Father and son team Rod and Joe Henderson celebrated a run to the finals of the Daily Mail Foursomes at Slaley Hall.
The Alnwick Castle duo made it into the last 16 at Slaley and were bidding to emulate the feat of neighbours Alnmouth, who won the event in 1966, and more recently Boldon, who lifted the title in 2010.
The Hendersons went out in the fourth round last year, but they battled their way into this year’s finals by winning three of their earlier matches on the last green. It was also a close call in their last 16 match, where they were beaten by Parkstone’s Paul Harding and Rhys Francis 1dn.
One of their best performances was in the sixth round, when they beat Alan Redhead and Bill Ritchie from Galashiels 3&2 at Alnwick.
Rod, 62 said: “We just knuckled down. We pegged them back where they had shots and put them under pressure. That’s how we got the result. Joe is a good partner. His all round game is very good. He hits the ball an awful long way. It makes second shots quite easy for me.”
Joe, 25, began playing golf when he was four and Rod added: “He used to play 100 holes a day when he was little. We used to drop him off at dawn and pick him up at dusk.
Rod admits the foursomes format can test them. He added: “Joe’s off scratch and I’m off 11. He thinks I should be as good as him and I get a scowl now and then.”
Sixteen women’s and men’s teams made it to the finals at Slaley from an initial entry of more than 3,000 pairs. Sudbury’s Daniel Jeffries and Nick Avery took the men’s crown with a 3&1 win over Justin Powell and Alan Griffiths from Alsager. Meanhile, Redditch’s Janice Kerr and Vivienne Cranton won the women’s title by beating Kirriemuir’s Irene Park and Audrey Aiken.
