Butterfield Shines Brightest in Lighthouse

Andrew Butterfield (Knole Park) shot a fabulous four-under-par 67 to win the Lighthouse Club Pro-Am at Tandridge GC. Butterfield’s performance earned him a winner’s cheque of £700, and the satisfaction of edging out the high quality trio of last year’s PGA Southern Professional champion Ben St.John (Woodcote Park), past PGA Surrey Open winner Nick Redfern (AIA Group) and Mark Hillson (Tandridge), all of whom shot 68.

The Lighthouse Club Pro-Am raised a magnificent £2,500 in aid of charity and organiser Toby Hunt was delighted with both the result and the fact he played with Butterfield and won the team event as well. “A great day all round with sixteen teams playing. It’s great to play alongside the professionals and see how golf should be played!

Hunt continued “We’ve done thirteen of these Pro-Ams now and raised well over £100,000, making an impressive contribution towards the benevolent fund for construction workers and their families.”

St.John was Butterfield’s nearest rival, but at five-under-par on the 17^th tee he then made a double bogey and fell out of the lead while Butterfield birdied the same hole to move to four-under and into pole position.

After stepping back from a playing career of sixteen years to focus on his retail and coaching business, Butterfield enjoyed a much more relaxed round of golf, as he explained. “I haven’t been practicing and working hard at my game,” he said, “I’ve been putting all my time into the shop and lessons, and helping the club reach out to local audiences and build its membership. We are making a major effort to encourage more girls to get into golf, a very and that’s where my focus is at the moment.

“Consequently, my expectations when I play in events like this are rather different, and while I got away to a great start with three birdies in the first five holes, and reached four-under by the 12^th, two bogeys on the trot at the 13^th and 14^th didn’t feel like the end of the world - and so I made a two at the 15^th for another birdie!”

Butterfield’s birdie at the 17^th and a par down the 18^th meant he won by a stroke, but he nearly needed the winner’s cheque to pay for the champagne all round when his shot to the short 3^rd stopped an inch short from a hole-in-one. He was also very impressed by Tandridge’s investment in their Colt-designed course. “Tandridge is in fantastic condition now, and the new bunkering is very impressive, as are the new tees. The net result is an exceptional inland course.”