Worfield Golf Club fly the flag for Great Britain & Ireland
Worfield Golf Club fly the flag for Great Britain & Ireland
Worfield's overall score of 114 put them in a very respectable equal 10th place, 11th on countback. The John Deere Team Championship title went to the Australian team who finished on 103, narrowly beating the American team from Hesperia, California with a total score of 104. This is the first time a team outside North America has won the Championship.
The competition got off to a great start for the Worfield team - made up of club chairman Trevor Williams, secretary William Weaver, professional Steve Russell, greenkeeper Mike Fowkes and John Deere dealer salesman Pete Worthy of John Osman Groundcare, Oswestry, Shropshire - with a first day score of 16 under par.
"Then on the second day we were absolutely flying round, and after nine holes found ourselves 12 under," said William Weaver. "Unfortunately the back nine weren't so good and we finished day two 14 under. It was very tight towards the end, which made for an exciting competition, and well done to the Australian boys who got the title and the trophy."
Asked for his view of the trip, William simply replied "Awesome. This was a once in a lifetime trip and we were determined to make the most of it. In the end we played six days of golf altogether."
In addition to the two days of practice and two days of competition at the John Deere World Championship, the team managed to squeeze in a day at Troon North on their first day in Arizona and finished their trip with a round at TPC, Scottsdale before catching the flight home.
The team was accompanied to America by Andy Campbell, chairman of the British & International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA) and by Eddie Donlon, president of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of Ireland (GCSAI). Both organisations were presented with donations from John Deere Limited at the World Finals, in support of BIGGA's and GCSAI's educational activities.
John Deere Limited contributes £25 for every team that enters the competition and, with 426 teams taking part this year in Great Britain & Ireland, this amounted to a total of £10,650. In Britain, this funding will be used to support BIGGA's Continue to Learn workshops in Harrogate in January, and the Turf Managers' Conference at Staverton Park, Northamptonshire in March.