results from the 2008 season

Our results for the 2008 season are as follows

(most recent event first):

Challenge Trophy

Beeston Fields Golf Club - 24th October 2008

28 hole stableford (full handicap)

28 players headed to Nottingham to contest the final event of the 2008 BUNGS season and were greeted with some superb weather and a course in fantastic condition for the time of year. I can't imaging any of us have ever played a course in such good nick during the end of October and the greens were very fast and full of subtle (and not so subtle) slopes, meaning that three and four putting (and more apparently) was par for the course.

We were to play 28 holes in total, 18 in the morning and 10 in the afternoon, with all the holes counting towards your final score. The testing greens took their toll on nearly all the field during the morning round. Only two players had any kind of respectable score: Phil Latham had 23 points after nine (scoring 38 overall) and Pete Barrow had a massive 27 points after just 10 holes but faded over the last eight, to also score 38.

After a brief soup and sandwich lunch it was back to the first tee for the final 10 holes of the season. Scoring was somewhat better overall with two exceptions, Mike Fox scoring SIX and Dave Grubb and even worse FOUR points (one of the worse 10 holes in BUNGS history Grubby!)

The first of the prize winners was a player who has struggled over the past couple of years but it's good to see the lessons and practice he's been putting-in paying off. Ivan Heathcote (playing off 16) scored 33 in the morning and 18 in the afternoon for a 51 point total. Also on 51 points was Alan Tolley who played off 17. Alan's final 10 holes of 21 points (30 in the morning) was enough to pip Ivan into third on countback.

One point ahead of Ivan and Alan was Pete Barrow, playing off 27. After his monstrous total of 27 after the first 10 holes of the morning round, Pete's game deteriorated somewhat with 'old chippy' not performing so well for him, but his 52 point total was good enough for second.

Before the event, Phil Latham knew that he had to finish in the top two to have any chance of winning 2008's League Cup. Phil was looking higher than second however. Playing off 25, his 38 points in the morning and 21 points in the afternoon were more than good enough to secure his maiden BUNGS victory and also secure the League Cup and Nett Birdies League trophies in the process, as well as a substantial handicap cut. An excellent performance - well played Phil.

Being the final event of the year, the end-of-season prizes were decided as follows:

LEAGUE CUP - Phil Latham

GROSS BIRDIES LEAGUE - Graham Bilsland

NETT BIRDIES LEAGUE - Phil Latham

Full results from the the Beeston Fields golf day can be seen by clicking results_2008_10_beestonfields_2008.htm

2's Sweep - gross 2's scored by the following:

Captain's Trophy

Kenilworth Golf Club - 26th September 2008

18 hole stableford (full handicap)

32 players made their way through the early morning fog to Kenilworth Golf Club to compete in this years Captain’s Trophy. 2008 Captain Mike Fox was hoping for good weather and a course in good condition and was disappointed with neither as, once the sun burnt off the fog, it was a glorious September day and the course was in excellent condition for the time of year.

The morning pounds were, on this occasion, donated to the Captain’s charity with the top two receiving a bottle of wine instead of the usual cash prize. The wine went to Paul Weston and Gordon Galloway who both scored 19 points, with Paul winning on countback with a better last three holes,

After lunch it was off to the first tee (or so we thought) for the afternoon round. The course had arranged for us to start at the 10^th tee but neither the club Secretary or anyone in the Professional’s shop had bothered to inform us of this. We were therefore left with the farcical situation of the first two groups playing off the first tee before a group of members told the rest of us to head off to the 10^th. It’s a shame because this lack of communication from the club and the attitude and actions of some Kenilworth members did spoil the day somewhat.

Onto the prize winners and as it was his Captain’s Day, Foxy had arranged for an extra prize for the last place finisher and surely there was no more a popular last place finisher than Adrian Marchant with his paltry 17 points. Fifth place on the day went to Derek Pells playing off 9. Derek scored 33 points and he was pipped into fourth place on countback with a better back nine by Darren Weston who was playing off 18. One point ahead was Paul Weston who had a good day. Not only did he win over the morning 9 holes, he also took two nearest the pins and his 34 points, playing off 13, was good enough for third place.

