Yorkshire golf: Horsforth GC father and son pairing preparing for Morocco

FATHER and son David and Craig Vine are counting down the days to hitting the road to Morocco.
Horsforth GC's David and Craig Vine.Horsforth GC's David and Craig Vine.
Horsforth GC's David and Craig Vine.

The Horsforth GC pairing qualified last year for next month’s grand final of the 2015 Morocco Matchplay, powered by HowDidiDo, in the pairs section.

Vine, 59, a four-handicapper, and his son, company director Craig, 31, who plays off 11, will be among 32 amateur golfers from across the UK and Ireland heading to the five-star Sofitel Essaouira Mogador Golf & Spa hotel, in an event sponsored for a second year by the Moroccan National Tourist Office.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The finalists - in the singles, pairs, mixed pairs and senior pairs’ competitions - played up to four qualifying rounds to reach their regional UK final.

The Vines were playing together as a pair for the first time – son Craig having returned to the game after a 10-year hiatus - and won their trip to Morocco by amassing 43 points in October’s northern regional final at Oulton Hall.

They will enjoy complimentary return flights to Morocco, five nights’ accommodation at the Sofitel hotel overlooking the Atlantic, and four rounds of golf at nearby Golf de Mogador, in Essaouira.

Participants will also receive a welcome reception and cocktail evening, and a final night presentation gala dinner.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The highly-rated Gary Player-designed links-style course at Golf de Mogador, which dates from 2009, demands long carries between tees and fairways, as the vegetation and sand shape the layout.

The Moroccan National Tourist Office’s director for UK and Ireland, Amine Boughaleb, said: “We’re looking forward to welcoming the matchplay finalists to Essaouira for the second final to be hosted in our country. 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 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.”

HowDidiDo holds in excess of 21m rounds of golf along with the handicaps, results and scores of more than 1.3m UK golf club members.

Around 2,000 golf clubs and more than 460,000 golfers currently use the HowDidiDo system.

Related topics: