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2003 resultsChallenge Trophy Tadmarton Heath Golf Club - 15th October 2003 27 hole stableford (7/8 handicap)
The final BUNGS event of the 2003 season took
place at Tadmarton Heath Golf Club, Banbury. Although Banbury is a fair
distance to travel, the journey only took between 1¼ and 1½ hours for most
people and the trip was certainly worth it.
Tadmarton is a classic heathland layout and with the wind we had to
negotiate on the day, the course had very much of a ‘links’ feel about it.
The course is not long and the fairways were very wide in places,
although if you were too wayward, you were punished severely.
The back nine certainly felt a lot tighter than the front with huge
expanses of gorse seemingly everywhere and this, coupled with the hard, tricky
greens seems to take its toll on the 28 strong field and, in general, scoring
wasn't particularly impressive.
The Challenge Trophy is competed over 27 holes (18 in the morning and 9 in the afternoon) with the morning and afternoon scores being added together for each player’s final total.
After the morning 18 holes, Richard Stevens appeared to be in 'pole position' with a great score of 39 points, three clear of both Steve Lloyd and John Newton on 36. A further two points back on 34 was Karl Hughes closely followed by Barry Whitmore and Rob Summerfield on 33. With only 9 holes in the afternoon, these were the only players with a realistic chance of catching Richard.
There were some notable (and not so notable) scores during the day including John Mansell's paltry four points over the afternoon 9 holes, and as just as poor 8 points from Graham Adams over the morning 18 holes. Karl Hughes scuppered his changes of winning with a disappointing 13 points in the afternoon, eventually ending in seventh place. Some of the better performances were steady 17 points from Derek Pells and Graham Bilsland and 18 points from Ian Talboys in the afternoon along with an impressive 19 points from James Shipman who finished sixth, just outside the prizes. At the previous golf day at Ingestre Park, Andy Smith recorded the first ever nett albatross for five points at a BUNGS event. Just like waiting for a bus, we waited ten years for this to happen and then another player repeated the feat at Tadmarton. Graham Black somehow managed to record a gross birdie at the par 5 5th and with two shots on that hole, he walked away with five points. A dope test has already been requested and let’s hope Graeme isn’t moving house on that day!
Fifth place on the day went to Rob Summerfield with a total of 48 points (33 morning and 15 afternoon) playing off a handicap of 26. Rob's total included 6 nett birdies and 2 nett eagles meaning he easily cemented his place as Nett Birdies League Champion for 2003, finishing with a total of 49 points, seven points clear of his nearest rival Richard Stevens. Well done Rob.
Fourth place went to a player still searching for his first birdie in a BUNGS event and with a total of 48 points (beating Rob Summerfield by count-back on the back six), you would have thought that there may have been a birdie or two in his total. However, it was steady bogey/par play rather than a barrage of birdies that gave Barry Whitmore, playing off 25, his total of 48 (33 morning and 15 afternoon).
A full five points clear of Barry was the morning leader Richard Stevens, playing off a handicap of 24. With Steve Lloyd sitting in a good position after the morning round, Richard knew he needed to win the event to have any chance of lifting the 2003 League Cup trophy, and was more than encouraging Steve’s playing partners, Howard Holliday and Andy Smith, to spike Steve’s drinks at lunchtime. However, the pressure and tiredness proved too much for 'young' Richard and a disappointing 14 points in the afternoon meant he had to settle for third on the day and second place in the League Cup standings.
One point ahead of Richard was John Newton (playing off 6) whose 18 points in the afternoon added to his 36 points in the morning gave him a total of 54 points which he must surely have thought was enough for victory but, unfortunately for John, he was one point short. It was still a very impressive performance from Mr Newton who was only seven over par for the 27 holes played. John did have the consolation of finding out that his four gross birdies was enough to take him to the top of the Gross Birdies League. At the start of the day Adam Thompson was sitting pretty at the top of the Gross Birdies table with 10 points, but Adam drew a blank on the day and didn't improve his tally. Both Howard Holliday and Graham Bilsland scored two birdies on the day to move them above of Adam on 11 points into equal third place. Like John, Steve Lloyd also scored four birdies on the day to be level with John on 13 points at the top of the tree, but John took the title by virtue of only needing to attend six events to secure his score, compared to all nine events that Steve attended. Well done John.
