The 24th annual Kingswood Golf Day took place on the 28th of December. A record entry of 258 golfers took to the course, and enjoyed the day together.
The annual Kingswood Golf Day saw 258 golfers taking part in blustery east wind conditions. The day turned out to one of our most successful golf days in the 24 year history. Our thanks go to all the golfers and friends who attended both the day as well as the evening festivities.
The day was a great reunion for the Kingswood family – we had OKs from as far afield as UK, Ireland, Zambia, Hong Kong, and Australia join us for a day of golf and camaraderie. We must thank the Royal Port Alfred Golf Club for hosting a wonderful event – the course was in fantastic condition and the staff were extremely helpful throughout the day. Kingswood also thanks all our amazing sponsors, helpers and those who took part in the day, especially those from other local schools that supported this event – your support is much appreciated.
The prize giving has become an event in itself and was supported by 170 OKs and friends who joined us for the evening. Jackie Grove, wife of our College Head, Leon, handed out the prizes to all the various winners and auctioneer Brendan Wicks handled the auction superbly. We were also honoured to have the evergreen Gift Gardner (who incidentally turns 90 next week) present the Steve Gardner Memorial Trophy in honour of her son Steve (OK 1976), to this year’s champion OK golfer, Pete Andrew (OK 1977).
This trophy is awarded to the champion Old Kingswoodian Golfer in honour of OK Steve Gardner who had a passion for golf and served the Port Alfred Golf Club in various capacities. He too loved Kingswood where he matriculated in 1976 and later returned to as Business Manager – a position that he held for many years. His contribution to Kingswood was immeasurable and under his watch Kingswood went from strength to strength. It was thus fitting that the OK Club took the decision to honour Steve by presenting this award in his honour to recognize his immense contribution to both Kingswood and the Royal Port Alfred Golf Club.
The atmosphere in the Golf Club was electric and the festive spirit continued late into the night!
We do need to make special mention of all our sponsors who so generously contribute to the success of the day – many of which have sponsored all 24 golf days that have taken place to date. Every one of you are appreciated and special mention must go to the major sponsors:
- Mr Derek Whitfield/EDRS (Environmental Drilling and Remediation Services)
- Mr Ashley Whitfield/Kelly Tillage Systems
- Mr Angus Sholto-Douglas/Kwandwe Private Game Reserve
- Mr Trevor Lombard/Pumba Private Game Reserve
- Mrs Melissa Roberts/Fort d’Acre Game Reserve
- Mr Michael-John Damant/Genoa Underwriting Managers
This year we introduced two new events that were incorporated into the golf day. Our thanks to brothers Ashley (Kelly Tillage Systems) and Derek Whitfield (EDRS) who sponsored a prize of R200 000 for a hole-in-one on the 13th hole as well as a very successful “Chip and Dip” competition that took place on the practice green. Sadly nobody managed to score the hole-in-one to claim the R200K prize but there were three lucky winners at the Chip and Dip competition. The Whitfield families spent many hours in the wind and sun manning these two events and we need to express our gratitude to them for their contribution to the fun and success of the day.
Our final thanks to all those who assisted us on the day with registration, the handing out of prizes and trophies and the general running of the event. Days like this are not possible without these vital role players. We thank you!
| Prize | Player/s | Points |
| Steve Gardner Trophy-Champion Old Kingswoodian Golfer | Pete Andrew | 41 |
| 1st Place (St Aidans Cup) | Tony Stock and Dale Reid | 48 |
| 2nd Place | Simon Wormald and Hugh Wormald | 46 |
| 3rd Place | Carl van Zyl and George van Heerden | 46 |
| 4th Place | Dale Wicks and Dave Easy | 45 |
| 5th Place | Ross Meyer and James Meyer | 45 |
| 6th Place | Chris Roberts and Damon Weeks | 44 |
| 7th Place | Pete Andrew and Simon Matthews | 44 |
| 8th Place | Malcolm McKenzie and Jill Lake | 43 |
| 9th Place | Scott Milner Wesley Verweis | 43 |
| 10th Place | Divan Lombard and Marius Lombard | 43 |
| Nearest to the pin for 2 on the 1st | Anton Emslie | |
| Nearest to the pin on the 6th | Joe Knight | |
| Nearest to the pin on the 8th | Rob Wilmot | |
| Nearest to the pin on the 11th | Rob Wilmot | |
| Nearest to the pin on the 13th | Gary Junkin |
