We celebrated our Christmas Hamper tournament at La Serena last Saturday.  The weather was originally ideal for golf with a mild 20 degrees and with little or no wind to start with, but by the time we reached our last nine we were now dealing with far windier conditions.   

We had a shot gun start at 9am for a field of 76 players playing a two-person scramble. The golf course was set up to a very high standard with fast receptive greens, we must thank Wayne and his team for their efforts and the continued improvements around the golf course. 

To the staff in the pro-shop thank you, Jean, Jose, Leticia and Paul for preparing our presentation of prizes and getting us all started on time.  Our competition committee are doing sterling work, thank you Camillus and Philip who were ably assisted by our vice/captain Terry.  Your strategy worked like clockwork and it was also a first in that we had a complete field with no withdrawals, well done Camillus to you and your team

As is the norm we held our General Meeting before our Christmas dinner and presentation.  It was followed by a very fine dinner, prepared to the highest standard and with a liberal amount of vino tinto.  It was a credit to the kitchen staff that they were able to cater for 8 late dinner guests.  Well done Gloria.  Our entertainment was provided by the lovely Jackie Whyte and she had us all dancing and singing along to all the traditional and not so traditional Christmas tunes.  Well done Jackie, so glad to see you at your best.

Our captain for the new season Terry Fitzgerald was on hand to take over the reigns from our outgoing captain Alisdair McLean.  Both were very complimentary and eloquent with their speeches.    

Terry then presented the prizes as follows:  NTP’s, Colin Soones, John Adlam, Kenny McGeehan, Eddie Wall, James Hayes and Holly Thompson.  In 7th place with a score of 68.2 Brian Humphreyson and Terry Fitzgerald, 6th Colin Soones and Jane Knight 68, 5th place Dave Cosson and Stephen Ross 68, 4th place Ritchie Heaton and Harry Lee 67, 3rd place Eddie Wall and John Adlam 65.2, 2nd place went to Eddie Stapleton and John Walsh with 64.4 and the winners with a score of 61.8 Denis McCormack and John O’Brien.  Well done again to all those who participated and helped make our annual Christmas Hamper a great success.

We are looking for interested teams who might wish to enter The International League.  If you would like to enter this league which is kindly sponsored by the Valencian golf federation just send an e-mail to the address below?  Congratulations again to all those who participated in all our tournaments and well done to all the prize winners. 

We have a waiting list in operation at the moment for membership at La Serena, however membership of The Celts is always available.  If you would like information on joining our club or entering a team in any of the federation events why not send an e-mail to johnobrienalicante@gmail.com or call 615466398?