Ryder Cup legends Darren Clarke and Sam Torrance teamed up with a star-studded cast from the worlds of sport and showbusiness to raise more than £15,000 for charity at a fun-packed golf day organised by Your Golf Travel.
Clarke and Torrance were the two captains in the Ryder Cup-style fourball event at the prestigious St George’s Hill Golf Club in Weybridge, Surrey, with all money raised going towards Help for Heroes and the Darren Clarke Foundation.
Joining the pair on the fairways for the ‘Battle on the Hill’ was a wealth of sporting talent including former England football stars Glenn Hoddle, David Seaman, Lee Dixon, Les Ferdinand and Andy Cole, New Zealand rugby union legend Zinzan Brooke and Grand National winning jockey Mick Fitzgerald.
Pop stars Brian McFadden and Keith Duffy, DJ Spoony, ‘Take Me Out – The Gossip’ television presenter Zoe Hardman and sports presenters Rishi Persad, Ben Shephard and Georgie Bingham also joined in the fun alongside three-time Flat racing champion Frankie Dettori, who attended the evening entertainment as he continues his recovery from a broken ankle.
And it was 2011 Open champion Clarke’s team who took the golf honours on the day as they claimed a narrow 11-9 victory against 2002 Ryder Cup–winning captain Torrance’s side.
Each fourball enjoyed the privilege of playing one hole with either Clarke or Torrance and both captains were in great form on and off the course with Clarke – like Dettori, a Your Golf Travel ambassador – playing one stretch of five holes in five-under-par at one point.
Other golfing highlights included beat the pro and longest putt competitions before the action switched to the clubhouse for an evening of entertainment hosted by Bingham and Persad.
After enjoying a pre-dinner question-and-answer session with Clarke and Torrance, guests were treated to a three-course dinner and charity auction before having the opportunity to put their wits against each other in a floodlit nearest-the-pin contest, teeing off from St George’s Hill’s clubhouse terrace.
Ross Marshall, co-founder of Your Golf Travel with Andrew Harding, said: “Darren and Sam were on fine form and it was fantastic that so many well-known faces could join them to raise money for two such deserving causes.
“There was a lot of laughter and banter between the two teams, both on the course and in the clubhouse afterwards, and that contributed to a memorable day for everyone who took part.”