The winner of the event, giving him back-to-back BUNGS victories was society secretary Steve Lloyd playing off 6. After a poor start where Steve dropped four shots in the first five holes, he recovered extremely well and the ‘links’ style conditions were perfect for ‘links lover’ Steve, and he only dropped a further two shots over the next 22 holes to come in with a total of 55 points. Steve’s birdie three at the final hole of the day, the stroke index 1 9th hole for four points, proved to the clincher as Steve finished one clear of John Newton. Steve's victory also meant he claimed the 2003 League Cup prize, seven points clear of Richard Stevens in second (always the bridesmaid eh Richard) with Howard Holliday a point further adrift in third.
The more cynical amongst you may think that it's a bit of a co-incidence that we changed the handicap system for this season, resulting in two victories for Steve along with a second and third place. Steve can assure you though that it's purely down to a marked improvement in his golf game during the season - a culmination of nearly two years extensive coaching by Martyn Dodwell (who, for the right price, is available as a golfing guru to anyone with sufficient funds - this means you Mr Mansell). I'm sure victories will be far harder to come by for Steve in the 2004 season with his new handicap of 4.
Before signing-off for the 2003 season, I just want to thank everyone who has attended and supported this year’s events, making it such an enjoyable year.
Full results from the Tadmarton Heath golf day can be seen here: results (tadmarton heath 2003).htm
2's Sweep - gross 2's scored by the following:
Glastek Trophy Ingestre Park Golf Club - 16th September 2003 18 hole stableford (7/8 handicap) The
penultimate event of the 2003 season took place at Ingestre Park Golf Club in However, the scores were not as good as predicted and one of the lowest ever stableford points totals was returned by ‘birthday boy’ Graeme Black. Attending his first BUNGS golf day since 1996, Graeme showed that he had lost none of his golfing prowess by coming in with 10 points, including a massive 2 points and eight blobs on the back nine. I’m sure Graeme must have been blaming his birthday drinks at lunchtime. Other scores that people should have been ashamed of were 17 points from Tim Thacker and 18 points from both Jamie Moore and Cliff Thompson. Cliff’s son, Adam, was the current holder of the Glastek Trophy and with a defence almost as pathetic as his beloved Everton’s, his paltry 23 points was not enough to retain the title. Apart from a select few, most of the other scores were highly forgettable as the trees, rough and difficult to read greens took their toll on the scoring. There were a few high points – John Bayliss must have felt he had a chance after going out in 17 points, but a miserable 11 points coming home scuppered his chances. Also on 28 points was Andy Smith who scored nearly a fifth of his entire score on one hole after eagling the par five 9th for a nett albatross and 5 points. The group containing Richard Stevens, John ‘where did that go’ Mansell and Ray ‘I’ve got no idea’ Whiston must have been the most entertaining of the day as John, once again, showed his mastery of driving. Fifth place went to Graham Bilsland with a very steady 16 points out and 16 points back, which beat John Newman and Mike Fox, also on 32 points, into 6th and 7th respectively. In fourth place on 33 points was newly crowned 2002 and 2003 BUNGS matchplay champion Bobby Ho with 14 points on the front nine and an excellent 19 points on the back. One point ahead of Bobby on 34 points were Derek Pells and Howard Holliday. Derek missed a four foot putt at the last for par which would have won him the title and he was even beaten into second place by Howard Holliday by virtue of countback. The winner of The Glastek Trophy for the second time was society secretary Steve Lloyd. Steve won the trophy with 32 points back in 1994, the first year of the society and coincidentally, Graeme Black came last on that day with 10 points. With three birdies on the front nine, Steve went out in 20 points (after a blob at the first) and was confident of a good score. However another blob at the 10th made things difficult and he struggled his way round the back nine in 15 points thinking he’d blown his chances. It was Steve’s turn to feel like it was his birthday when he heard that 35 points was the winning score. With one event to go, Steve’s win has put him top of the League Cup three points ahead of Howard Holliday and four ahead of Andy Smith. There are realistically six players in with a chance of winning this year’s title. If Steve can finish in the top seven at Tadmarton Heath in October, he will be very difficult to catch. Assuming Steve finishes outside the top seven, the other players who can catch him are: Howard
