Golfing competition in memory of Luke Bartlett

The Luke Bartlett Memorial Day, a golfing competition, raised a grand total of £5,442 for the Joseph Weld Hospice and The Fortuneswell Cancer Trust, both of which supported Luke during his battle with lymphoma before he sadly lost his cancer battle in April.

Luke, 33 was a well-known member of the golfing community in Weymouth both working and playing at Weymouth Golf Club for many years, as well as working at Budmouth Academy where he supported many pupils through their own challenges and journeys by providing pastoral support for them and their families.

Paying tribute, Jon Welch, a close friend of Luke’s said: “Words simply won’t do justice to what the friendship we have meant to me, from this moment onwards you will always have an abundance of people around your family for the support that they deserve and will need, that alone speaks volumes for the person that you were.

“You have always been the most understanding person and a best friend that I have been ridiculously lucky to have.

“Most importantly though I know that when your name pops up in the future it will make me proud, smile and appreciate just how good a person you were and how lucky I was to have been a friend of yours."

The competition was officially ‘teed off’ by Luke’s son Miles.

Organisers, Jon Welch, Steve Lambert and Matt Lam have been blown away by the amount of support that the event has received.

They said: “We would like to say an enormous thank you to Weymouth Golf Club for their generosity, allowing the use of their facilities through the day and evening.”

A total of 104 golfers participated in the competition with many friends and families joining them later in the evening.

Tee off started at midday with 26 teams completing the full 18 holes, whilst holes 5, 10 and 15 each hosted their own ‘closest to the pin’ competition with extra special prizes up for grabs which had been donated by The Wessex Golf Club and Alice Davis.

As well as the chance to win prizes, golfers were also able to enjoy a refreshing drink at the 10th hole courtesy of Scard and McCarthy.

As a permanent remembrance for Luke, those close to him planted a ‘Pin Oak Tree’ with his family choosing to have the message ‘In golf and in life it's the follow through that makes the difference, Luke Bartlett, 5.12.88-8.4.22’ engraved on a plaque.

Mr Lambert added: “We wanted to have a long-standing remembrance for Luke, so we decided on a tree. A ‘Pin Oak Tree’ this was kindly donated by Patsy and Alan Welch and was planted on the left-hand side of the 18th hole and in sight from the clubhouse and surroundings."