ONE player in the annual Wooden Spoon charity golf tournament, sponsored this year by Celton Manx, went home with a very large smile on his face after his hole-in-one won him a £20,000 car.
Lee Worsfold managed to hole his tee shot on the par three 16th hole at Castletown this afternoon - winning the fabulous prize, sponsored by the local BMW Mini dealers Buchanan.
Loud celebrations were heard on the 17th tee as Lee, a 16 handicap player, turned away after hitting his 7 iron shot roll towards the hole. His prize was a brand new Mini Countryman.
“It wasn’t the most stylish shot, but it went in the hole and that’s what matters,” said Lee who works for Barclays Wealth. “If you play the ball to the left on the 16th and let it run down towards the hole then you can sometimes get close. Today, it just kept going and eventually dropped into the hole.
"I wasn't looking when it dropped," he said. "When I hit it I thought that it was a pretty good shot and thought to myself - 'two putts and I'll get a par and three points'. Then I heard the players on the 17th tee shouting and saw them waving. I couldn't believe it.
"We all walked to the green and all looked into the hole at the same time and there it was - my ball in the bottom of the hole. Fantastic. After that my game went to pieces - I couldn't think about anything else except 'I've won a car, I've won a car.’ "
The timing of the hole-in-one couldn't have been better. Lee had a bizarre car accident with his Mondeo at Christmas when he reversed into a steel girder and caused considerable damage to the vehicle, to the point where it was written off.
"We live close to work, so my wife Karen and I decided not to get another car for a while and walk to work instead. We've been talking just recently about getting another car, so when this happened on the golf course I couldn't believe it. It's fantastic."
There is one drawback with winning the prize - the rules of golf state that an amateur player cannot win a prize of substantial value unless you are a professional. So, Lee will have to turn “professional” for a few years before playing in any club competitions in the future.
It's not a decision which took too long to make.
