After the driest summer on record, it was sadly predictable that the first Dylan Howells Foundation Golf Day was held in a rainstorm of at times biblical proportions. Despite this, Surbiton Golf Club was an excellent host, both on and off the course. Twelve groups of four golfers braved the weather, teeing off between 12.25 and 2.05 to do battle with 18 holes and horizontal rain. Getting forty eight golfers out there with no weather related drop outs was an achievement in itself, as was pretty much everyone making it round before darkness or damp set in.
The winning team of Mark Hards, Paul Lyons, Pete Leslie and Stephen Firth came in with a strong 94 points and were given a towelling down and a dozen balls each for their efforts! Stephen also won the individual competition with a great round in really challenging conditions and will be enjoying a round at St George’s Hill as his prize – hopefully in better weather.
Despite the rain, both the course and the players delivered – Surbiton is a tricky but fabulous course – a real gem in South West London, with plenty of trees and lots of ups and downs. We are very grateful to the club for their efforts in making all of us feel welcome and laying on such a lovely meal.
After a shower and a well deserved drink, 70 people sat down for dinner and a few words from the charity. It was a huge pleasure to hear from five of the young athletes we support, Mai, Joseph, Anne, Lilian and Matthew, all of whom highlighted the support given by the foundation and the financial challenges of following your dreams in your chosen sport. Their eloquence and confidence in speaking to the audience was awe inspiring and we thank them all for joining us at the event. The purpose of the evening of course was to enable us to raise funds for each of those athletes as well as enabling us to take on more in years to come and we ran a heads and tails game as well as a silent auction to do just that.
Every time we run an event we are astonished by the generosity of the attendees – we are beyond grateful for every donation. We are a small charity and rely on events like this for our income, as we are entirely voluntary and have no running costs, every penny raised goes straight to the athletes. We are therefore incredibly proud that through the combination of the silent auction at the event and the cost of entry, we were able to raise over £5000 on the night. This is the first time we’ve run a golf day – but it will not be the last, so watch this space as we look to repeat it in September of 2026. In the meantime there is the spring gala dinner to prepare for – dates coming soon for your diaries.
Thanks to everyone who attended, laughed at my bad jokes and made the athletes feel so special. I’m still trying to dry out my golf shoes!
Warren & the rest of the Dylan Howells Foundation
