Lions on the Links – A Glorious Day at Formby

What a day! Formby Golf Club was looking glorious, the sun was out, and the Lions rolled in at 11:30 ready for action - or at least ready for soup and sandwiches. And what a soup it was; a delicious carrot and coriander that got everyone in the swing of things.

After a bit of lunch and banter, we hit the links for the first tee at 1pm. The format was Stableford, played in a mix of 3- and 4-balls. The two 3-ball teams were each assigned a "ghost" player from one of the 4-ball teams to keep things fair - and as it turned out, quite interesting...

The golf was as competitive as ever, with some impressive scoring all round. After the final putt dropped, we headed back to the clubhouse for well-earned drinks and some stunning views across the course as the sun set over the towering pines and Irish Sea.

Dinner didn’t disappoint either - we were treated to roasted porchetta or baked cod, followed by banoffee cheesecake or cheese and biscuits to finish. A New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and Italian Chianti kept the Lions well nourished.

Then came the prizes - and here’s where things got fun. Mark Coulthurst somehow managed to be on both the second-place team (as a ghost!) and the winning team. Ghosts clearly have the edge.

 2nd Place (88 points):

Julian Wood, Mark Watson, Graham Oakes & Ghost Player Mark Coulthurst

 1st Place (91 points):

Brian Lawlor, Mark Coulthurst, Mark Bardsley & Timothy Taylor

And a big shoutout to Alan Ainscow, who was presented with a special award for scoring the only hole-in-one of 2024/25 - nailed at Childwall on May 2nd, 2024. Nice one, Alan!

The Lions were in fine form, plenty of laughs were had, and it was just brilliant to see everyone. Roll on the next outing!