Holliday who must finish in the top 10 The above finishing places do not take into account the extra bonus point that get awarded for each of the nearest the pins which could make all the difference. The gross birdies league is a very tight affair, with eleven players within four birdies of current leader Adam Thompson. With all 27 holes counting at Tadmarton Heath, this title really is up for grabs. The nett birdies league has all but been 'sewn-up' by Rob Summerfield on 39 points, six clear of his nearest challenger, Richard Stevens. One point further back is Andy Smith and it's going to take something special from with Richard or Andy to topple Rob. Full results from the Ingestre golf day can be seen here: results (ingestre 2003).htm
2's Sweep - gross 2's scored by the following:
Pairs Championship Swindon Golf Club - 22nd August 2003 18 hole fourball betterball stableford (3/4 handicap)
27 players congregated at Swindon Golf Club in Dudley to contest the 2003 Pairs Championship. The weather, as it has been over the past month, was excellent but the good weather had an adverse effect on the golf course. The course was not up to the societies usual standard due to there being no rain for several weeks. The fairways were rock hard and any shot slightly off line seemed to just keep going until it was stopped by either rough, a ditch or a tree. The greens were generally OK as they had been watered thoroughly and there were some treacherous putts to be negotiated.
The money in the morning 'practice' 10 holes was won with a very good 27 points by John Newton and Roger Sherwin, four points clear of any other pair. However, despite gaining a bit of beer money, the morning counts for nothing and it's the afternoon that becomes serious (almost as serious as the course marshall and some of the ridiculous signs that were placed around the course).
Third place went to Paul Herrmann and John Bayliss, one of the trusted partnerships from the weekend tour to North Norfolk. With a score of 41 points they beat Gordon Sullivan/Karl Hughes and John Newton/Roger Sherwin into 4th and 5th place respectively by virtue of a better back nine. John and Roger's tally included 6 birdies from John, resulting in John taking only 73 shots to go round the course. He normally has that many putts!
Second place went to an in-form Steve Lloyd and Richard Stevens. Steve had swept the board the previous week at his 'home' clubs competition week at Aberdovey and was expecting a good finish. It was Richard however who made the score for the pair with plenty of pars for nett birdies for three points culminating in a total of 43 points. This score could have been much better however had it not been for Steve's six-putt at the eighth and a mess-up from both players at the 18th. With Richard safely down the middle on the 370 yard dogleg hole, Steve announced that he was going to hit a big cut and 'go for the green'. Things didn't go to plan and the 'cut' ended up being a big hook culminating in a lost ball. Things didn't look too bad though with Richard just off the green in two - that was until Richard ignored Steve's advice to putt the ball onto the green. Richard chipped 30 feet past the pin and then three-putted for only one point instead of a possible three.
The two points Richard and Steve 'lost' at the 18th meant that victory went to Bob Lander and Howard Holliday with a very good score of 45 points. Both players had won a BUNGS event during the past 12 months so it was no surprise that such a steady pairing won the event. Some excellent golf was played, none more so than Howard's consecutive birdies on the 13th, 14th and 15th which resulted in Howard playing the back nine in 1 under.
