2014 Results

Our results for the 2013/2014 season were as follows

(most recent event first):

Challenge Trophy
Birstall Golf Club - 24th October 2014
27 hole stableford (full handicap)

Write-up by Steve Lloyd
29 BUNGS members and two guests headed to Birstall Golf Club in Leicester for the last event of the 2013/14 season. The weather forecast was pretty ominous but in the end nearly everyone kept dry (all except the last couple of groups who got a soaking right at the end). Birstall is a trickly undulating parkland course with small greens and accuracy was a premium, especially as the amount of leaves that had fallen on the course made losing a ball (even on the fairway) a distinct possibility. Although the greens were true, they were on the long side so pretty slow, it will be nice to visit again during the summer months as we've been told they can be very 'slick'.

After the morning bacon sandwiches, it was out onto the course for the first 9 holes of the 27 holes competition. The scoring was particularly good, a few 19 points scored but nothing particularly special. After the soup and sandwiches at lunchtime, it was back out for the afternoon 18 holes where the competition on the day would be decided, along with the 2014 League Cup, Gross Birdies League and Nett Birdies League.

Alex Tolley was the League Cup leader but had a day to forget, so had to hope that Kevin Morris didn't finish in the top two, otherwise Kev would take the crown. Being out in the first group, Kevin posted a good 50 point total off his handicap of 4, but would it be enough take the League Cup? He was leader for a long time but was bumped down a place by Dennis Childs, playing off 16, who scored 19 on the front 9 and 33 on the back 9 for a 52 point total, which was enough to secure Dennis second place in the end.

Kev stayed in the lead for a while longer but looked to be bumped out of League Cup contention by Bill Hancock, playing off 16, who scored 19 in the morning and 31 in the afternoon for 50 point total to match Kev's. However, Kev had the better back nine (by 1 point) so Kev stayed in second spot for the moment where he remained for another half hour. He was finally 'de-throned' by three of the later starters and had to settle for fourth place on the day. He eid have the consolation of taking the Gross Birdies League title.

Third on the day was someone who hasn't picked-up too many prizes in his time with BUNGS, so it was great to see Steve Gross come in with 51 points in third place. Playing off 23, Steve scored 19 in the morning and 32 in the afternoon. One point ahead of Steve in second place was Dennis Childs (handicap 16) who scored 19 in he morning and 33 in the afternoon for is 52 point total.

Gary Tyler came into the day with the aim of catching Alex Tolley and taking the Nett Birdies League title. It didn't look too rosy for Gary at lunchtime as he only had 15 points (and one nett birdie), but he was like a man posessed in the afternoon round, scoring a massive 41 points (with 10 nett birdies). Playing off 16, Gary's 56 total won him both the Challenge Trophy and the 2014 Nett Birdies League, well played Gary.

And so ended the 2013/14 BUNGS season, it all starts again in three weeks at Woodhall Spa - see you there.

View full results and handicap adjustments from Birstall

Gross 2's Scored by the following

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Captain's Trophy
Kings Norton Golf Club - 26th September 2014
18 hole stableford (full handicap)

Write-up by Steve Lloyd
32 BUNGS members and three guests arrived at Kings Norton Golf Club for this year's Captain's Trophy. We were greeting with some early autumn sunshine and a superbly manicured course and, as the home course of current Captain Alan Tolley, this made a fine venue for his Captain's Day where we were raising money for The Brain Tumor Charity.

Alan had arranged some additional prizes to compete for during the day and was also selling Mulligans for people to use on the morning round. At a fiver for three Mulligans, nearly everyone entered into the spirit and purchased a batch and these were use to varying degrees of success. We played an individual stableford dring the morning on this occasion and three players all scored 21 points, only separated by countback. The winner was guest Les Jackson, second was Ian Talboys and third was another guest, Henry Hau. An additional nearest the pin on the 4th was won by Kevin Morris and Kev also took the prize for nearest the pin in 2 on the 8th.