After finishing second to Paul in the morning, Gordon Galloway had his second  2^nd place finish of the day and also took the longest drive. Playing off 8, Gordon scored 18 on the front 9 and 17 on the back nine for a 35 point total. The winner of the day and a full three points ahead of Gordon was Graham Bilsland, playing off 2. Graham has a superb round of golf and went round the course in level par, for a 38 point finish and topped-off the day by taking the nearest the pin on the 18^th. Well played Graham on an excellent performance.

A big thank you to everyone who attended who helped to raise £330 on the day for Breast Cancer Care.

Full results from the The Kenilworth golf day can be seen by clicking results_2008_09_kenilworth_2008.htm

2's Sweep - gross 2's scored by the following:

BUNGS Shield

Melton Mowbray Golf Club - 28th August 2008

36 hole selected score (eclectic) stableford (3/4 handicap)

25 players arrived at Melton Mowbray Golf Club to compete for this year's BUNGS Shield over 36 hole sin a selected score eclectic event, playing off 3/4 handicap. With prizes for the top four players, the first of the prize winners was Karl Hughes who scored 38 points (20 on the front 9 and 18 on the back 9) off his handicap of 9. One ahead of Karl and playing off 21 was Jamie Moore whose 39 points was amassed by scoring 20 on the front nine and 19 on the back. In second place and one ahead of Jamie was Les Poultney, also playing off 21. Les had 18 points going out but a great 22 on the way home for his 40 point total. I'm sure Les would have thought he would beat any other '40 pointers' with his great back nine, but that wasn't the case. John Shaw, playing off 6, only scored 17 on the front nine but his superb back nine of 23 points was enough to pip Les to the title on countback. Well played John.

Full results from the The Melton Mowbray golf day can be seen by clicking results_2008_08_meltonmowbray_2008.htm

2's Sweep - gross 2's scored by the following:

Pairs Championship

Whittington Heath Golf Club - 31st July 2008

18 hole fourball-betterball stableford (3/4 handicap)

36 players arrived at Whittington Heath Golf Club in Lichfield expecting to get a soaking at sometime during the day. The weather was pretty good to us however, with just some intermittent light drizzle to contend with, so everyone could enjoy the golf course. Whittington is a superb example of a tree-lined heathland course making it a great test of golf. The fairways were hard and fast running and the rough was punishing in places, so it was all about hitting it straight and judging your shots into the greens which were hard and fairly fast, meaning you couldn’t just throw your iron shots at the flag and expect it to stop.

Despite the tricky conditions, the scoring for the morning ‘practice’ was very good. The money went to Ian Talboys and John Hayley in second place with 24 points and the winners, one point ahead of Ian and John, were defending champions Adam Thompson and Dave Grubb with a whopping 25 points. They had to relinquish their title however as Grubby did not ‘lunch well’ and they had to settle for a decidedly more average score in the afternoon round.

Although not quite as good as the morning scoring, the afternoon points totals were still pretty impressive. Third place went to Captain Mike Fox and new member Stewart Fairweather, playing off 18 and 20 respectively. They scored 22 on the front nine and 18 on the back nine for a 40 point total. Two points clear in second place were Shaun Mullaney (4) and Anthony Jackson (17) who scored a massive 24 points on the front nine followed by a more steady 18 on the return for a 42 point total. A further two points ahead and taking the 2008 Pairs Championship were Craig Vale (18) and Howard Holliday (6). Valey did most of the scoring on the front nine where they amassed 23 points and Howard took over on the back nine where they secured 21 points for a 44 point total. Well played Craig and Howard.

