Caddy Stag Do at Wokefield Park Golf Club (April 2012)

On Friday I headed to Wokefield Park Golf Club in Berkshire to caddy for Chris on his stag weekend. I was as prepared as I could possibly be for the awful weather that was predicted for the day.

I met up with the team Chris, Chris, Anthony and Simon before tee off which came as a complete surprise to the Stag! Little did he know I was to be caddying with some very strict rules for him to follow! For the round he was to play off the women’s tee using very cute pink golf balls (this I thought was a distinct advantage for him) however there were other forfeits in play so it wasn’t as easy as I first thought.

We started off on the first tee just as the hailstones began to fall; this was the beginning of our extreme game of golf. There were some good shots and some not so good ones but all in all the guys all played fairly well considering the weather wasn’t on our side and they had drunk a few beers! A special mention for Anthony as on the 4th hole he sunk an excellent chip out of the right hand side bunker! He was so pleased looking at his team mates for recognition only to be told nobody had seen it! Don’t worry Anthony, I saw it and I was impressed!

After the round we headed back to the clubhouse for a drink and to discuss the extreme round of golf we had just played. There were some very good comical moments (not all golf related) for those that can remember! I must admit I haven’t laughed quite like that for a long time…. Thank you guys for a really fantastic and unique round of golf that I certainly will not forget in a hurry!!

Chris, Chris, Anthony and Simon @ Wokefield Park

The Variety Club Captain’s Day 2012

Louise, Claire & Russ @ The Variety Club Captain's Day

Last Friday I was honoured to caddy for the fabulous Russ Abbott who is the Captain of The Variety Club Golf Society this year which is an amazing charity that provides Sunshine coaches for children. It was so much fun to be part of Captain’s Day at Walton Heath Golf Club sponsored by John Campbell and Gavin Wilding.

It was a wonderful atmosphere throughout the day and all for such a great cause. Our team consisted of 3 players, Russ who had the good fortune to have myself to caddy for him, Gavin who had Rebecca as his caddy and Pip Burley who was paired with Louise. On our way round the stunning Old Course at Walton Heath, all 6 of us had many giggles and I spent most of my time entertaining the lucky, Russ Abbott with 3 of my very best jokes! I did warn him though I want royalties if I hear them appear in his comedy material hehe

The new children’s Sunshine Coach was graciously received by the very inspirational children from Heritage House School, Chesham, Bucks School.

It is always a huge pleasure to be part of such a good charity golf day such as this! See you at the next golf day!

Louise, Pip, Rebecca, Gavin, Claire & Russ @ The Variety Club Captain's Day

Animal Health Trust Golf Tournament 2011

Eye Candy Abby at the Animal Health Trust Golf Tournament

What an honour and privilege it was to be invited back to caddy at the annual Animal Health Trust Golf Tournament in Jersey. I was extremely excited to be travelling to Jersey with our Eye Candy Representative Abby to join with them and help raise more money for this extremely worthwhile charity.

The Animal Health Trust exists to fight disease and injury in animals. Thanks to their pioneering work improving diagnosis, treatment and prevention, horses, dogs and cats are living healthier, happier lives – in the UK and across the world.

Our event organisers for the golf day were Bunny Roberts and Annalisa Jones. After liaising for weeks about flight details, accommodation, and our duties for the day, we finally arrived in Jersey to be met at the airport for our caddying.

In the evening we were welcomed to Bunny’s house for a lovely informal canapé evening where we met many of the golfers that we would be caddying for the following day. It was a really good way of meeting everyone and familiarising ourselves with everyone’s names before the event. However there was one person who arrived that I know everyone remembers…. It was none other than my dear friend Tommy Horton MBE. What a lovely surprise to catch up with him again after the Par 3 Championship.

The following morning Abby and I put on our caddy uniforms and styled our hair ready for our day caddying. It was a beautiful morning and it was so lovely to see the sun rise across The Royal Jersey Golf Club. I knew at that moment we were going to have a perfect day and that the sun would be shining down on us. I didn’t think the sun would be a hot as it actually was!