Lunch was bolted down by most so they could head into the bar to watch some of the Ryder Cup coverage but it was soon time to head back onto the course for the main competition. Overall the scoring was pretty good with 35 points only good enough for fifth place, which was taken by John Haley off a handicap of 20. Two points ahead on 37 were Gordon Galloway (8) and Dennis Childs (17) with Dennis pipping Gordon into third place on countback with a better back 6.

Another two points ahead was Kevin Morris (handicap 5) who started badly with a double bogey at the first but stood on the par 5 18th at just one over par and 38 points 'in the bank'. A scrappy six proved to be costly for Kev however, and he had to settle for second place.

Society Secretary Steve Lloyd arrived armed with a new driver and three wood and put them to good use. Off a handicap of 7, Steve scored 20 on the front nine and 19 on the back nine, pipping Kevin to the title on countback with a better back six holes - securing his first BUNGS title since 2010, well played Me :-)

Alan had arranged additional prizes and these went to:
Booby Prize - Keith Evans (Guest)
Shortest Drive - Keith Evans (Guest)
Shortest 'Longest Drive' Contender - Gordon Sullivan
Best in handicap category 20-28 - John Haley
Best in handicap category 16-19 - Dennis Childs
Best in handicap category 10-15 - Neil Preston
Best in handicap category 0-9 - Kevin Morris*
* As the overall winner on the day, Steve Lloyd was not eligible to win this.

View full results and handicap adjustments from Kings Norton

Gross 2's Scored by the following

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BUNGS Shield
Shifnal Golf Club - 29th August 2014
36 hole eclectic stableford (3/4 handicap)

Write-up by Graham Thorpe
25 Bungs members arrived at the splendid Georgian clubhouse in plenty of time for an early start of 9.00 having been fed and watered by a young lady Alex Peters, the former Women's Amateur  stroke play Champion and who has been named in the Home International squad for September.

The committee members put together the cards and off we started in bright sunshine and a little breeze. The course was full as members crowded onto the first tee to follow our last group out.

The parkland course with plenty of trees was hazardous for some members whilst others delighted in the surroundings if you could hit the ball in a straight line. Near the end of the morning round the wind  started to build up, and by the afternoon it was quite strong and changed the golf course. The green keepers had also changed many of the pins and some of the tee positions just to confuse us all.

Mid- afternoon we had some short but heavy showers just to freshen us all up and then the sun appeared and waterproofs and sweaters were removed to produce a colourful array of shirt tops. (The authors bright orange top attracting golfers like a beacon from all around the course.)

As there was a lower turnout than usual only four players took the prizes. Finishing in fourth place on count back was Graham Bilsland off his handicap of 2(2 shots) with 39 points; in third place adopting his new putting style very successfully was James Shipman, handicap 10 (8 shots) with 39. Runners up spot went to Peter Meaney, handicap 13 (10 shots) with a points score of 42 - a very credible performance by Peter. Yet again young Alex Tolley, handicap 16 (12 shots) rose to the top with 44 points and another trophy to stuff in dads car.

With the Captain always being a runner up in BUNGS, he has introduced Alex so at least he can look at his trophies for twelve months at home. Alex waits with interest to see how many shots he will lose when Steve returns; oh to be young again!

View full results and handicap adjustments from Shifnal

Gross 2's Scored by the following

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BUNGS Championship & BUNGS Masters
Moor Hall Golf Club - 20th August 2014
18 hole stableford (full handicap) - - 27 holes for Masters Qualifiers

Write-up by Steve Lloyd
With the original event at Moor Hall having to be cancelled due to a waterlogged course, it was a relief to the 38 players attending the re-arranged day that the weather was good and the course was dry and in excellent condition. The greens were fast and true and probably as good as any that we've ever played on outside a tour venue.

The 38 players were competing for the BUNGS Championship and 11 of the attendees were also competing for the BUNGS Masters, with all 29 holes counting towards the Masters score.

The morning team event was won by the first group with a total of 50 points, so £11 each was taken by Ian Talboys, Alex Tolley and Karl Hughes.

