Hertfordshire golfers come to the fore

Posted on 21/09/09. Source: Mercedes-Benz Hertfordshire (By Mark Whitworth)

County golfers have been driving all the way to Scotland, thanks to Mercedes-Benz Hertfordshire which has now put one of them on-course for Germany.

Sam Jones (Chesfield Downs), Jim Nicholson (East Herts) and Mick Johnson (Brookmans Park) represented the motor group, which has retail outlets in Bishop's Stortford, Hertford and Stevenage, in the UK Final of the MercedesTrophy. It was played over four days at the Fairmont Resort in St Andrew's and resulted in Sam winning a place in the competition's World Final in the scratch to 10-handicap section in Germany next year, when he will pitch his talents against golfers from around the globe.

The trio qualified for Scotland after finishing as the top golfers in last year's Mercedes-Benz Hertfordshire Golf Challenge and then winning through a regional final of the MercedesTrophy, which was held at The Berkshire Golf Club in Ascot earlier this summer.

The trip north of the border coincided with the culmination of the 2009 Mercedes-Benz Hertfordshire Golf Challenge. More than 2,000 golfers from 26 clubs across the region took part in the Stableford competition, which ended with 47 players contesting a grand final at Hanbury Manor.

A closely-fought ladies' final saw Sarah Terry (Brocket Hall) pip Caroline Baker (Bushey) to the title by virtue of a countback. Ann Hicks finished third on her ‘home' course.

Kevin Gambell (The Hertfordshire) won the men's final with a score of 40 points - three points ahead of runner-up James Turley (Braintree), who finished a point ahead of Dermot Flanagan (The Shire London).

Other winners on the day were Jennie Rowe (The Hertfordshire) and Nick Durward Akhurst (South Herts) in the nearest-the-pin competition and Lisa Collins (Bishop's Stortford) and Ben Head (Saffron Walden), who hit the longest drives.

"This is the third year that the Mercedes-Benz Hertfordshire Golf Challenge has been held and this was the biggest and best yet," said Mark Whitworth, Group Marketing & CRM Manager for the motor retailer.

"The tournament is now established as a regular fixture on the calendar of many local clubs, where we have raised significant awareness about our business."

Photo; Sam Jones (left) and Mick Johnson (second left) are pictured collecting their prizes for qualifying for the MercedesTrophy UK Final from ex-All Black rugby legend Sean Fitzpatrick. Also pictured is David Presley, Mercedes-Benz Hertfordshire's Brand Director.