A member of a Wakefield golf club has won one of UK golf’s biggest competitions at Castle Stuart, in the Scottish Highlands – with leading men’s health charity Prostate Cancer benefiting from the proceeds. Normanton GC’s Jon Hathaway – who plays off a handicap of 23 – scored 42 points in the grand final of HowDidiDo’s How Do We Beat It competition, run in association with Prostate Cancer UK, to secure the prized trophy.
More than 5,500 participants in the competition helped raise a staggering £37,845 for Prostate Cancer UK, and a cheque for that amount was handed over to Bronwyn O’Riordan, the organisation’s fundraising manager for Scotland.
After signing up to How Do We Beat It with a minimum £5 donation, golfers logged their scores with HowDidiDo. Their best ‘eclectic’ round, between April and September 30, was calculated automatically by the system and the 15 best eclectic cards qualified for the grand final at the stunning Castle Stuart Golf Links, near Inverness.
Seventeen-handicapper Alex Kay, a member at Ashton-under-Lyne GC, finished second, two points adrift of Hathaway. John Mortimer, a 25-handicapper from Longhirst Hall GC, near Morpeth, in Northumberland, was third with 38 points.
HowDidiDo spokesman and chairman of Yumax Media Barry Dyett said: “This is the second year we have run the eclectic How Do We Beat It competition and we smashed last year’s total raised. Thank you to everybody who took part and generously donated – and congratulations to Jon, who was able to master the cold and frosty conditions to win overall.”
All qualifiers enjoyed three rounds of golf – one of which was at Macdonald Spey Valley – and two nights’ complimentary accommodation courtesy of Macdonald Hotels & Resorts.
All money raised via the competition – and its various associated events – is donated to Prostate Cancer UK, a charity fighting back against a disease that kills one man every 45 minutes.
James Beeby, director of fundraising at Prostate Cancer UK, said: “Golf is a great fit for Prostate Cancer UK, but sadly this disease is not out of bounds. One in eight men in the UK will be affected by prostate cancer in their lifetime, so we need to drive home this serious message.
“The money raised will fund ground-breaking research to help fight the disease. That will help us provide dedicated support and information to men and their families affected by this disease. We thank HowDidiDo for their support and for hosting a great competition.”
HowDidiDo is Europe’s largest online community, with more than half-a-million club golfers from 1,800-plus registered clubs using the website or mobile app regularly across the UK and Ireland.
The HowDidiDo system, part of the solution offered to golf clubs by Club Systems International software, holds data from more than 53 million rounds of golf, along with handicaps, results and scores from more than 1.3 million golf club members.
HowDidiDo allows members to analyse their game and compare performance with other players at their club or across the entire HowDidiDo network, and is rapidly becoming the largest online social golfing hub in the world, with new, engaging and exciting content for golfers to enjoy. It is also used for official CONGU handicap and competition results.
To view a video of the How Do We Beat It grand finals visit http://bit.ly/2OCAlux
HowDidiDo www.howdidido.com
Prostate Cancer UK www.prostatecanceruk.org