Welcome to this weeks newsletter. We start this week with a round-up of the activity so far on the tennis courts.

 

A great start to the holiday season for the tennis section at Thurlestone Golf Club. Four 'Cup events' have already taken place with good numbers and fine weather.

The Woodhead Cup, a senior mixed doubles event, had a young feel to it with Georgina and Charlie Witter taking on twins Giles and Isobel Barron (all still at school) in the final. After saving 4 match points, the twins won the match on a convincing tie break.

The July and Lepere Cups had a total of 40 children battling it out for honours. In the July Cup 10-13 years, Alexandra Witter and Lucy Cleverly came out worthy winners while in the older age group 14-18 years, the Lepere Cup saw Charlie Witter and Isobel Barron paired together to defeat Giles Barron and Ellie Bewes in an exciting 6-4 finals set.


The 'Quaich' which combines golf and tennis, junior and adult in an all day event attracted 10 pairs. The 9 hole Greensome Stableford in the morning produced top scores of 22 points with the games score from the afternoon tennis added to get the total score. 

This all went down to the last few games with the leader board fluctuating in a very tight finish. James & Charlie Witter came a creditable third with 34 points Martin & Joe Beck were runners up with 36 points. 

The winners were Adam & Ollie Walker with 37 points. 


 

Just what was needed 

We can't think of a more deserving winner than Justin Rose, golf's first Olympic champion since 1904 - a huge congratulations to him on winning gold after a thrilling final-round duel with Henrik Stenson.

Make no mistake, golf needed this positive outcome after several high-profile golfers decided not to compete in Rio.

"That felt better than anything I've ever won. It was the best tournament I've ever done," said Rose - a former US Open champion let's not forget.

"Hopefully we've shown Brazil what golf is about. I'm glad it was close. Not for my nerves. For golf."

Rose relished the opportunity to represent Great Britain, arriving in Brazil a week before the Olympics officially started to ensure he was part of the opening ceremony.

Anyone who follows the Englishman on Twitter will know what competing in the Olympics meant and how genuine he is about helping to grow the game.

With a global audience of approximately 4 billion, it's fair to say Rose, Stenson and the rest of the Olympic field put on a fantastic show, doing a superb job of showcasing everything that's good about the game.

Jordan Spieth has already tweeted his ambition to represent USA in Tokyo in four years, which tells us a lot. Roll on 2020!