Earlier this month at Alastaro our mens team (Niko Helin, Sami Markkanen, Petri Syrjänen and myself) managed to win Kytäjä's first ever Finnish Championship team medal in the Mid Team Finnish Championships claiming a silver medal only 6 shots behind the superstars of Pickala. In the ladies event Camilla Sommar, Tuula Puputti, Katja Nurmi and Maria Penttinen also managed their best result by beating 5 other teams to come 11th. |
While that excitement was unfolding at Kytäjä some great things were happening for Kytäjä players elsewhere in Finland as the qualifying events for various tours took place. In the Finnish Tour qualifying at Pickala our club champion Veli-Pekka Hakala managed to secure his card for 2015 while at Peuramaa in the Finnish Senior Tour qualifying event Timo Rikkonen played an excellent round to finish in 4th place and secure his playing rights for next year with some style (the top 40 earned their cards).
The following Monday Pickala was again the venue for the stage one of the Nordic League Q-School, Kytäjä's Henri Lahdenperä had a great day to play the 36 holes in 1 under par (in horrendous conditions) to tie for 1st place and book his place in the final qualifying which will take place in Denmark in October.
The Kytäjä 10 year Gala Dinner last night was a wonderful way to round off the recent excitement. The event took place at the Hilton Kalastajatorppa hotel and there were 90 Kytäjä members in attendance. The food was delicious, the wine was in plentiful supply and the atmosphere was excellent but perhaps the highlight of the evening was the fascinating first-hand account from Antti Vaalas and Jari Hakkarainen about how Kytäjä golf came to exist in the first place.
For me this dinner was one of the best moments that Kytäjä has enjoyed as a golf club, the event was fantastically organised and universally enjoyed by the participants, there was a real feeling of belonging to something and a strong indication that Kytäjä has the potential to become a real golf club, instead of just two great courses with a building nearby.
Congratulations and many thanks to Helena Rajala for doing such a great job in organising this event, it was truly a special occasion.