Celebs on course at B&H
Sporting heroes set for The Belfry
With golf the favourite pastime of so many sporting legends it’s no wonder the line-up for the Benson and Hedges International Celebrity pro-am at The Belfry next Wednesday (May 8) reads like a Who’s Who of sport.
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While Alan Hansen and Kenny Dalgish play comfortably to low single figures at Hillside Golf Club near Southport, Ian Botham once considered trying to qualify for the Seniors Tour and left-hander Jeremy Guscott can effortlessly strike a golf ball as long and as straight as most players on the professional circuit.
Indeed Guscott has revealed he was once mistaken for Tiger Woods, while prowling the fairways working for BBC Radio at the Lytham Open in 1996.
"A young fan had been following me with his autograph book and when I turned round to oblige with my signature, he realised I wasn't Tiger and fled."
'Dangerous' off a 12 handicap at Bowood Park in Wiltshire, he says that golf is the perfect oppposite to rugby.
"Instead of a team game it's just me against the golf course. I love it and I can't get upset when things go wrong. I had enough of that playing rugby."
Among others taking their natural skills on to the course will be Danish goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, recently signed by Manchester City and former England and Man United star Sir Bobby Charlton.
Athletes Steve Backleyand John Regis and triple Olympic rowing golf-medallist Matthew Pinsent can also blast a golf ball a long way, while snooker champions Stephen Hendry, Ken Doherty, John Parrott, Dennis Taylor and Cliff Thorburn prefer to use finesse to achieve low scores.
England rugby coach Clive Woodward, British Lions Mike Catt and Matt Dawson and cricketer Alan Donald are in the line-up alongside television entertainers Johnny Briggs, Ronnie Corbett, Bobby Davro, Tom O’Connor and Jimmy Tarbuck.
The B&H Celebrity Pro-Am precedes the £1.1million International Open ( which runs from May 9-12) and will also feature John Daly, Retief Goosen, Colin Montgomerie, Nick Faldo, Jose Maria Olazabal, Padraig Harrington and Bernhard Langer.
Tickets for both events can be purchased on the day or by calling the B&H ticket hotline on 01235 867338. Prices start from £15 and there are concessions for under 16s and over 60s.