After lunch, it was back onto the course. Moor Hall is a relatively short course where accuracy is the key to a good score but this proved too much to most of the BUNGS contingent as scoring was pretty poor.

34 points was good enough for fifth place, a score made by Martyn Dodwell and Karl Hughes who both unfortunately missed-out on the prizes on countback. With a better back nine of 19 points, Alan Tolley took the first of the five prize places with his 34 point total off a handicap of 18. Also on 34 with a back nine of 19 points was Gordon Galloway (handicap 8), who pipped Alan into fourth with a better 'back six'.

The fifth player on 34 points was Gary Tyler, who had a nightmare first 9 holes with just 12 points but a superb back nine of 22 points was enough to secure third place off his handicap of 16.

Stewart Fairweather had forgotten that he'd signed-up for the event and was still at home at 9am when he was texted to see where he was. Luckily, Stewart had a late tee time and made it to the course on time. It's a good job he made it as he had an excellent front nine of 20 points and followed this with 15 on the back nine for a 35 point total and second place off his handicap of 16.

The winner, by an absolute mile, was Alex Tolley playing off 19. Unbelievably, Alex had a whopping 22 points after just 7 holes and 36 points after 13. For his sake, it's a good job he blobbed two of the final five holes or his handicap cut would have been even more severe than the three shots he's going to lose after his 43 point tally. An excellent score, well played Alex.

With Alex being so far ahead of the rest, it's no surprise that he also took the BUNGS Masters title with his afternoon score of 43 added to his morning score of 20 for a 63 point total.

View full results and handicap adjustments from Moor Hall

Gross 2's Scored by the following

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Pairs Championship
The Astbury - 24th July 2014
18 hole fourball-betterball stableford (3/4 handicap)

Write-up by Steve Lloyd
It's not every day that you get to play golf in the back garden of a rock legend bit that's what 27 BUNGS members did at The Astbury, the home of former Judas Priest guitarist KK Downing.

Set in the grounds of Astbury Hall (home of KK Downing), The Astbury is a USGA style golf course with many of the holes designed by Ken Downing personally, the greens being fast and a real test.

Pairs were drawn over the morning bacon sandwiches and the morning money was won by Craig Vale and Alan Heard on 21 points with Steve Lloyd and Howard Holliday in second on 20 points.

Lunch was taken outside by most people enjoying the beautiful sunshine, some were finding the heat a bit much however, with Gordon Sullivan heading into the bar for some shelter. KK Downing couldn't believe the staying power of Gordon, managing to play 27 holes at the ripe old age of 80 - he even complimented Gordon on his 'Rock Star' hair style.

Onto the afternoon competition and third place (beating Phil Latham and Steven Raji into the final prize place on countback) went to Graham Bilsland and Alex Tolley on 40 points. Two points ahead in second were Mark Johnson and Gary Tyler on 42 points. A crucial birdie 2 for 4 points by Paul Jobbins helped seal the victory for himself and Adrian Marchant who took the title on countback after also finishing on 42 points. Well played fellas.

View full results and handicap adjustments from The Astbury

Gross 2's Scored by the following

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BUNGS Memorial Salver
Edgbaston Golf Club - 2nd May 2014
18 hole stableford (full handicap)

Write-up by Steve Lloyd
35 players made their way through the traffic to Edgbaston for this year's Memorial Salver. The day was dry albeit a bit chilly early on but the sun came out later in the day making it very pleasant. The course was generally in very good condition with lush, green rough. The greens were a little disappointing however, as they were very slow (compared to what they are normally like at Edgbaston). The course was also playing pretty long as there wasn't much run in the fairways, so any hole over 400 yards was a real challenge.

The morning scoring for the team competition wasn't particularly good and 36 points was good enough to take the money which was pocketed by the trio of Alex Tolley, Gary Tyler and Paul Jobbins.

After soup and sandwiches at lunchtime, it was back onto the course for the competition. As per the morning, scores were on the low side with 33 points being good enough for fifth place. This was taken by John Martin off his handicap of 18, beating society Secretary Steve Lloyd into fifth on countback with a better back nine.

