A Charity Golf Day, held at Sidmouth Golf Course and organised by Sid Valley Cyclo-Paths who are local lads, proved to be a huge hit, writes John Barnard.

Matt Barrett, Mark Denning, Steve Parry, Nick Baker and Stuart Coles are planning to cycle from John O’Groats to Land’s End, 900 miles of cycling ahead of them which they will hope to cycle 120 miles a day.

They are riding to raise money for Dream-A-Way Sidmouth, a brand new sub-group formed from the success of local fundraisers and committee members from Dream-A-Way.

As part of their fund raising, they opted to put on a golf day, no doubt as Stuart Coles is a prominent member of Sidmouth Golf Club.

It was a truly great day which saw the course packed with loads of locals, most of who aren’t members of the Golf Club, but played to support their friends. In first place were Will Gater, David Gater, Chris Higgs and Matt Cooke on 99 points, a fantastic score as only two scores counted on each hole.

In second place finishing late in the day were Kevin Howe, Graham Davies, Chris (CM) Roberts, Martin Crockett on 94 points, five behind the leaders. In third place were Dan Radford, Sy Savage, Tony Sutherland, Bobby Marshall on 92 points.

The clubhouse was packed as many players stayed on for the prize giving as there was a disco later in the evening along with a prize draw and charity auction. Perhaps the most remarkable outcome of such a well-planned and fun day was that the lads managed to raise £4500 towards the £10,000 target they are planning to raise over the summer.

Dream-A-Way is a local charity and last year they helped nearly 2,000 people to enjoy a very special experience including over 300 taken on wonderful days out, over 1,200 guests given caravan holidays at the beautiful Devon seaside and helping more than 100 people fulfil their dream holiday.