Full results from the Whittington Heath golf day can be seen below:

2's Sweep - gross 2's scored by the following:

BUNGS Championship & BUNGS Masters

Shifnal Golf Club - 30th May 2008

18 hole stableford (full handicap) - 27 holes for the BUNGS Masters

A great turn-out of 36 players headed West to Shropshire to a course that can only be described as a 'hidden gem'. Not too many people knew a lot about Shifnal Golf Club but it's one fantastic golf course. Despite heavy rain in the preceding days, the course was in fantastic condition (although some of the bunkers could have been better). Shifnal is a mature parkland course with every hole being tree-lined but, in general, is not overly 'tight'. There was no severe rough as the course used the trees as it's protection - if you were wayward you were generally punished. The greens were large and undulating and even the flatter greens had some very subtle borrows, so putting was tricky with many people having multiple three/four putts. John Bayliss in particular had some real problems apparently.

Scoring on the morning nine holes was very good with third place going to Simon Hayward on 19 points. Ahead of Simon on countback in second place was Graham Bilsland and on 20 points, and winning something for the first time in his BUNGS career was a delighted Gordon Sullivan.

After a great lunch of homemade mushroom soup and a selection of sandwiches (grapes in a cheese sandwich?????) it was onto the afternoon Championship. The weather was warm with no wind to speak of and conditions were perfect for golf. Once again, scoring was pretty good and in fifth place, playing off 14, was Paul Weston who scored a massive 22 points on the front nine but could not hold it together over the final nine holes, scoring only 15 for a 37 point total. Paul's poor back nine was critical as Ian Talboys, playing off 9, beat him into fourth on countback scoring 19 going out and 18 on the return. Ian, however, was himself beaten on countback by Bobby Ho, playing off 13. Bobby matched Ian's front and back nine totals but it was his better last six holes that put him third ahead of Ian.

A score of 40 points is usually enough to romp-away with a BUNGS day but Simon Hayward, playing off 18, had to settle for second. Having scored 18 points on the front nine, Simon scored a superb 22 points on the back nine and I'm sure he was sat in the clubhouse thinking that at least he'd beat any other 40 pointers on countback - but he'd have been wrong.

The winner of the morning money was hoping to continue his fine form into the afternoon, but after Gordon Sullivan, playing off 25, only scored 16 points on the front nine, hopes of victory must surely have gone. Our eldest member is made of strong stuff, however, and he upped his game on the back nine to score a whopping 24 points and a 40 point total overall to take the BUNGS Championship title on countback. Gordon went-on to make a clean sweep for the day by winning the £20 black-out prize. To celebrate his maiden BUNGS victory, Gordon offered to buy everyone a drink afterwards and even left a generous tip for the catering staff. It's great to see acts of generosity like this - it's a shame the person who flatly refused to put 50p in the charity tin after going into one of the Captain's bunkers could not act with similar decorum. Thank you Gordon and very well played.

This event also saw the concurrent running of the fourth BUNGS Masters where all 27 holes count and this is competed between all winners from the previous 12 months (including the Matchplay Knockout and League Cup winners), along with all previous BUNGS Masters winners. For the third time in four years, Ian Talboys took the BUNGS Masters crown with a 27 hole points total of 54 which was two ahead of Howard Holliday in second and four ahead of Adam Thompson in third.

Full results from the The Shifnal golf day can be seen by clicking results_2008_06_shifnal_2008.htm

2's Sweep - gross 2's scored by the following:

BUNGS Memorial Trophy

Walsall Golf Club - 2nd May 2008

18 hole stableford (full handicap)

33 players made their way to Walsall Golf Club to compete for this year’s BUNGS Memorial Trophy. There had bee some very heavy rain in the days prior to the event, so we did not see the course in its best condition (we’ve been unlucky so far this year). The wet conditions meant the greens were not as quick as they could be, but there were still some tricky ‘downhillers’.

The scoring for the morning money was pretty good with lots of decent scores, but the cash was taken by Jamie Moore, Graham Bilsland and Ian Talboys with 21, 20 and 18 points respectively.

