LTA Tennis Foundation holds its first Golf Day

Players were also treated to a sparkling refreshment stop on hole 13, which was kindly sponsored by Nyetimber. While players enjoyed their drinks, they also took on the closest to the pin challenge, this was a fierce competition as the winner got to take home a Magnum of Nyetimber.  

Hole 16 saw teams take on professional golfer Jack Cope, who won the English Amateur Championship in 2020, the St Andrews Links Trophy in 2021, and is currently playing on the Clutch Pro Tour. Players had to beat Jack’s tee shot for distance and accuracy to the pin on this tricky par 3. Only seven of the 76 players managed to do this and secured themselves entry into a prize draw to win a 4 ball at The Grove.  

However, the big one to play for was the Lexus Hole in One Challenge, where players had the opportunity to win a new Lexus for a year if they managed to secure a hole in one. Unfortunately, even though there were some that came very close, no one took home the luxury prize.    

And bringing the challenges to a close was Barclays longest drive on hole 9, with the winner of this taking home hospitality tickets to the cinch Championships in London next year. 

A representative from Barclays commented, "It was a fantastic day of golf which was supported by some amazing sunshine and warmth surprisingly for this time of year. The golf course was in great condition as was the company. I hope the event was deemed a success for everyone involved and a significant amount was raised for the charity.  I look forward to next year!"

Back at the clubhouse players were treated to a BBQ lunch whilst the scores were finalised. The battle for first was tight with the winning team scoring 95, and the second team coming in at 93! Winners took home golf bags and golf luggage from Srixon, Crew clothing vouchers and some wonderful sparkling wine from Nyetimber.  

The winning team were from Elysian Park Ventures, and team captain Nikhil said “We had a great day, it was so well organised, and the course was incredible. We were happy to be involved and supporting such a valuable cause, winning was the cherry on top!”   

The day raised over £35,000 for the LTA Tennis Foundation, which will go towards funding programmes that are aligned to its mission of improving lives through tennis, such as Sport in Mind who deliver tennis sessions for individuals with mental health problems.

Neil Harris, Founder and CEO of Sport in Mind said “We are delighted to have formed such a strong partnership with the LTA Tennis Foundation where we will be able to open tennis up for people experiencing mental health problems and showcase how tennis can help improve their lives. Through this exciting partnership we will run free weekly tennis sessions. We will also provide support to coaches and the wider tennis workforce with tools, resources and our expertise to ensure tennis is an inclusive and welcoming environment for anyone experiencing mental health problems”.  

Gary Stewart, Head of Commercial for the LTA said, “It was a fantastic day! The weather showed up, we had over 70 golfers out on the course, it was a superb location and there was a brilliant amount raised! We are thrilled with the success of this event, and the money raised will have a huge impact. Generating support for the LTA Tennis Foundation is vital, so we can continue having the level of impact that we want to have and improving as many lives as possible through tennis. We are so thankful to all the teams who attended, and our commercial sponsors who supported the day, it could not have happened without them.”