At the start of the week it was wet and I was panicking that my charity day may not get played on Wednesday, as the course was still wet from last weeks floods. On Tuesday I went backwards and forwards to Matfen dropping off prizes as I couldn't fit them all in my car and finally started to relax when the rain eased in the evening.

I woke up on Wednesday morning to sunshine, which was a relief. I went to the clubhouse and made up all of the goody bags, drove the hole in one car into position and made sure everything was in place.
The day ran smoothly with all of the pro's and teams showing up and with plenty of time to spare. The course was wet underfoot but the green staff did a fantastic job of getting the course into a playable condition. My friend Edgy was on hand all day to help which was great, he even found time to bid and win the Lance Armstrong shirt in the auction. All of the teams had a good day and we enjoyed a great dinner followed by Graham Willis entertaining us with his jokes and funny stories. The Ferrie Foundation Lottery draw took place and the winner was Janice Webb with ticket number 204, she is a lady member at Matfen and has kindly made a donation back to the charities, I hope she enjoys spending her prize! After the auction we presented the prizes, the winners this year were team Duco on a back nine count with 19 under par, each player won a Powakaddy. The winning pro was Spike Nesbitt with a six under par 66. I am pleased the day ran smoothly and everyone enjoyed the day, we are busy finalising our total to hand over to Marie Curie and the Alzheimer's Society.

Thursday I could have done with a quiet recovery after such a long day but I promised my friend John a game of golf at Muirfield last Christmas, and this was our day. The weather was good and the course was dry, the only bad thing was the thickness of the rough, it was brutal. The course was set up more for an Open Championship than a knock about in September. After a great time on the course we got changed into our suits for some lunch. It is always a treat to play at Muirfield and the clubhouse adds to the experience.

I spent the rest of the week tidying things up from the golf day, and watching the Ryder Cup. I was disappointed to see Europe lose but thought there was some good golf and thought it was a great spectacle.

I leave for America at the end of this week so I have a few days to sort things out over the next few days and get packed. I would like to thank everyone again who supported the lottery or my golf day I really appreciate it and I know the charities do.