The afternoon scores were not as impressive as the mornings, with many people scoring in the high 20’s/early 30’s. The first of the prize winners was Brian Keates, playing off 22. Brian had a great front nine scoring 20 points but faltered on the back nine with only 13 points and a 33 point total. Also on 33 points was Phil Latham playing off 25. Phil only scored 16 on the front nine but it was his 17 points on the back nine that meant he finished ahead of Brian on countback.

One point ahead of Brian and Phil and in third place was a relative newcomer to BUNGS, Simon Hayward. Playing off 18, Simon scored a level 18 points on his first nine holes, followed by 16 points on the second nine for a 34 point total. With an identical front and back nine to Simon was John Bailey, also playing off 18. John pipped Simon into second spot with a better last six holes.

It was tight ‘at the top’ and just one ahead of Simon and John was the eventual winner, Tim Thacker. Playing off a handicap of 13, Tim scored a steady 16 points on the front nine but is was his excellent 19 points on the back nine, and his birdie at the last (for four points) in particular that secured him the Memorial Trophy for the second time in four years. Well played Tim.

Full results from the The Walsall golf day can be seen by clicking results_2008_05_walsall_2008.htm

2's Sweep - gross 2's scored by the following:

Enterprise Cup

Notts (Hollinwell) Golf Club - 2nd April 2008

18 hole stableford (full handicap)

28 players headed North to compete in this year’s Enterprise Cup at Notts (Hollinwell) Golf Club – it would have been 29 if one of our members hadn’t been ‘caught by the fuzz’ driving his car without tax and ordered home. I’ll bet you can’t guess who that was!

From entering the drive to Hollinwell, you know you’re somewhere special. The tall pine trees block-out the rest of the world and you’re in a little private golfer’s paradise. The course was in pretty good condition for the time of year but, just like Willesley Park the pervious month, the greens were disappointing. It looked like they hadn’t been cut for over a week, meaning there were patches of longer grass on parts of the greens, meaning t was very tricky to judge the pace as they all seemed to be different speeds. I played Hollinwell in April 2007 and the greens were superb, perhaps we had just been unlucky on this occasion.

Many of the tees were ‘forward’ so the course was playing nowhere near its normal length of 6,629 yards off the yellow tees – but it was still a great test. Society Captain, Mike Fox, reckoned it was the hardest course he ever played – found some of the heather and gorse did you Foxy?

Despite some ‘light drizzle’ in the air and a testing breeze, the scoring for the morning ‘money’ was very good with the prize winners being Craig Vale, Gordon Galloway and Phil Latham with 21, 21 and 20 points respectively.

After a light lunch when the majority of the rain seemed to fall – it was on to the serious business of the afternoon competition,, where luckily it stayed dry for everyone.

The back nine at Hollinwell is certainly more difficult than the front nine, and this showed by the scoring. There were some spectacular collapses on the final nine holes, mainly from Les Poultney (20 points out and only 5 back) and Brian Keates and Andy Smith (both 18 out and only 7 back). Ian Talboys had a “Jekyll & Hyde” round scoring four gross birdies on the front nine alone but still only managed a total of 28 points.

Onto the prize winners and in fourth place, playing off 17 was the winner from the last outing at Willesley Park, Neil Smith. Neil scored a steady 16 on the front nine and a good 18 on the trickier back nine for a 34 point total. Two ahead of Neil was new member Sean Arble, playing off 9, who scored 19 on the front nine and 17 on the back nine for a very creditable 36 point total.

One clear of Sean was the winner of the morning money, Craig Vale who continued his fine form from the practice round scoring a massive 22 points on the front nine (he then went a got a four pointer at ten). The thought of a huge handicap cut must have taken its toll on Craig for the final eight holes however and he only scored a further 11 points for a 37 point total and a 1.2 handicap cut.

On the same score as Craig but ahead of him on countback and taking the title was Karl Hughes, playing off 10. Karl scored 20 points on the front nine and then 17 on the back nine, helped by holing his second shot at the par four 14^th for 5 stableford points. A worthy winner on a fine golf course – well played Karl.

