Carden Park Mixed Pairs

Nestled among a thousand acres of stunning Cheshire nature, Carden Park brings you the very best that the English countryside has to offer. With two championship golf courses, a luxury hotel and an award winning spa this beautiful estate has everything you could wish for in a golf break.

Day 1 The Cheshire Course

Having rained for several days before our arrival and in the morning the group arrived to a very soft Cheshire course. It was going to play every inch of its yardage. But once again, the Fairways magic touch appeared as the clouds lifted and left a beautiful, warm sunny day for our couples to tackle the first course to be built at Carden Park.

As the couples returned to the clubhouse, it was becoming clear the soft conditions with no run on the ball was proving a real test. The scoring was very close with no one team breaking out of the pack. Nick Cuttiford & Lesley Woods from the beautiful island of Jersey, posted a solid 36pts and was quickly followed by Mike & Diana Bell who went just 1 point better.

We would finish the day with 3 couples sharing the lead on a best of the day 38pts. Percy & Jackie May (Market Harborough) was joined by Roger & Sarah Pimblett (Long Ashton) and making the trio on top of the leaderboard newcomers Eddie Fox & Carolyn Sullivan (Radcliffe on Trent) 7 couples were within 3 shots of the lead. It was all set up for a very exciting finish tomorrow.

Day 2 The Nicklaus Course

It was almost 25 years to the day that Jack Nicklaus & Ian Woosnam played an exhibition match to open the Nicklaus as our group teed it up on this championship course. More forgiving off the tee than the Cheshire, its defence is the many water hazards that surround the layout.

We were greeted by another bright day with no need to don the waterproofs. In the first group out, Mike & Diana Bell continued their great play of the day before, repeating their score with a fine 37pts. This would set the total for the rest to catch. Both pairings of Derek & Amanda Bradstock (Marlborough) & Ian Robinson & Jackie Carter (Rufford Park) had played wonderfully improving their scores of the previous day by 6 shots to posts rounds of 39pts.

But then the scoring really started to warm up. The ever consistent team of Simon & Michelle Craker (Cotswold Edge) returned to the clubhouse breaking through the magic “40” barrier after carding a brilliant 41pts. They now led the aggregate with a total of 76pts with only one of leaders left out on the course. In between all the mayhem, Malcolm & Jennine Pook had been compiling a wonderful score and signed off their campaign with a “best of the day” total of 42pts.

It only left Eddie & Carolynn who could affect the outcome. In the last but one group out, they had plotted their way around the course in steady fashion. After checking and signing their card they had again played beautifully to score 41pts. In their first ever event with Fairways they had amassed a total of 79pts and in doing so took the title of “Carden Park Mixed Pairs” champions.

Many thanks to all the staff at Carden Park for taking such great care of us over the two days. We look forward to returning in the near future.