We helped Annalisa with registration and selling mulligan’s for the day until it was time to make our way to the course for tee off. I was stationed at the 1st tee and Abby at the 10th. I spent the whole day caddying between the 1st tee and the 18th green. Quickly moving between the 2 holes so I didn’t miss any golf shots. I saw some fantastic golf and more importantly enjoyed the very enthusiastic atmosphere of all the golfers. Everyone was enjoying themselves and there wasn’t ever a dull moment.

As the last team finished on the 18th hole I made my way into the clubhouse for the very yummy lunch. Whilst everyone was discussing their rounds Abby and I assisted with selling raffle tickets to all the guests. We had 2 books of raffle tickets each and both of us raced each other to sell both books! I think Abby won the raffle ticket race and did fantastically well. Luckily there was a spare book so we continued to sell until that book was gone too. We raised £1,880 from the ticket sales alone!

There was also an auction during dinner which had very exclusive items for the guests to bid on. The very quirky and quick witted Richard Phillips was the auctioneer and made everyone laugh throughout with his silly puns. I know his sense of humour and very clever convincing skills helped raise £2,720 for the auction. In total the money raise for The Animal Health Trust was £24,950!

After our coffees it was time for Abby and I to catch our flights home. (I was very lucky as I had Peter Webbon the chief exec. for The Animal Health Trust as my chaperone to Gatwick). I was very sad that the golf day had ended and I wished I could have stayed for longer in Jersey. I will certainly be going back very soon and will call on my friend Tommy for a round of golf!

A big thank you to Bunny for inviting the Eye Candy Caddies to be part of the Animal Health Trust Golf Tournament 2011. We had such an amazing time with you and all the golfers. But more importantly we really enjoyed helping you raise more money for the Animal Health Trust. Such a great charity with a team of really special people who make it a huge success. You all do a great job and the animals are very lucky to have you!

Eye Candy Caddies play golf at the VPAR golf day (Oct 2011)

The Eye Candy Caddies at Mannings Heath Golf Club

What a fabulous honour it was to be asked to play golf at the VPAR golf day at Mannings Heath Golf Club in West Sussex. After a meeting with Rob Scrambler to discuss the Eye Candy Caddies using the VPAR Scoring system for our events, I was sent an invite to their golf day for a first hand experience of using the handheld WIFI scoring devices.

So I contacted our “golf playing” caddies to help make up our “Eye Candy” team for the VPAR day. The lovely Amy Graham (handicap 26) was to be our female golfer with her Eye Candy Caddy – Nick, and our Eye Candy Caddy – Scott (handicap 15) was to be our other golfer and lucky Scott had me as his caddy. It was so nice to have the Eye Candy Caddy boys out with us for the day. The other half of our team was Larry and Sean from Elitegolfdays.com who both were great fun to play with and very very good golfers!!!!

We set off with haste to hole10 for our shotgun start. As we reached the 10th tee the sun made an appearance which was a very welcomed surprise. As we progressed through the course we kept checking our position within the competition on the VPAR to find that we were the leading team for the first 9 holes. We were all very impressed with the VPAR’s ability to calculate the points for us quickly and update the scoreboard. It also has a leader board view which gave us a sneak preview at how the other teams were doing! Having the VPAR certainly did make for a much easier round and added a little extra competitive edge to the golf.

Amy was very modest about her excellent golfing skills, she came 19th in the whole competition and all the caddies were all very proud of her! Eye Candy Scott had some very interesting shots throughout the round but true to his spontaneous nature, he tended to choose the “crazy club” option which always seems to work for him!

After the round we enjoyed a delicious 3 course meal whilst discussing our good and bad shots of the day. We all agreed that we were very impressed with the VPAR Scoring system and can see the huge benefits for having this at every golf day.

Jason, Rob and the VPAR team did a great job of hosting a fantastic golf day showcasing how brilliant the VPAR scoring system is. Thank you very much for inviting us Eye Candy Caddies to play golf with you we had a fantastic day.

We are really looking forward to using VPAR at our golf day in October and all the others after that!

Eye Candy Caddies & The Elite Golf Days Team

Charity Caddying for the UK Bullion Team (Sep 2011)

Caddying for UK Bullion Team in Sheffield

The Eye Candy Caddies arrived at Tankersley Golf Club in Sheffield to caddy for the UK Bullion team in their charity golf competition. We met Harry, Antz, Matt and Dan at the clubhouse with our trolleys ready for our day caddying!

