Golf Manager John Glendinning continues his column outlining what goes on behind-the-scenes at Close House.....

September has been the busiest month to date for Close House Golf, so the question is where to start. The month kicked off with the Golf North East Gents Amateur Classic Tournament, and a first time for Close House to have the honour of staging this prestigious tournament.

Unfortunately the weather didn't quite play ball, which is usual for any major sporting event in the North East. But despite the wind and constant drizzle the course was in top condition for the players to fight it out, and a very respectable nett 70 won the competition, which considering the conditions was a worthy score.

We were very proud to have hosted the event and the positive feedback about the course from the players was very much appreciated.

After this event we then held our NE-NW PGA Pro-Am, which saw the weather change again to probably one of the warmest days we have had this summer. With the top PGA professionals coming to play from around the region the competition again was set to be fierce.

With our own playing professional Jonathan Lupton defending his title and course record, scoring was always going to be good with the warm still conditions. Jonathan played well to come in a respectable 2nd position with a 2 under par, but with a staggering round of 5 under par and a new course record, George Cowan of Westerhope was a worthy champion.

Again, the condition of the course was applauded by all the players and I must congratulate our greenkeeping team for all their work.

We could not however rest on our laurels, as the very next day we held the Pro-am for the TSG European Long Drive Championships, another first event for us.

This was a great opportunity for our amateur teams to see these players pulverise balls, although not necessarily in the right direction!