Yorkshire golf: Horsforth father and son David and Craig Vine on road to Morocco

Eleven-handicapper Craig, who has only recently returned to the game after a 10-year hiatus, and his father David scored 43 points at Oulton Hall to win the the Morocco Matchplay northern regional pairs final.

Their prize is complimentary return flights to Morocco, five nights’ accommodation at the five-star Sofitel Essaouira Mogador Golf & Spa hotel, and a place alongside 30 other grand final competitors, which will include the qualifiers from the competition’s three other categories - singles, mixed pairs and senior pairs.

The Vines, who had to battle their way through a series of match play rounds to reach Oluton Hall, triumphed there after an inauspicious start by Craig.

“He had a shot on the first hole and he made a mess of it, but I sank a long putt for a birdie, which made up for it,” said David, a self-employed builder.

David more than made amends during a round which included a handful of net birdies by the pair, including at the last where Vine jnr made the most of his shot on the hole by chipping in for a gross par, net birdie.

“We played quite solidly and holed quite a few putts between us, which helped,” said Craig, who is director of, and runs, Simply Carpets & Beds in Horsforth, where he was back at work within a couple of hours of his victory.

It was Craig who saw the advert for the competition on line and decided to give it a shot.

Now he and his father will head for Morocco in February where they will play at Golf de Mogador, a highly-rated Gary Player-designed links-style course.

Competing in Wednesday’s singles competition are Peter Hall (Hessle), Neil Bulmer (Catterick), Euan London (Pannal), Malcolm Crowson (Oulton Hall) and Peter Wabel (Beauchief).

Two White Rose duos will participate in the senior pairs including Graham Sugden and Andrew Maddock (Hickleton).

Crowson has qualified not only for the singles, but also the seniors pairs with Roy Pickup (Low Laithes).

As well as four rounds of golf at Golf de Mogador, grand final participants will receive a welcome reception and cocktail evening, and a final night presentation gala dinner.

The event has been sponsored for a second year by the Moroccan National Tourist Office, whose director for UK and Ireland, Amine Boughaleb, said: “Last year was the centenary of golf in Morocco and, fittingly, the first year our country was the title sponsor of the HowDidiDo Matchplay. The event was such a huge success, however, for both the participants and Morocco, that we were only too happy to renew our association with the competition.

“We are confident that the excellent facilities on offer at both the hotel and golf course will leave the lucky 32 golfers keen to return to see more of our beautiful country.”

Morocco has 29 golf courses to be enjoyed in year-round sunshine - plus 11 more under construction - and is less than a three-and-a-half flight from the UK.

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