LYDNEY golfer Dave Howard called the Brabazon course at the Belfry 'the toughest he has ever played', after qualifying for the final of Seve Day, the inaugural tournament in memory of Seve Ballesteros.

Dave was one of 72 amateur finalists from thousands of entrants up and down the country.

The tournament raised money for Cancer Research and the Seve Ballesteros Golf Foundation.

Initially, Dave did not make the cut for the final after scoring 41 points in his qualifier, but he got in as first reserve.

Finalists were provided with breakfast, lunch, a gala dinner and overnight stay at the Belfry, as well as Sunderland jackets and Glenmuir golf shirts.

For the winner there was a fantastic prize of a VIP trip to the 2013 US Masters, including all flights plus three nights' accommodation, a new set of clubs and two rounds on championship courses.

Dave came 49th in the final. He said: "The Brabazon is by far the hardest golf course I have ever played on.

"There is water absolutely everywhere and if you stray off the fairways you can expect to lose your ball – I lost five on the front nine!"

During the day, Dave mingled with the likes of ex-Warwickshire and England cricketers Gladstone Small and Dougie Brown and former Aston Villa footballers Gary Shaw and Chris Nicholl.

He said: "We had some great banter with them during the round.

"The weather on the day was pretty miserable, which was a shame.

"The event was run like a professional tournament with TV cameras located throughout the course and each group had a real time computer scorecard, so you could see exactly where you were on the leaderboard, if you looked down far enough!"