The Slip! Slap! Swing! golf day held at Mannings Heath Golf & Wine Estate in West Sussex on September 15 proved a huge success, with golfers turning out in their numbers to help raise money for the Melanoma Fund, a charity that runs skin cancer prevention campaigns, raises awareness of the importance of sun protection and offers free skin checks to all those who enjoy an outdoor lifestyle.
Dr Elizabeth Blakeway and Dr Jan von der Werth were on hand throughout the day to provide skin check appointments and offer advice to competitors on their skin health and sun protection routines on the golf course.
Dr von der Werth said: “About 25% of the people I saw had significant skin lesions. Two had atypical naevi that I recommended for removal. Others had actinic keratoses which required GP treatment, so this was a day that was not just fun but impactful, and certainly worth the checks and a good enough reason to repeat such an event.”
Dr Blakeway added: “The opportunity to provide skin checks and education was both a pleasure and necessity given the significant UV exposure encountered by the golfing fraternity. Our ‘on-the-day’ survey of skin habits highlighted insufficient adherence to sun safety and self-skin surveillance indicating that events such as this are absolutely necessary in terms of raising awareness. My top tips are as within the Slip! Slap! Swing! guidelines, are firstly to use broad-spectrum SPF30+ sun protection before heading out on the course, particularly between the months of March and October, and don’t forget to reapply regularly throughout the round; and secondly to carry out regular self-skin checks in a full-length mirror highlighting any new or changing skin lesions to your GP.”
Golfers were treated to a goodie bag containing a sleeve of golf balls, Belle & Wilde brownies, Lush toiletries, Lifejacket sunscreen, and treats from The Snaffling Pig Co, a bottle of water, while a leaderboard system using Golf Genius allowed the organisers to communicate with teams before, during, and after the event, as well as keeping the scoring visible and clear.
Guests were able to raises further funds by entering a raffle with prizes including four-ball tee times at Chartham Park, Minchinhampton, Grange and Mullion golf clubs, designer haircuts and dresses, fine dining at The Warren and Random Hall, golf bags from PING, chocolates from Hotel Chocolat, golf goodies from The Open Championships, and lots more besides.
A putting competition to win a SIK putter, compliments of YUMAX Golf, was held on Managing Heath’s practice putting green before golf, while there were plenty of challenges on the way around, with nearest the pins, longest drives and beat the pro, where competitors were challenged to get closer to the pin than former Ryder Cup player Paul Way.
Pimm’s was served at the halfway house and on arrival back at the clubhouse, teams were greeted with ‘Freshen Up’ goodie bag, compliments of Fenwick’s, Tunbridge Wells, containing a generous selection of luxury toiletries from Kiehl’s, YSL, Clarins and Dior.
With clubs stored, everyone was offered a chilled glass of Mannings Estate Cuvée on the terrace, while being entertained by magician Adam Smith. On the return of all teams, guests were treated to The Jeremy Dale Golf Show on the first tee.
Dinner was held in the club’s beautifully-appointed Campbell room, after which the evening’s entertainment included a question and answer session on Ryder Cup success with Jeremy Dale and Paul Way, followed by the all-important prize-giving ceremony.
And the winners were:
1st place: Team Yumax: Ben Davis, Ali Gill, Andrew Smith, Rhys Western
• Harry Townsend Memorial Trophy
• Four Edge Watches
• Four bottles of Liquid Diamond prosecco (courtesy of Beyond Wines Ltd)
• Four Adidas golf caps
2nd place: Foresters Faders: Angela Low, Derek Beaney, Jack Shiers, Martyn Taylor
• Four bottles of Hindleap Seyval Blanc 2015
• Four TaylorMade New Era golf caps
3rd place: Team Doom: David Foster, Patrick Cleus, Rory Turner, Theo Quarendon
• Four bottles of Liquid Diamond prosecco
• Four TaylorMade New Era golf caps
Slip! Slap! Swing! will be promoting its ‘Skin Savvy’ campaign in late autumn, raising awareness of the importance of skin checking via its Sun Protection Accredited golf clubs. To get your club involved, sign up to get accredited HERE. For further information on the Melanoma Fund and the Slip Slap! Swing! campaign visit www.melanoma-fund.co.uk