We left England expecting the true Welsh experience but, low and behold, the sun came out and we FINALLY held a TSG event in 2020!
x12 TSGers gather to play the Celtic Manor TWENTY-TEN course.
x10 Polo Shirt competition winners and two of the TSG Team
Plus our Host, Mike Jones, Celtic Manor Ambassador, and his two guests…
…and oh, how well we were looked after by Mike!
The first thing to point out is you CAN’T get on the Twenty-Ten course before 10 am without booking through Mike.
In addition, Mike couldn’t have done any more for us, with the day/night including:
• Celtic Manor Goodie Bag for ALL, incl. PRO v1’s, Course Guide, Shoe bag and Tees
• One or two-night accommodation with a free upgrade to Deluxe Room
• Mike organised ALL our dinner reservations
• Photo on the first tee in front of Ryder Cup sign presented in a display sleeve after your round
• Celtic Manor branded Metal Bag tag with your name engraved on it
• Entry into Nearest Pin to win a free round on the TWENTY TEN or 10 years membership for a hole-in-one. Two of our group won free rounds (Damian Benstead & Dave Stevens)
TSG supplied the white Trilbys and TSG branded Polo Shirts and scorecards for everyone and TSG goodie bags for Mike’s guests.
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After much debate (in the car on the way down) we separated the players into four 4-balls.
The teams in order of teeing off on were…
Group 1 – The Gatecrashers – Not strictly comp winners but they were very welcome (Mark Crane, Richard the Great, Rob Appleby and Mark Davis – two Guests of Mike Jones)
Group 2 – The Originals – Those that joined TSG before the official launch pre-2010 (Steve Goss, John Barber and Matt Coffey plus Dave Stevens who joined June 2020)
Group 3 – The Diehards – Those that joined after 2010 but before 2012 (Gary Wilson, Ruth Brand, Pete Mayo and Tuan Nguyen)
Group 4 – The Management – The organisers (Ian Mullins, Paul Houghton, Damian Benstead and Mike Jones)
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However, we had a team event to win the inaugural TSG ‘Anniversary Cup’…
We deliberately chose not to have an individual competition, so that everyone could just enjoy the course in its full splendour!
After all the cards had been verified by Mr. Crane, he announced the winners. Who else but… THE GATECRASHERS!
Nearest Pin’s were won by No-One (8th hole), Dave Stevens (10th Hole) and Tuan Nguyen (17th hole).
The Wooden Spoon was picked up by Ian M, who scored a total of 7 pts (TOTAL!)
This two-day ‘Birthday party’ was not about scores, but about spending time with a great team of people, and to thank some of those that have helped us to make The Social Golfer what it is today.
We cannot thank Mike Jones enough for his support and commitment to this event. If you want to play Celtic Manor, contact Mike directly and invite him to play on your day.
We couldn’t have enjoyed the iconic course any more and his knowledge of the fairways and greens, and his Ryder Cup anecdotes, only make you enjoy this track even more.
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…“Just had a wonderful couple of days, which would never have happened without TSG. Thank you. Not just for Celtic Manor, but for the last ten years and everything you do to keep the site up, running and relevant. It brings a lot of pleasure to a great many people”
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“I’d like to thank you so much TSG, for not only organising a great night/day out, with goodie bags and other assorted TSG & Celtic Manor merchandise, a fantastic venue to celebrate our 10 years of social golfing… since having a PC, joining TSG has been the best decision I ever made. Here’s to the next 10 years”
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“Having had time to catch my breath again at the end of an amazing week, I just wanted to say thank you again for an exceptional experience that will live with me to the grave. For me it’s all about the experience and everything about the Celtic Manor trip was perfect: The course (exceptional!), The weather (utterly un-welsh!) but more than anything it was the company. So thank you again from the bottom of my heart and here’s to the next 10 successful years of TSG”
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“Thank you TSG for organising such a fun event which I’m so happy to have been a part of… joining TSG was one of the best decisions I have made and I have met the loveliest people. Here’s to another ten years!”
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By Ian Mullins