2's Sweep - gross 2's scored by the following:
BUNGS Championship Enville Golf Club - 25th July 2003 18 hole stableford (7/8 handicap)
30 players were to contest the premier event of the season, The BUNGS Championship at Enville Golf Club. Enville has two courses, The Lodge and The Highgate, both of which are heathland courses of absolutely superb quality. Unfortunately the weather didn't match the quality of the venue, and everyone got absolutely drenched in the morning 9 hole 'practice' culminating in Dean Sheward and Stuart Mahon leaving at lunchtime after not fancying another 18 holes in the rain. Wet clothes, wet bag, wet grips, well wet just about everything didn't bother Rob Summerfield though, as he took the morning's money with 19 points from his 9 holes, one point clear of Alan Tolley.
The afternoon rounds started in weather similar to the morning, but this only lasted for another hour or so, and the vast majority of the round was played in dry conditions, with the later starters even finishing in glorious sunshine. I'm sure Dean and Stuart must have been kicking themselves.
On the whole, scores on the day were not too good, with the very narrow, tree lined fairways taking their toll on most of the players. Even when you stayed out of the trees, the long rough and very punishing heather was a constant problem. It appeared that certain players had different experiences in the heather and trees. Craig Vale didn't spend much of the afternoon on the fairway but somehow managed to find his ball every time he went in the heather. In a stark contrast, Steve Lloyd was also somewhat wayward off the tee, but managed to lose half a dozen golf balls. Even when all of his playing group could see exactly where his ball landed in the heather, the golfing gods decided that his ball should never be found, resulting an expensive day for Steve, even more so after losing a fiver to Andy Smith after he beat Steve's pathetic 24 points.
It wasn't only Steve who was struggling and some pretty awful scores were coming into the clubhouse from some usually very consistent players including 19 points from Mike Fox, 20 points from Barry Whitmore, 24 points from Ian Talboys and 25 from Bobby Ho.
After taking the money in the morning, Rob Summerfield, playing off 27, was full of confidence for the afternoon but a poor return of 12 points on the front nine scuppered his chances. However, with the pressure off, a superb 21 points over the back nine was enough to secure 5th place for Rob on 33 points ahead of newcomer Andy Saunders (5) and seasoned winner Graham Bilsland (3) by virtue of count-back.
One point ahead of Rob on fourth place was Steve Warner who, playing off a handicap of 4, shot a very consistent round with eleven pars and one birdie for a total of 34 points. Third place went to another newcomer, Derek Pells with a very impressive 35 points off a handicap of 10. Derek didn't play in the morning, so having a dry set of clubs to start the afternoon proved to be an advantage. Also on 35 points was the winner of our last event, Andy Smith. After describing how, during his recent Club Championship, he managed to take a 10 at the 4th followed by another 10 at the 5th hole, nobody was tipping the wayward Smithy for a good round, especially on such a tight course. After going out in only 14 points things didn't look good but a great back nine of 21 points was enough to secure second place by count-back over Derek. Andy's handicap will now be cut to 12, the lowest it's ever been and surely off that handicap, Steve must be able to take some cash off Andy at the next BUNGS event.
The winner in only his second BUNGS event was Paul Herrmann who was two shots clear on 37 points, playing off a handicap of 12. After a blob at the first hole, Paul shot a very consistent round with 17 points out and 20 points back but things won't be so easy for Paul Next month as a three shot handicap cut will mean he plays off single figures at Swindon in August.
Full results from the Enville golf day can be seen here: results (enville 2003).htm
2's Sweep - gross 2's scored by the following:
Summer Shield Luffenham Heath Golf Club - 6th June 2003 36 hole selected score stableford (7/8 handicap)
28 players congregated to contest this years Summer Shield at Luffenham Heath Golf Club, one of the best (and furthest afield) venues the society has ever visited. From the courses name, you would think Luffenham was purely a heathland course, but it is a fine mixture of heathland and parkland, with soft undulating tree-lined fairways and tricky greens, although the greens weren't as fast as they could have been due to the morning rain.
The selected score stableford is a 36 hole event where you play two rounds of golf and take your best score from either the morning or afternoon on each hole, meaning you get 'two bites at the cherry' to gain your score.
