Dalepak and Golf, the Pro-Am
THE WAVE of Dalepak red shirts striding purposefully into view on the fairway horizon at the Northamptonshire County Golf Club made an impressive sight in the July evening sunshine.
Even more impressive was the fact that one of the three teams entered in Dalepak’s name as part of its sponsorship of that club’s Pro/Am tournament, emerged as clear five shot winners on a day when 140 golfers buzzed during an exhilarating day, from dawn to dusk.
No-one who is familiar with Dalepak’s sponsorship of local sport will be surprised to learn that youth was at the heart of the picture. Two of the firm’s three teams comprised of Northants junior players, including the winners, with experienced pros in each case adding a wise old (club!) head.
County club professional and coach Nick Soto continues to be backed by Dalepak himself, and just a fortnight after tackling qualifying for the British Open at the Fairmont course near St Andrews, both he and Northants PGA chairman Shane Rose reflected on a glowing success for Dalepak’s involvement in youth, sport and the local community.
Nick said: “Shane and I have this year started coaching the county junior team which gives you an enormous amount of satisfaction when you see how quickly they take pieces of advice on board and move forward.
“Dalepak’s sponsorship of our Pro/Am meant we were able to enter two junior teams and we held a play-off session for the final five places from seven of the squad as we had already decided to hand one of the places to the county junior champion Jack Walding.”
The winning Dalepak team comprised Walding, Kyson Lloyd and Brad Green with coach Rose as the ‘pro’ while the other juniors: Dan Ashcroft, Taylor Sargeant and Lewis Miller, partnered Carl Sainsbury. The other Dalepak team was made up of Stourbridge pro’ Leigh Jones, Glyn Jones, Dave Griffiths and Fred Mansell.
Soto added: “To win a pro-am by five shots is a massive amount but the great fact about the day was that everyone stayed around afterwards and contributed to an excellent occasion.
“The Regional PGA Secretary John Sewell thanked Dalepak and its MD Mick White for its support and we also raised money for charities, the main one being Guide Dogs For The Blind. When a company such as Dalepak is putting in this sort of backing it is so important to have a showpiece event when everyone gets together and there is a great atmosphere.
“The first tee off was at 8am and the last one at 3pm and with a nice meal in the evening the whole day went on until 10.30pm.”
One of the abiding memories remains the Dalepak teams smartly decked out in their red shirts and black trousers and Soto admitted the sight forced him into a second take as they marched up the fairway.
This was a point re-enforced by Rose who said: “It was great to see the lads not only looking like a team but also playing like a team. They are a great bunch of lads who work very hard at their games but to be given the chance to play 18 holes with a pro in a Pro/Am doesn’t happen very often. Without the opportunity to play and compete the lads cannot gain that little bit of extra experience they need to help improve their standard of golf.”
Dalepak MD, Mick White, with the Northants County Pro-Am
