Garesfield Golf Club’s Marc Coulthard and Gareth Powell were crowned national champions after topping the leaderboard in the grand final of the 2022 PING Pairs tournament run by HowDidiDo.
Having earned one of eight places in the event’s final at Thonock Park, the Durham pair amassed 42 points to win the national event – which saw more than 10,000 players take part in 2022.
Launched in 2019, the free event sees golfers – of any gender or category – team up with any other HowDidiDo user. Each player’s top three scores in handicap qualifying competitions at their home course are recorded and combined to establish a position on the PING Pairs leaderboard, hosted virtually on HowDidiDo.
The top eight pairs then earn a place at Thonock Park for the grand final and a VIP PING experience, including a behind-the-scenes tour of PING’s European headquarters; custom-fitting experiences for the brand’s latest equipment; and an array of PING merchandise in the ultimate pre-tournament goodie bag.
Marc said: “It’s an amazing feeling to be a national champion. Having entered so quickly on the HowDidiDo app, we forgot all about the qualifying scores until I received an email inviting us to the final.
“The whole experience at Thonock Park, on the golf course and in the hotel, was incredible from the moment we got there. The team and the guys from PING couldn’t have done more to welcome us and make it feel like a massive occasion.”
Gareth added: “It’s fantastic to win such a big event with so many people in the running. We were paired with a team who’d had a cracking score in the practice round, so we knew beating them would give us a good chance.
“We holed some key putts all the way through the round, but having made a bit of a mess of the 18th, Marc holed a great putt for a five which meant we tied our playing partners and beat them on countback – which proved just enough to get the win.”
“I think everyone at Garesfield will be signing up as soon as possible in 2023 and hopefully lots more golfers from the North East will too,” added Marc.