What a fab day and such glorious weather! The day was full of laughter, fun and some healthy competition. With a few pro-golfers in the group it was useful to learn a few more golfing tips and techniques.

As there were four of us caddies, one for each golfer, it created a very upbeat atmosphere which we all appreciated for the long walk around the very hilly course.

As it was our time to leave they mentioned they should have booked us for the charity dinner too, oh well next time!

We look forward to seeing you all again very soon!

Eye Candy Caddies & The UK Bullion Team

The Eye Candy Caddies at Celtic Manor (Sep 2011)

On the 14th of September I was the designated Eye Candy Driver and Caddy for our most flamboyant and golf crazed client Roger Southam, chairman of Chainbow. He was awarded the 62nd position in the RESI 100. This is the recognition of the top 100 most influential people in property put together following a survey conducted by Property Week. So of course this was to be celebrated with golf and a conference at the beautiful Celtic Manor resort in Wales. This accolade was a proud moment for Roger and we were very honoured to be caddying for him for his round of golf.

We arrived at Celtic Manor with the sun rising up and warming the beautiful welsh countryside. Today we were playing on the Montgomerie Course with our team mates Richard Cotton, Chris Lacey and Nigel Carter. I had a very luxurious round caddying as we were supplied with buggies instead of using our pink trolleys. Boy was I glad of the buggy as some of the gradients on this course could only be described as mountains!

The team was in very good spirits and what with the beautiful sun and views we headed out for our shotgun start off the 1st Tee. The whole round was fantastic and everyone played very well. Roger’s drives were particularly great on the day!

After our 18 holes we headed back to the bar for our team drink with discussions of the round, the course and how we all played. After our drinks Roger and the others stayed on for their RESI conference whilst I headed back to the office. It was a really superb day and we were very lucky that the weather was kind to us.

Well done Roger!

The Eye Candy Caddies at Celtic Manor

The Caddies help raise money at the Alf Kennedy Golf Classic (September 2011)

Eye Candy Caddy Rebecca & Martin Kennedy

On 9th September I was invited to caddy at the Alf Kennedy Golf Classic held at Kingswood Golf Club in Surrey. The golf day was in aid of the Variety Club which is dedicated to improving the lives of children and young people who need our help.

For 60 years The Variety Club Children’s Charity has been helping sick, disabled and disadvantaged children and young people. They provide Sunshine Coaches, electric wheelchairs, outings to exciting places, equip children’s hospitals and help in many other ways. They concentrate on giving help where help is needed, and being the small change which makes a huge difference to the lives of children and young people across the country.

I arrived at Kingswood Golf Club at 8.30 to be briefed with my Eye Candy Caddy duties for the day. Soon after it was time for a superb breakfast before heading out on the putting green. My first task of the day was to make sure every golfer paid their entrance fee and participated in the putting competition. We managed to raise nearly £400! That was an incredibly good way to start the charity day.

My next task was to caddy for Rod Harrington and his team of golfers which were David, Mike and Mickey. They couldn’t believe their luck as I approached the first tee with my pink trolley! David was soon to claim the trolley for his clubs and off we went. There was a varying degree of good shots mixed in with a few extremely close putts. At the Halfway house I was to change team for the last 9 holes.

At the 9th hole Gavin Wilding was quick to allocate my caddy services to his team which was Darryl King, Paul Wood and Nick Kennedy the son of Martin Kennedy and grandson of Alf Kennedy who the golf day was named after. It was certainly an entertaining 9 holes with Paul having a joke or a song for every hole. By the 18th hole the team had begun to tire and poor Darryl still had his vocal set to sing later at the dinner!

By the time I got back to the clubhouse it was a quick costume change and back to the Sunshine Coach presentation. It was really good to see all the organising team congratulated as they had all worked so hard to make this golf day a success. There was an incredible emotional moment where one of the youngsters Jordan, from Milestone School who were to benefit from the coach, gave his own thanks to the golfers. What a wonderful way to really drive home the message about how these children really need our support. He said that without the donations they wouldn’t be able to go out on trips and how the money really does help them all have more fun in their lives. He was a real credit to the school and the confidence he had to speak to an adult crowd was heart-warming.

It was then time for the dinner, prizes and auction. The evening was a great way to end this fantastic charity golf day. The food was absolutely superb along with the great entertainment by David Redfearn the magician who had the whole room mesmerised with all his mind reading tricks. I assisted with displaying the auction items and was very honoured to be asked by Martin Kennedy to award the prizes for the day.

The evening passed by so quickly and before I knew it, it was time to go home. I left Kingswood in such high spirits after the event. I met so many wonderful people throughout the day all there in aid of such a worthwhile cause. I’m looking forward to next year already and hope to bring along some more caddies!

Golfing Celebrities & Pupils from the Milestone School

Dave’s Golf Stag Day (August 2011)

Eye Candy Caddies Abby & Claire out on course

Caddying for Dave’s stag do in Essex was a fantastic day. Organised as a surprise by his friend Andrew, on arrival Dave was extremely pleased as well as shocked of our presence. We waited in full Eye Candy caddy uniform with our pink trolleys to greet Dave and from this moment on the whole day was full of laughter, fun and lots of sunshine.

Its amazing how all the caddy training we have pays off once on the course and I knew more about golf than I thought. Andrew asked me to choose his club for him on many occasions and he played some very good shots with my clubs of choice! They couldn’t thank us enough for the day and after Dave’s past experience with the traditional caddies he has used he said that he would most definitely use us again for our complete professionalism as well as providing fun.

They loved the additions of cleaning their clubs, handing them the correct club before they asked and quoted how impressed they were. They had never heard of Eye Candy Caddies before yet had simply googled for caddies and up came us. They said they would recommend us again to anyone. All this helped by lots of sunshine and lots of fun chats.

Thank you Rebecca for organising such a lovely day!

Par 3 Golf Championships (August 2011)

Tommy Horton (MBE), Lee Brandenburg & Frank Christian at Par 3 Championships

On Monday 8th of August I arrived at Nailcote Hall to check in for my week’s stay at the Par 3 Championship sponsored by Farmfoods and managed by Champions UK. I met Rick and Sue Cressman who were to be our very busy hosts for the next few days!

An early start of 7.30am for me on Tuesday morning. Rick told me about the format of the day and which celebrities would be attending. He introduced me to Frank Worthington a former English footballer who I was to caddy for the first round. And boy what a round this was! Frank was in high spirits and couldn’t believe his luck to have an Eye Candy Caddy for his 18 holes of golf! He spoke to many spectators on his way and told many jokes which entertained the masses. My second round of caddying was for the “Lee Brandenburg” team. I divided my time for all four golfers and assisted with selecting their putters and tending the flag. This was to be the beginning of a few consistent days of caddying for the Brandenburg team! To finish my afternoon of caddying I was sent to assist the DJ Spoony team. As I arrived for the last 9 holes all the golfers seemed to be very settled into their round of golf. DJ Spoony didn’t disappoint with his excellent drives and very accurate putts! After my day caddying I went to my room to change for the evening’s entertainment which consisted of a delicious 3 course meal, silent auction hosted by the very talented (and funny) Willie Thorne and musical entertainment from an X Factor finalist called Laura. I was lucky enough to be sat with the horse riding legend Bob Champion and the “Social Golfers” team who in fact were the winning team from the day’s competition.

Another early start on Wednesday to caddy again but this time for professional and amateur teams. I caddied for Carl Mason and Lee Brandenburg who were playing with Glen Ralph & Steve Yates. I saw some exceptional golf from this team especially from Carl with his excellent drives which sat very comfortably on the greens. Lee Brandenburg or should I say (Frank Sinatra) sang his way around the course in between his shots. The crowds were entertained and at one point he even had the grandstand as his backing singers! It certainly was a very unique moment and one I think we will all treasure. Thank you Lee.

On Thursday I was to caddy for Glenn Ralph and Douglas Breen very early in the morning. Luckily the weather was on our side and we managed to have a great round with some very accurate putts from Glenn. After lunch I made my way back out to the 1st Tee to caddy for Lee Brandenburg and Carl Mason again. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be entertained with funny anecdotes from Lee about his long history and passion he has with golf. Of course he sang his songs to the spectators between holes. Both Carl and Glenn were exceptional sports encouraging both Lee and Doug with some golfing stories of their own.

The Eye Candy Caddies at the Par 3 Championships

Friday was to be the last day of the Par3 Championship and it was certainly a golfing Finale to remember. The whole atmosphere was electric and what with all the famous celebrities it made for a very glamorous star studded day. In the afternoon I caddied for Tommy Horton MBE, Frank Christian with his trusty partner Elliott Garside, Lee Brandenburg and Douglas Breen. Our group was joined by a special “eye candy caddy” called Nicky who wore the Eye Candy T-shirt with pride. Nicky is the mother of the young and very talented Elliott who for a 14 year old played some exceptional golf! We all had a lot of fun whilst walking the Par3 course and what an honour and privilege it was to be in the company of Tommy Horton MBE.

After the round it was time to change into our evening attire and enjoy the exquisite Gala Ball that Rick, Sue and Champions UK had worked so hard to make perfect. They surpassed all great expectations with another prize filled auction compared again by Willie Thorne, another fabulous 3 course dinner. Half way through our meals there was to be a fire drill….With bated breath we all looked to our host for our exits but we didn’t have to leave our seats as suddenly the fireman began to sing which turned into an operatic performance of some scale as the lead female vocalist was sat having dinner with us all! We were very lucky to have Andy Abraham and a James Tribute band to get us all up dancing for the rest of the evening! The week past by far too quickly for my liking, but it created so many great memories, friendships, and an abundance of golfing fun.

The Par3 Championship continues its success in being an amazing golf spectacular and one I will always recommend to anyone whether they play golf or not. This event is not to be missed and I look forward to seeing you all there next year!

Thank you Rick and Sue for your kind and generous hospitality. Nailcote Hall is a perfect setting for any retreat (and not just golfing ones!!) and I’m looking forward to coming back to see you soon!

Stephen’s Golf Stag Day (July 2011)

Eye Candy Caddies & Stephen's Stag Party

After travelling 3 hours by car in torrential rain I arrived at The Belfry armed with waterproofs and hats for our day caddying for Stephen “the stag” and his friends. Much to my surprise as soon as Stephen arrives suddenly we are blessed with the glorious English sunshine. Thank you Stephen for bringing it with you! Today the golfers were playing on the Brabazon course.

The Eye Candy Caddies for the day were Ali, Abby and I. We met the 3 teams of stags in the bar and settled into our seats to hear about the fines and penalties the best man has created for them to administer throughout the round. All the penalties had their own unique name. To name a few: wife’s sister – out of bounds, Davy Jones locker – ball in water, beach – ball in bunker and grow a pair – not making ladies tee. All the golfers had points awarded for each of theses penalties which were totted up at the end and exchanged for drinks.

With their golf clubs at the ready we head for the first tee. The caddies watch on with a few cheers as Stephen drives his ball off clearly into the fairway. As we watch all the stags tee off and head out onto the course and the Caddies make our way to the Halfway House for their mid round refreshments.

Eye Candy Caddies & Stephen's Stag Party

The teams all passed through the halfway house after a bottle of beer and onto the 10th hole! This is where a few of the Davey Jones Locker penalties were accrued for sure. They continued their round and finished back at the clubhouse where the caddies had strategically moved tables and chairs and made sure there was a pint waiting on the table for everyone. We all chatted about the good, the bad and the ugly shots throughout their round. We then watched on as the stags all heard their forfeits from the penalties.

The best man ???? Had brought along toy soldiers and these were given out to each stag and to be used throughout the rest of their evening. Every time the whistle blew they had to adopt the position of their toy soldier. We had given Stephen the soldier standing on one leg so this would become very entertaining as their evening went on.

As 7pm was drawing nearer the caddies wished Stephen all the best for his wedding and said our goodbyes to the other stag’s. We had a great time with Stephen and his friends for his stag do and we are looking forward to seeing them all again very soon!