Full results from the The Notts (Hollinwell) golf day can be seen by clicking

results_2008_04_hollinwell_2008.htm

2's Sweep - gross 2's scored by the following:

Extra 'Early Year Opener'

Willesley Park Golf Club - 7th March 2008

18 hole stableford (full handicap)

29 players made their way to Willesley Park Golf Club for the first BUNGS day of 2008, the extra Early Year Opener. The weather forecast was for blustery showers and it was certainly blustery, but luckily the rain stayed away leaving pleasant (but tricky) playing conditions. The course in general was in a pretty good condition but the greens were a little disappointing - it looked like they hadn't been cut for several weeks and were slow and 'bobbly', but I suppose you can't expect too much for early March and considering the money we paid for the green fee, it still represented excellent value for money.

With the aforementioned wind making for testing conditions, especially on the front nine, scoring was low. This was probably shown by Bill Hancock, a member at Willesley Park, who I'm sure was anticipating a good finish on his home track. Things didn't quite go to plan for Bill however, demonstrated by his measly total of SEVEN POINTS on the front nine. He did make amends on the easier back nine however, with a superb 21 points - a 'tale of two halves' for Bill.

Fourth place and the first of the prize winners was Steve Booth, scoring a very consistent 15 points on the front nine and 17 on the back for a 32 point total off his handicap of 11. One ahead of Steve, and continuing his fine from from last season, was Brian Hornby, playing off 17. Brian scored an excellent 19 points on the front nine, but his back nine was a little disappointing with blobs at the 10th and 14th resulting in only 14 points on the way home for a 33 point total.

Another player with a superb front nine of 19 points was Anthony Jackson playing off 18, who was obviously using his £6 Dunlop driver to good effect. Once again, after a great first nine holes, Jacko's back nine was a bit of a let down and blobs at the 11th and 15th meant he had to settle for 15 points and 34 points overall. One point ahead of Brian, this was good enough for second place finish though.

A massive five points ahead of second place, and the winner of the event was Neil Smith, playing off a handicap of 20. Neil had been suffering from vertigo and double vision prior to the golf day and was unsure as to whether he would attend. After 'topping' his way down the first two holes (not knowing which to hit of the two balls he could see), Neil must have felt like returning home but he persevered and scored a steady 17 points on the front nine. It was his back nine that made his score though, as he only dropped six shots for a superb 22 point total and a 39 point score overall. Let's hope a handicap reduction down to 17 will teach him a lesson for putting the rest of us to shame - well played Neil.

Full results from the The Willesley Park Spa trip can be seen by clicking

results_2008_03_willesleypark_2008.htm

2's Sweep - gross 2's scored by the following:

The Christmas Clock

Maxstoke Park Golf Club - 13th December 2007

18 hole stableford (full handicap)

27 players de-iced their cars and headed for Coleshill to Maxstoke Park golf club to compete in the 2007 Christmas Clock. It was extremely cold with a heavy frost and we were very lucky to be able to play the course and on proper greens as most clubs would have either closed the course or put us onto temporary's. That said, the rock-hard surface did make for somewhat farcical conditions at times, but it was the same for everyone - some coping better than others.

Fourth place went to Mike Thacker, playing off 28, who scored an excellent 18 points on the front nine (despite only having one point after two holes) but Mike could not not continued his fine form, only scoring 13 on the back nine for a 31 point total. Ahead of his Dad by virtue of countback was Tim Thacker who played off 13. Tim scored 17 on the front nine and 14 on the back to pip Mike into third place with his slightly better back nine.

This place, was the societies perennial 'bridesmaid', Alan Tolley, Alan has yet to win a BUNGS event but has finished second or third on numerous occasions. Playing off 18 he must have thought his 33 point total (16 front nine, 17 back nine) must have had a chance considering the conditions but alas, once again for Alan, it was only good enough for second.

A full five points clear of Alan and with one of the most resounding victories in BUNGS history was Chris Craddy with a superb 38 points. Playing off 18, Chris' play was very steady with no 'blobs' on his card and a very even 19 points on each nine was more than enough for Chris to secure his second Christmas Clock title, well played Chris.

Full results from the the Maxstoke Park golf day can be seen by clicking results_2007_12_maxstokepark_2007.htm

2's Sweep - gross 2's scored by the following:

No two scored

The Cliff Thompson Salver

Woodhall Spa Golf Club - 17th November 2007

18 hole stableford (full handicap)

24 players made the early start up to Lincolnshire to Woodhall Spa, one of the best golfing venues in the country. After a hearty breakfast, the pairs were drawn for the Friday morning 'friendly' fourball-betterballs on the easier of the two courses at Woodhall Spa, The Bracken. The weather was good and although it was cold (Brian Keates again looked like a gnome in his woolly hat), it remained dry and with no wind to contend with, scoring was pretty good.

With prize money going to the first two pairs, Brian Keates and Gordon Sullivan must have thought they has a chance of some cash with their 40 point total, but they were beaten by Steve Lloyd and Gordon Galloway who had a better back nine. Both Steve and Gordon agreed that they had 'left a couple of shots out on the course' which had probably cost them victory but they would have needed some sort of miracle to beat the eventual winners as Adam Thompson and Neil Smith scored an obscene 45 points (off 3/4 handicap) to take the bulk of the money.

After the golf it was back to the hotel for a few afternoon drinks and sandwiches, most of which were consumed by Mike Thacker. After a few more drinks, most people retired to their rooms to get showered and changed for the evening meal which was very good and a nice surprise came for some of those who ordered the Lemon Sillibub as dessert. They were six short of this particular sweet so had to ask some people to choose something else. A bottle of wine would be given to those as a compensation, not one bottle between the six - a bottle each. Resident pisshead wine connoisseur James Shipman scoured the wine list, choosing £20-£25 bottles of wine and these were shared between the BUNGS members - a strange (but very welcome) offer by the hotel. It must be remembered next time we visit to order 24 Lemon Sillibub's for dessert.

With the beer and wine having been flowing so freely since early afternoon, an early night was the order for most as they staggered up the stairs to bed, leaving only a select few (of the usual crowd) still drinking past midnight. Biggest surprise had to be John Mansell and Graham Bilsland both retiring around 10pm, probably upset at the lack of talent in the pub opposite.

After another good breakfast, it was time to check-out of the hotel and taken the short 30 second drive to the golf club to face the Hotchkin course, one of best (and toughest) courses in the British Isles. The course certainly didn't disappoint and was in truly magnificent condition for the middle of November and the cavernous bunkers, tight fairways, tangly heather and large trees were to make this a real challenge.  The weather was once again kind as the rain kept away and the sun even made an appearance during the back nine.

Even off some forward tees, the sheer difficultness of The Hotchkin showed with 30 points being good enough for fourth place, which went to Ian Talboys off a handicap of 8. One ahead of Ian on 31 points was James Shipman in third place, also off a handicap of 8. Second place went to the winner of our last event at Stratford, Bill Hancock who scored 32 points off a handicap of 14 and another handicap cut I'm afraid Bill. The winner a three clear shots ahead of Bill was Brian Keates with an excellent 35 points off his handicap of 24- very well played Brian.

After playing one of the toughest courses in the country, someone asked me what the lowest ever stableford points total was on a BUNGS day. A total coincidence but this 'honour' is actually owned by this events winner, Brian Keates, with a paltry FOUR POINTS. Apparently Brian denies this but I point you to our 2001 results page where Brian can clearly be seen at the foot of the results list for the Beau Desert golf day - sorry Brian but you may have blanked this from memory but it's all true!!

Full results from the The Woodhall Spa trip can be seen by clicking

results_2007_11_woodhallspa_2007.htm

2's Sweep - gross 2's scored by the following: