted by Club Captain Helen Lavis..
SUMMER CHALLENGE CUP 11/08/07
Desert Springs hosted on the 8th of August the Summer Challenge Cup. A field of 36 players enjoyed the sunny day and the beautiful conditions at Desert Springs.
Some great scoring was seen on this event. 9 players scored 36 points or more. The winner of this battle was Alejandro Ramos Saavedra, with 44 points! A gross score of 66 strokes were good enough to take first place, and lowered his handicap from 3.9 to 3.1. Alvaro García-Hoz Bañares was second on countback with 41 points, same as Philip Lockyer, who came in third place.
On the ladies side, Helen Lavis took the win with 34 points. Brenda Clark Whittle was second with the same points and Elain Gray was third with 33.
Prize presentation took place at The Crocodile Club and hosted by Barry Carver.
DESERT SPRINGS MED-FORD 16/07/07
On July 16th Desert Springs hosted for the first time the Desert Springs Med-Ford tournament. Med-Ford scoring is an unusual format where the front nine holes are played on a Medal Play format, and the back nine are played as a Stableford format. The points from the back nine stableford are then deducted from the front nine medal, thus the winner is the player with the lowest score.
Young Joshua Foy surprised everyone with an astonishing score of 17 points and a great demonstration of his golfing abilities, Joshua won by 3 points from runner-up second Jim Halpenny, who had 20 points. Rory McCartney finished in 3rd place with 21 points,
The prize giving was held in the courtyard and hosted by Desert Springs committee member Phil Lockyer.
DIRECTOR'S TROPHY 02/06/07
A field of 18 players competed over 18 holes of competition golf on the Indiana course in a Stableford format on Saturday June 2nd with the aim to become the holder of The Director's Trophy.
The course greeted the players on another typically beautiful sunny day, with the course as always in superb condition. The ingredients for high scoring were there and the players didn't disappoint. The standard of play was extremely high and even the remodelling of hole 15 didn't keep the players from scoring well!
Young Jacob Carver came in first position with a superb score of 43 points. Ben Nichols played a great round amassing 40 points to finish second, while Patrick Wood, with 37 points completed the podium in 3rd position. Sue Wood was the winner of the Ladies competition with 37 points.
The prize giving was held by Competitions Committee member Barry Carver at El Torrente Restaurant after the tournament.
SPRING CUP - 19/05/07
The Spring Cup comprised a low field of only 6 entrants competing in the Stableford format competition held on Saturday 19th May.
Nonetheless, it was a beautiful sunny day at Desert Springs, the course was in perfect condition and as the old saying goes, 'you have to be in it to win it!'
Roger Butters managed his game to play a very respectable round achieving 37 points, allowing him to win the tournament by 9 points, followed by Roger Andrews in second place and Peter Eldridge in third, with 28 and 27 points respectively.
The prize giving was held at the courtyard, hosted by Desert Spring's Golf Professional Alfonso Castiñeira.
COPA DEAFIO LOCAL - 12/05/07
This event was introduced in 2006 to encourage integration between local golf clubs and societies in the area. This year 4 teams of 10 players entered, the format was stableford scoring with 7 of the 10 scores to count for each team.
Desert Springs successfully defended their title with a fine total of 228 points, congratulations to Helen Lavis, Gerard Ulijn, Roger Butters, Roger Andrews, Freddie Beames, Wikkie de Graaf, Alfonso Sanchez, Pat Casey, Jack Willaarts and Peter Oakley. Peter was the teams leading man with a score of 38 points!
Lorca Golf Society fielded an excellent team and put up a good fight to achieve second place ahead of Cortijo Grande Golf Club in third and finally Badgers Golf Society in fourth position.
Desert Springs Captain Helen Lavis hosted the prize presentation and thanked the teams for supporting the event and assured all players of a warm welcome whenever they return to the club.
OPEN PAIRS TOURNAMENT - 05/05/07
Roger Butters and Dennis Stafford romped to victory in the Open Pairs tournament with a fine tally of 40 points. Dennis, who has been taking a bit of a break from golf of late said 'the rest has done me good and I am delighted to be back playing, the course is in magnificent condition and there is no excuse not to score well'. Club captain Helen Lavis and Alfonso Sanchez tied for second place with 36 points.
The presentation was hosted at the Crocodile Club by Helen and competition secretary Barry Carver and a good time was had by all.
MAY DAY TOURNAMENT - 01/05/07
The May Day stableford tournament was held on The Indiana Course at Desert Springs on the 1st May. 36 players participated in the event, which included a high number of visitors.
Although the sun was shining, a feisty Desert Springs breeze was a big factor contributing to the difficulty to score well on the day.
The winner of the Men's section was Alfonso Sanchez of Desert Springs, with 36 points. Alfonso, who is just 15 years old is now playing with a handicap of 10, however it is reducing!
Rose Dudley played some steady golf to amass a fine score of 31 points and was delighted with her prize - a new Desert Springs Golf Bag.
The prize giving was held in the courtyard on a beautiful sunny afternoon. Club Captain, Helen Lavis commented on the good turnout for the event. 'There is a real buzz at Desert Springs; it is great to see so many visitors as well as guests and members supporting the events at the club'.
DESERT SPRINGS CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP & HANDICAP SALVER – 14 & 15/04/07
At the end of a very busy golfing week only seven men and 3 ladies lined up in an attempt to become the respective 2007 Desert Springs Club Champions. A 36 hole event played over 2 days is gruelling enough but when the course is stretched to its full tournament length and the pin positions are on tucked into the difficult corners of the greens it becomes even more of a challenge!
This was certainly highlighted during Day 1 when half of the players failed to break 100 but 2 players managed to stand out from the group: Chris Doran led the men’s event with a gross 82 whilst Club Captain, Helen Lavis, led the ladies also with a gross 82.
After Day 2 Chris Doran and Helen Lavis were still inseparable as they again recorded matching scores of 92. For Helen, a total gross score of 174 giving a net of 154 was good enough to be crowned Ladies Club Champion 2007 and Handicap Salver Winner 2007. For Chris however, it was a different story as his 174 total fell 3 strokes short of the 171 (88 + 83) recorded by Camillus Muldowney who becomes Men’s Club Champion 2007. The Men’s Handicap Salver Winner 2007 was former Club Captain, Freddie Beames, with a net total of 151.
THE CAPTAIN’S DRIVE-IN – 12/04/07
The Indiana Course at the Desert Springs Golf Club today played host to the Captain’s Drive-In, a tournament where, traditionally, the new Club Captain is ceremoniously welcomed to their new role. This year saw Helen Lavis reinvent the Captain’s Drive-In into a ‘Fiesta In Pink’!
Following her recent battle with cancer and decision to support the Asociación Española Contra El Cáncer, new Club Captain, Helen Lavis, followed in the pink theme of the cancer charity by arriving at the 1st Tee to take her first drive in front of 90 competitors in a brand new pink golf buggy. Stepping out of the buggy Helen was sporting a full length Pink Panther outfit and was accompanied by Simon Coaker, Director of Golf, also in matching Pink Panther outfit. Changing out of their panther suits before teeing off in the tournament for real, Helen and Simon were joined by LPGA Tour Professionals Trish Johnson and Becky Brewerton to complete what many considered to be the ‘Dream Team’ for the Texas Scramble event.
The ‘Dream Team’ lived up to expectations by recording a 16-under par gross score of 55 to give them an incredible 52 Stableford points score. This would have been good enough to take the title but in very sporting style Helen decided not to accept the trophy – partly due to the fact that the team consisted of 3 professional golfers!
This left 3 teams with scores of 51 points to be separated by countback in order to find the podium positions. In third place with 24 points on the back nine holes were Roger Butters, Michael Wherlock, Anne Thorpe and Mike Thorpe. In second place with 26 points on the back nine holes were Christine Langford, Angie Bell, Daphne Lewis, and Jon Jeromsone which left the winning team in the 2007 Captain’s Drive-In to be Robert Long, Mark Cretton, Simon Howard, and Rob Robinson.
The fun continued long into the evening as the Fiesta and Family Fun event in the Crocodile Club kicked into full swing with musical entertainment, clowns, bouncy castle pig roast and much more.
THE EASTER CUP – 11/04/07
The 2007 Easter Cup was very well supported by members, property owners and guests with forty-one players, 27 men and 16 ladies, taking to the Indiana Course.
The top three in the ladies section were each separated by 2 points with Pat Clay taking 3rd place on 30 stableford points, Kay Dunphy was runner-up on 32 points which left Wikkie de Graaf winner of the ladies section with a score of 34 points.
The men’s section was a lot tighter with runner-up places being decided by count-back. With a score of 36 points Christopher Rawlings was squeezed out of the top 3 spots by Pat Craig and Leo Kenny who took 3rd and 2nd place respectively. Playing off a handicap of 2.8, recording a gross score of level par 71 resulting in 38 stableford points gave John Green victory in the 2007 Easter Cup.
THE INDIANA MASTERS – 7 & 8/04/07
24 players entered this years Indiana Masters, a 36 hole tournament which is now in its seven year of existence.
The leader board after Day 1 left two players 3 points clear of 3rd placed Philip Lockyer and the rest of the field on 39 stableford points; Patrick Sweeney and Sue Wood leading the Men’s and Ladies events respectively.
Following Day 2 the same 3 players found themselves still at the top of the leader board with Philip Lockyer adding a score 33 points to his first round 36 points to secure 3rd place. Patrick Sweeney followed his 39 points score with 31 to give a total of 70 and leading male in the tournament. However, Sue Wood maintained her momentum from Day 1 to record an impressive Day 2 score of 37 points (76 points total) and ensure she captured the titles of leading lady and overall Indiana Masters 2007 Champion.
THE ST. PATRICK’S DAY BOWL – 17/03/07
The 17th March, a very important date in the Irish calendar and also the Desert Springs Tournament Calendar - ‘Paddy’s Day’.
Great support was shown for this event as 55 players entered their name in a bid to lift the impressive St. Patrick’s Day Bowl.
In the Ladies section a countback was required to separate Consuelo Lopez Lopez and Francisca Garcia Zafrilla who both had 31 Stableford points; Francisca took 3rd place with a better back nine. With 34 points Wikkie de Graaf secured 2nd place whilst Susana lead the way with an impressive 36 point total.
The Men’s section was a little closer fought with just a single point separating the top 6 players. Counting back to the last 3 holes determined that Leslie Raufer had piped Hugh Mullins I to 3rd place with 36 points. Also with 36 points but with the better back nine score, Jose Manuel Felipe Moreno was declared runner-up. This left Dennis Stafford leader of the Men’s section and overall St. Patrick’s Day Bowl champion with 37 points. This win and subsequent reduction in handicap was made even sweeter for Dennis as after only 3 years of playing golf he achieved a single-figure handicap! Congratulations Dennis.
THE IRISH INTERNATIONAL – 15/03/07
2004 Champions – The Rest of the World
2005 Champions – The Rest of the World
2006 Champions – The Rest of the World
With three defeats in three years the Irish team had a lot to prove in the 2007 playing of the Irish International. With 15 representatives for Ireland, 11 representatives for the Rest of the World and the best 10 individual Stableford scores from each team being combined to give the overall team score, Ireland had the first major advantage. Hilary O’Herlihy returned the best score of the day, 35 points, to give Ireland another advantage. Unfortunately, from there on in the ‘luck of the Irish’ ran out. Strong performances from Betty and Laurie Meldrum and Michael Wherlock saw a trio of 34 points added to the Rest of the World tally and with the remaining players all playing there part the Rest of the World managed a combined score of 297 points. Below Hilary, the Irish players struggled and could only manage to raise 269 points to hand victory, for the fourth straight year, to the Rest of the World team!
HUSBAND & WIFE CHAMPIONSHIP – 10/03/07
The 2nd mixed pairs event in as many months only for this event the pairs consisted of Husband and Wife. Seven teams entered this year’s event and the results were very tight with only 5 points separate all teams.
Third position was taken by Javier Espuela Garcia and Natividad Aroyo Tello with 33 Stableford points who were 2 points behind the runner up pair of Juan Rodriguez Diaz del Rivero and Loli Palazios Jiminez. The 2007 Husband and Wife champions with 36 Stableford points were Desert Springs members George and Marianne Manus.
VALENTINE’S DAY MIXED PAIRS – 14/02/07
The most romantic day of the year saw 6 besotted couples take to the Indiana to contest the Valentine’s Day Mixed Pairs. Playing in a betterball stableford format with each player receiving 3/4 of their handicap, Robert and Judie Barton-Hill carded a very respectable 37 points. This score held the clubhouse lead only momentarily until Christopher and Janet Doran’s score of 38 points was announced. A very shocked Chris and Janet accepted their maiden victory at the Desert Springs Golf club.
DESERT SPRINGS OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP – 17 & 18/02/07
In its 4th year and with no previous winners in this years field there would be a new name of the Desert Springs Open Championship Trophy for 2007. Although only 13 players entered the 36 hole tournament the standard of play over the first day was extremely good with 10 players recording scores of 30 stableford points or better. Day 1 leader was Freddie Beames who amassed 39 points to hold a 3 point lead over Roger Butters. Scores on Day 2 where slightly less impressive but it came down to a battle between Day 1 leaders Freddie and Roger. Adding 32 points to his 36 point Day 1 score, Roger recorded a tournament total of 68 points which fell just a single point shy of Freddie’s total of 69, despite only 30 points on Day 2. Freddie was congratulated on his triumph and presented with the trophy by Cub captain Pat Craig.
GOLF4ALL PRO AM – 8 & 9/01/07
The inaugural GOLF 4 ALL PRO-AM, held on the Indiana Course saw an international field of 39 amateur players, from 10 countries, compete alongside 13 of the top women professionals from the Ladies European Tour.
The tournament began on Monday with a Texas Scramble Team event , which resulted in a 3 way tie for the lead, however, with only 7 points separating the 1st and 13th placed teams it was always going to be an exciting finish.
There were some spectacular performances from the professionals, Becky Brewerton holed her second shot on the par 4 10th hole to get to 6 under par whilst players like Danni Masters, Joanne Oliver and Lora Fairclough produced birdie barrages to help their teams’ causes.
Eventual runners-up, Martin Symington, Laura Rushby and Gines Periago Rosawere leaders in the clubhouse for quite some time before being eclipsed by the winners. The Spanish team of Enrique Mercant, David del Cerro and Angel del Cerro were crowned the Pro-Am champions after a magnificent final round. Angel and his son David are both members of Desert Springs and regular visitors to the resort. The team was captained by tour professionals Fame More and Alex Keighley, who were both very impressed by their team’s performance.
Director of Golf, Simon Coaker said of the tournament:
‘This Pro-Am is a flagship event in our Golf 4 Women program and will be one of many events with specific focus on women’s golf. It has been a pleasure to host so many of the Tour’s top players, I am sure that this will become a popular tournament for many years to come. I would like to thank everyone who supported and participated in the event.’
EPIPHANY CHALLENGE – 06/01/07
A good field of 26 players (20 men and 6 ladies) took part in this year’s Epiphany Challenge which celebrates the Spanish festival of Del día de Reyes (the day of the Kings). An individual stableford points tournament played over 18 holes of the Indiana Course.
In third place in the ladies section was Kay Dunphy with 30 points, beaten to second place by a countback by Sylvia Howard. Taking pole position for the ladies with a score of 32 points was Anne Thorpe.
The top three in the men’s section were each separated by a single point. Patrick Dunphy, with 34 points, managed to go one better than wife Kay and take second place, from Matthew Tweddell who had 33 stableford points. Leader in the men’s section and winner of the Epiphany Challenge 2007 with the best overall score of 35 points was 7-handicapper Roger Butters.
COMMUNITY CHALLENGE – 04/01/07
The first tournament of 2007 and with previous winners Desert Drive and Powderhorn being joined this year by La Estrella, the chances of a second win for one of the teams was a strong possibility. La Estrella had a slight advantage from the start by having 7 players compared to 6 players in the other two teams but with only the best 5 individual stableford scores to count towards the overall team score, this was a very small advantage.
As the scores were calculated for each team it became apparent that each would be separated by quite a large points difference. In third position with 140 points (average 28 points per player) were 2005 champions Desert Drive. With an average score of 30 points per player, the 153 points amassed by last years champions left Powderhorn in second place for 2007. That meant that La Estrella had managed to get their name on the trophy for the first time. With a total score of 174 points (35 points average) helped by Alan Patterson’s best of the day individual 42 points, La Estrella claimed the trophy as Community Challenge 2007 champions!
