HowDidiDo raises £30,000 for Prostate Cancer UK

Hampshire’s Ryan Reece showed how to beat the opposition when he emerged victorious from more than 4,000 golfers to win HowDidiDo’s 2019 How Do We Beat It competition, which raised £30,000 for Prostate Cancer UK.

This is the third year How Do We Beat It has been promoted by HowDidiDo, Europe’s largest online golfing community, in association with leading men’s health charity Prostate Cancer UK, raising money to beat a disease killing one man every 45 minutes in the UK, or the time it takes to play three holes of golf.

Reece, from Bramshott Hill GC, near Southampton, scored 30 points off his 19 handicap, when the grand final was played at the Trump International Scotland, in Balmedie, Aberdeen. He won on countback from 16 handicapper Elliot Simmonds, from Romiley GC, in Stockport.

Just a point back was third-placed Christopher Exton, a 16 handicapper from Stamford GC, in Stalybridge, Cheshire. In total, 16 finalists qualified in three different handicap divisions, with only one player per club admitted to the final.

After signing up to How Do We Beat It with a minimum £5 donation, 4,106 golfers logged their scores with HowDidiDo. Their best ‘eclectic’ round, between April and September 30, was calculated automatically by the system and the 16 best eclectic cards qualified for the grand final.

For the second successive year, Loudoun Gowf Club, in Ayrshire, had the most registrations, with 70 members raising £455. Of the finalists, Danny Hughff’s Whickham GC, in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, had the most sign-ups with 40.

HowDidiDo CEO Richard Peabody said: “2019 has been yet another great year for How Do We Beat It. Our members have topped £30,000 for Prostate Cancer UK for the third year in a row now and they should be extremely proud.

“As well as amassing that amazing total the competition has proved another benefit of Europe’s largest online golfing community, as members from all over the UK and Ireland enjoyed a summer of exciting competition in a tournament only HowDidiDo could provide. I’d like to thank every HowDidiDo member for signing up and every golf club manager for helping to promote the competition. We are already looking into new ways to grow the competition and raise even more money for Prostate Cancer UK in 2020.”

Jon Eserin, director of fundraising at Prostate Cancer UK, said: “We’re delighted that so many golfers have joined this year’s How Do We Beat It competition, raising vital funds for Prostate Cancer UK. The golf community continues to play a massive part in driving change for men and their families affected by prostate cancer.

“We know the disease exists in every golf club, but thanks to the support of partners like HowDidiDo, we are changing the game for those affected by prostate cancer. The fantastic amount of money raised will fund ground-breaking research to help fight prostate cancer – a disease killing one man every 45 minutes, roughly the same time it takes to play three holes of golf.

“It will also enable Prostate Cancer UK to continue to provide dedicated support and information to men and their families affected by the disease. We thank HowDidiDo and everyone who took part in How Do We Beat It for their support.”

HowDidiDo is Europe’s largest online community, with more than half-a-million club golfers from 1,800-plus registered clubs using the website or mobile app regularly across the UK and Ireland.

The HowDidiDo system, part of the solution offered to golf clubs by Club Systems International software, holds data from more than 53 million rounds of golf, along with handicaps, results and scores from more than 1.3 million golf club members.

HowDidiDo allows members to analyse their game and compare performance with other players at their club or across the entire HowDidiDo network, and is rapidly becoming the largest online social golfing hub in the world, with new, engaging and exciting content for golfers to enjoy. It is also used for official CONGU handicap and competition results.