SUPPORTERS of this year’s Peter Alliss Masters tournament enjoyed the highlight of the event, the presentation of powered wheelchairs to children with specific needs.

Held at Old Thorns Manor Golf Club in Liphook for the fifth year, celebrity golfers included comedian Adger Brown, actors Alistair Petrie, Christopher Villiers and Sion Tudor Owen, TV presenter Steve Rider as well as stunt arranger Vic Armstrong.

Chairs were presented by the British Turkey Federation, Helsby Blacknest and Ferndown golf clubs, Surrey Golf, Farnham Lions, Steve Rider and the Peter Alliss Masters.

The charity was the beneficiary of the Farnham Lions 2017 annual golf day and received a cheque for £10,000, which in turn has contributed to the purchase of two wheelchairs, with the second chair presented to 14-year-old Katie Shute, a pupil at Farnham’s Abbey School, at this year’s Alliss Masters event.

Other children receiving chairs included Matthew Newnham, aged 14, from Surbiton, a Trelors student, who received a chair from the British Turney Federation (BFT), six-year-old Harvey Doak from Bridgend, Tiernan Wise aged seven from Winchester, nine-year-old Sadie from Ferndown, and accepting a powered chair from Steve Rider was Connor Ludlam, aged 15, from Heanor, in Derbyshire.

Another bespoke chair was presented to 20-year-old Nina Collins from Cheshire, and a BFT chair to 12-year-old Dominic Chandler, from Sunbury, who are both students at Trelors College in Alton.

The charity’s nationwide forecast for this year is for 35 powered wheelchairs having raised a total

of £125,000.

The event was traditionally run as a ‘thank you’ to the clubs and organisations who have raised significant funds for the charity all-year round.

In 2019, an initial presentation of around five chairs is planned to be held when The Open returns to Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, for the first time in 68 years, in July, and Cowdray Park Golf Club is making plans for its own wheelchair presentation for the first time on July 26.

The charity was founded in 1975 by George Makey, who started an initiative to raise money to buy powered chairs for disabled children. At the end of the 1970s he asked Peter Alliss to become involved.

Since then many golf clubs have joined and raised more than £7m to buy powered wheelchairs for disabled youngsters.