Capello raises thousands for Seve

The inaugural Fabio Capello Charity Golf Event took place last weekend at La Quinta Golf & Country Club in Marbella.

I really, really wanted to lay into the Italian here.

How DARE he be swanning around southern Spain when he should be concentrating on his job? Particularly after England’s frankly embarrassing showing at the World Cup in South Africa.

But then I read the following sentence and filed away my angry-letter-writing pen:

The event was to raise funds for both the Seve Ballesteros and the Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Foundations.

Well, you can’t get mad at something that’s raising so much money for two tremendous causes, so here’s the report.

The event – jointly hosted by Capello and three-time world golf champion Manuel Piñero – began on Friday with a practice round for the golfers and a cocktail reception in the evening, where golfers and their guests relaxed to the sound of an acoustic guitar.

Isn’t that a lovely image? Don’t you wish you were there?

23 teams took part in the golf tournament on Saturday morning on the La Quinta course – designed by Piñero himself – with competition fierce and final results close.

The overall competition was won by the Benahavis team with Capello’s team coming a close second.

Saturday evening the golfers were joined by partners and other guests to enjoy the Gala Dinner hosted by Maurice Boland from Talk Radio Europe.

Welsh tenor Stephen Lloyd-Morgan delighted Capello and guests by singing in both English and Italian and 16-year-old Rebecca Tate won everyone over with her powerful and beautiful voice.

The Marbella Big Band had everyone up on the dance floor and DJ Danny Kelly kept the party going until the early hours of Sunday morning.

The event raised almost €10,000 for the Seve Ballesteros and the Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Foundations.