There was some excellent play during the day with a record nine two's being scored, and there were some wonderful run of scores including 22 points by John Mansell on the front nine and 24 points by Rob Summerfield and 21 points by Carl Seager on the back nine.
Fifth place went to last month's winner Mike Fox, who despite a bad back which meant he had to kneel on the green every time he marked his ball, this visual act of praying to the golfing Gods rewarded Mike with 40 points (21 points out and 19 points back) playing off a handicap of 18, cut to 17 after this second consecutive good performance. Also on 40 points and beating Mike into fourth place by virtue of a better back nine was another top five finish from Graham Bilsland (20 points out and 20 points back). Graham is one of the societies best and most consistent performers and is almost as good at whinging about his society handicap of 3. I'm sure Graham will be relieved to see that the computer handicapping program hasn't cut him further on this occasion.
Third place, went to society secretary Steve Lloyd, taking his first top three finish for years with 41 points (23 points out and 18 points back). This score can be attributed to Steve playing off a handicap of 9, the highest his handicap has been for a long time, plus months of coaching at Swingers driving range by another society member, Martyn Dodwell (Steve's handicap has now been cut back to 8). Steve was also helped by his two playing partners, Howard Holliday and Richard Stevens. Howard is always impressive to watch with his consistent iron play and Richard is always a consistent iron (only joking Richard). Most of you will know that Richard is always fun to play with and kept Steve amused none more so that his fluked tee shot which looked to be heading toward the left hand greenside bunker at 'nearest the pin' 17th until it bounced at right angles and ended up three feet from the cup. That was funny enough to watch but wasn't a patch on his tee-shot at the par 4 tenth, with Richard unwinding his swing with his new £200 Taylor Made driver, only to hit the ground 20 inches behind the ball and send the divot ten feet further than the ball which sat safety still on the tee-peg.
Second place went to perennial society underachiever, Tim Thacker who also scored 41 points playing off 19 and beat Steve into second place with a barrage of three points and a superb achievement of 25 points on the back nine. Tim will be cut one shot in time for the weekend matchplay tour to Norfolk.
Winner for the third time in his society 'career' was Andy Smith, three points clear with 44 points playing off a handicap of 16. Andy was always going to be one of the favourites for this event as we all know he is quite capable of scoring plenty of pars and birdies but, unfortunately for Andy on most occasions, he can also shoot lots and lots of double, treble, quadruple and worse bogies. However, with two attempts at each hole, Andy scored 2 points or more on 17 of the 18 holes, making him a clear winner, much to the disgust of chief handicap whinger John Bayliss, who I'm sure will be much happier when he sees his handicap go up by two shots to 17. Andy spent most of the evening with his favourite girl, Stella and took home two bottle of Glenfiddich to keep her company.
Although some people may absurdly think that I keep Andy's handicap deliberately high because he's a friend of mine (even though his club handicap is 18), the computer handicapping system has no friends or enemies which can be seen by Andy being cut 2 shots to 14. Andy also took cash off Steve for finishing ahead of him, so those of you who know me well enough will know that I'm not going to give anyone an advantage when there's money involved.
Full results from the Luffenham Heath golf day can be seen here: results (luffenham heath 2003).htm
2's Sweep - gross 2's scored by the following:
Memorial Trophy Wollaton Park Golf Club - 2nd May 2003 18 hole stableford (7/8 handicap)
Another excellent turn-out of 39 people contested the 2003 Memorial Shield at Wollaton Park Golf Club. The day started out slightly chaotic with nearly everyone arriving later than anticipated due to ridiculous traffic on the way into Nottingham. Graham Bilsland was one of the first to arrive and he was off to a flyer by taking the morning's money with 19 points over the 9 holes, an excellent score considering the rain that fell all morning.
With Graham in good form, I could see another year of handicap whinging from our resident bandit with a handicap cut in the pipeline. However, Graham must have had one to many shandy'd at lunchtime as he only finished in 17th place.
