The first FESPA Golf Challenge, on September 12-13 saw a strong group of golfers drawn from the FESPA family gather in glorious sunshine on the shores of Lake Balaton in Hungary to compete for the President's Cup and plethora of other prizes on offer. The tournament – brainchild of FESPA President Gyorgy Kovacs – enjoyed a good response from the invitees with printers and suppliers joined by FESPA board members and staff to share the delights of a remarkable golf course.

The beauty of Lake Balaton and the surrounding hills made the perfect backdrop for what all competitors agreed was one of the hardest golf courses they'd ever played – the Royal Balaton Golf and Yacht Club. The stern test of this 6,200m course featured tight fairways bordered by unforgiving rough, punctuated by water of some description on almost every one of the front nine's parkland layout, with the water being replaced by cunningly placed bunkers and narrow tree-lined fairways on the woodland back nine. The course was in magnificent condition throughout – a true credit to the club – especially the greens which were fast and true, featuring many subtle breaks ready to catch out the unwary putt.

The tournament, held on the eve of the FESPA General Assembly in Budapest, saw competitors from 14 countries enjoy a Texas scramble format on the opening day in glorious sunshine and temperatures around the 30 C mark. After the light-hearted start on day one the golfers were joined by partners and friends for a traditional Hungarian dinner at the Malom Csarda restaurant, after which all retired to rest up for the main event on day two – an individual Stableford competition to decide whose name would appear first on the President's Cup.

All the players enjoyed the chance to network with their peers from various regions of the world, and they were all united in pitting their varied golf skills against a truly challenging test of golf. With impressive trophies on offer and significant prizes – including a HONMA putter – on offer, thanks to the generosity of the tournament sponsor HONMA, not to mention the honour of winning, players were keen to take the title.

The winners and runners up are listed below, and congratulations go to James Ford, FESPA's exhibition manager for Europe and Asia, for winning not only the President's Cup, but also the Texas Scramble (with partner Robert Geller), and a long drive challenge.

As he received the President's Cup from Gyorgy Kovacs, James commented: "On behalf of all the players I'd like to thank Gyorgy for conceiving the tournament, all at the Royal Balaton Golf and Yacht Club for an excellent golfing experience in every aspect, and Hanwha Golf for their generous support of the tournament."

 

Results:

President's Cup:

Winner: James Ford, England

Senior Winner: Georg Stadler Germany
Ladies Winner: Julia Rakacs, Hungary

 

Texas Scramble:

 

Winners: James Ford (England) and Robert Geller (Hungary)

 

Full photos of the winners, the course and more can be found here: http://bit.ly/qHnfQ4