The afternoon once again started in pouring rain, but it soon cleared-up making for a pleasant afternoon and scoring should have been very good with the course playing relatively short and the greens being very soft and receptive. However, with a winning score of between 38 and 40 points expected, the scoring was much lower than anticipated.
Fifth place on the day went to Rob Summerfield, the first prize Rob has picked-up at a BUNGS event. Rob finished on 32 points, just one point ahead of five other players (Karl Hughes, John Newton, Barry Whitmore, Bob Lander & Bobby Ho) on 31. Also on 32 points was Adam Thompson, who by virtue of a superb 20 points on the back nine, beat his father-in-law into fourth place. Adam will soon be taking Graham Bilsland's 'bandit' crown as he seems to pick up some sort of prize at every BUNGS event.
In third on 35 points was defending champion Dean Sheward who looked on course to retain the Memorial Shield after scoring 20 points on the front nine. However, a disappointing 15 points on the back nine meant Dean had to settle for third. One point ahead of Dean were Pete Thomas and Mike Fox. Pete, a BUNGS member since the societies formation, hasn't been to too many events recently. However he must have heard that the prizes have improved over the past year and put in some serious practice to finish on 36 points. Going out in 17 and returning with 19 points, Pete must have thought he had a chance to take the title on countback, but Mike Fox had shot exactly the same. It took the last six holes to separate the two, with Pete's no return on the 16th proving vital in Mike taking the crown.
Foxy is always a very popular winner and was greeted with a full repertoire of animal noises when leaving his seat to collect the trophy. It's amazing that Mike managed to concentrate long enough to win the event as being such an animal lover, he normally chases squirrels into the woods to get a closer look. At Wollaton Park there are two herds of deer roaming free around the course and i'm sure Mike must have been tempted to hack his ball into the rough just to get a closer look.
Full results from the Wollaton Park golf day can be seen here: results (wollaton park 2003).htm
2's Sweep - gross 2's scored by the following:
Enterprise Cup Leek Golf Club - 2nd April 2003 18 hole stableford (7/8 handicap)
The highest ever BUNGS attendance of 39 players were to contest the 2003 Enterprise Cup at Leek Golf Club. Leek is an undulating tree-lined parkland course with very tricky greens (four putts from three feet happened on a couple of occasions), making it a real test of golf and this showed in the scores with the lowest ever stableford points total taking the trophy.
Even though scoring was low, the event proved very close with only two points separating the top seven players, with all those but the winner kicking themselves for some stupid shots thrown away, when they must have thought they weren't in contention for any prizes.
The title went to Howard Holliday, a new winner to the society with 30 points. Howard's doesn't use woods and his long straight irons off the tee proved to be ideal for a course like Leek. Despite only scoring 12 points on the outward 9, Howard raised his game to score 18 points over the back (and that included a 'blob' at the 13th). Perhaps it's a bit cruel to have your handicap cut by 28.5% when you only score 30 points, but the recently introduced handicapping system looks at the average score of the field rather than the par of the course, meaning Howard's handicap is cut from 7 to 5. Perhaps the two bottles of Glenfiddich he took as his prize will deaden the pain.
Also on 30 points was John Newman, one of our resident football coaches and former professional. As much as Steve would like to have cut John's handicap more (for being a former Birmingham City player), John got away with a two shot reduction and narrowly avoided a Dion Dublin style head-butt when going to collect his prize.
Third place went to Graham Bilsland just one point off the top two on 29 points. Although Graham won't be happy to see his handicap cut to 3, it's still three more shots than he had this time last year. Also on 29 points were Paul Weston and Adam Thompson, in fourth and fifth respectively.
A special mention must be given to John O'Brien for his wonderful tee-shot at the first of the nearest the pin holes - the treacherous 4th hole. With the wind blowing, it was very difficult to hit the green and people were saying it should have been a nearest the green competition rather than a nearest the pin. Despite the ominous sight off the tee, John struck a wonderful iron and his playing companions watched in awe as his shot landed just two feet from the pin. This was greeting with punch of the air by John and a load roar of approval, the only thing louder being the laughter and applause from those waiting on the tee when John missed his putt for a two, which would have netted him a share of the £20 two's pot.
Full results from the Leek golf day can be seen here: results (leek 2003).htm
2's Sweep - gross 2's scored by the following:
The Belfry Golf Day PGA National Course at The Belfry - 5th March 2003 18 hole stableford (7/8 handicap)
This was an additional golf day organised on the PGA National Course at The Belfry. Prior to the event, the weather had been great for a couple of days, but come Wednesday 5th March, the heavens opened. The early starters began in relatively dry conditions but within a few holes it was on with the waterproofs.
Despite the rain, the course was in pretty good condition for the time of year and the greens were very fast and true, making it a good test for the 30 players who attended the day.
The poor conditions meant that stableford point scores were relatively low, with over half the field scoring below 25 points and Alan Tolley, who we thought enjoyed the rain after his excursion at Harlech in 2002's tour, struggled more than most to finish last with a paltry 11 points.
There was only two points separating 8th and 3rd. 8th place went to Dean Sheward on 30 points, who nearly got a hole in one at 11th, which would have proved very expensive at £3 a pint in The Belfry bar! 7th went to Graham Bilsland with 31 points, the same score as Gordon Galloway and John Pinches in 6th and 5th respectively. On 32 points were Alan Surch in 4th and Andy Smith in 3rd. A full five points clear of Andy and Alan was Ivan Heathcote who scored a superb 22 points on the back nine to finish with a total of 37 points, but it was only good enough for 2nd place. The winner, a relatively new member to the society, was Kenny Collins who scored a magnificent 38 points. Kenny is fairly new to the game of golf and I'm sure his aim is to get better and reduce his handicap. He'll therefore be delighted to see his handicap come down by 4 shots to 23.
Full results from The Belfry can be seen here: results (the belfry 2003).htm
2's Sweep - gross 2's scored by the following:
Christmas Clock Breadsall Priory Hotel & Country Club - 13th December 2002 18 hole stableford (7/8 handicap)
The largest ever attendance at a BUNGS event saw 38 players contesting The Christmas Clock in pretty atrocious conditions. Although the freezing weather of the previous couple of days was replaced by slightly warmer weather, a heavy mist and persistent rain made play very difficult.
We always play the Christmas event on The Moorland course at Breadsall Priory, as it is the only course within the local vicinity that is pretty much guaranteed to be open, no matter what the weather. The condition of the course certainly didn't disappoint as the fairways were in excellent condition and the greens were superb for the time of year.
Despite the difficult conditions where, due to the mist and rain, you couldn't really see where you were going on certain holes, scoring on the day was excellent, with nearly half the field scoring 36 points or above.
The day was won by Richard Stevens who played superbly to not only score 44 points but also win two of the nearest the pins and take home some cash for scoring two 2's. The results of Richard's dope test should be available shortly.
Second place went to Ian Talboys who, with help of a few shots back due to the new handicapping system, scored 40 points. The last time we had a major overhaul of the handicap system, Ian went on to win the next two events. We can obviously see why Ian's been playing like a muppet for the past 12 months! Ian's total of 40 points was also matched by Alan Surch and Ivan Heathcote with Ian taking second place by Virtue of a better back nine. Alan squeezed Ivan into fourth place due to a better final six holes.
Other very credible scores, which would normally romp to victory in a society event were 39 points by John Pinches and Dean Sheward and 38 points by Tim Thacker, John Newton, John Shaw, Karl Hughes and Graham Bilsland.
Best quote of the day must have come from John Bayliss at the 5th hole where he proudly boasted "I've got the pace of these greens sussed", this was despite three putting three of the first five holes!
Full results from Breadsall Priory can be seen here: results (breadsall 2002).htm
2's Sweep - gross 2's scored by the following:
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