Two players were one point ahead of John on 34 points with Steven Raji (19) in fourth being beaten by Craig Vale (16) on countback in third. One ahead was the ever steady Howard Holiday playing off 5 and his 35 points was good enough for second.

A whopping four points clear of Howard and winning with 39 points was Alan Heard. Playing off 9, Alan's score was helped by an eagle two at the 11th and his excellent performance was head and shoulders above anyone else on the day, a very goof round of golf. Well played Alan.

View full results and handicap adjustments from Edgbaston

Gross 2's Scored by the following

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The Enterprise Cup
Wharton Park Golf Club - 4th April 2014
18 hole stableford (full handicap)

Write-up by Steve Lloyd
32 players made the journey down to Wharton Park Golf club in Bewdley for this year's Enterprise Cup. Most of us left home in early rain but this had cleared by the time we arrived at the course and the day was very pleasant, not too cold with just a touch of breeze to contend with.

The course had seen a huge amount of overnight rain so was a bit soggy in places which was a shame as the course had been drying out nicely after the heavy rain of the winter months. Overall though, the course was in a pretty good condition for early season. To say the course in 'undulating' would be a bit of an understatement and there didn't seem to be a flat hole on the course, so it could prove to be a day for the better players with many uphill/downhill/sloping lies. The undulating terrain did make for some very good holes with the downhill par three's being particularly nice. Just looking at the uphill first hole was enough for quite a few BUNGS members to head into the pro shop to book buggy's, a wise decision.

After the coffee and bacon sandwiches it was out onto the course for the morning 12 hole team event. This ended with three groups at the head of the field on 48 points but the winners, on countback, were Graham Bilsland, Bill Ball and Phil Latham, pocketing a tenner each.

Over lunch, a few discussions we had about what the winning score might be. A score of 38 was suggested by the society Secretary with a prediction that 34 points would be enough to be in the prizes.

Scoring overall was pretty poor with some of those at the foot of the leaderboard having particularly tricky days. At the right end of the 'table', Lloyd Johnson is the golf co-ordinator at Wharton Park and seemed to be using his home advantage to geed effect as he had a whopping 19 points after just 8 holes but just 2 points from his next three holes scuppered his chances and he ended up with 34 points off his handicap of 8. This proved to be just outside the prizes and he was pipped into 5th by Howard Holliday on countback. Playing off 5, Howard scored 16 on the front nine and 18 on the back nine for his 34 points.

Graham Bilsland had a successful day, pocketing £10 from the morning, £10 for a 2, a nearest the pin, the longest drive and he also took fourth place after shooting a gross 74 (18 points on the front nine and 17 on the back nine for 35 points) off his handicap of 2. Another 'category 1' handicapper took third place. Playing off 5, Kevin Morris didn't have a particularly good start and after 5 holes only had 5 points but then started 'scoring' with 31 points on the next 12 holes (followed by a blob at the last).

Yet another category 1 player finished in second. Playing off 5, John Shaw also shot a gross 74 to score a steady 19 points on each nine for a 38 point total.

John Webber was at the event defending his 'title' and he did just that despite starting with a double bogey 7 at the first. John scored 19 on the front nine and 21 on the back nine for a whopping 40 points off his handicap of 12, well played John.

View full results and handicap adjustments from Wharton Park

Gross 2's Scored by the following

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The Ballesteros Bowl
Kilworth Springs Golf Club - 7th March 2014
18 hole stableford (full handicap)

Write-up by Steve Lloyd
With the 20th Anniversary trip to Lytham only a week away, this obviously had an impact on the attendance at the inaugural Ballesteros Bowl at Kilworth Springs, with one of the lowest BUNGS attendances for some time with only 30 players in attendance.

Everyone had to drive to the course in horrible rain and it looked like we might be getting a little wet but the forecast was for the rain to clear and bang on time, it stopped raining and the sun came out during the round making very pleasant conditions, albeit a little windy.

Kilworth Springs is a free draining course and considering the overnight and morning rain that fell, it was dry and in a very good condition considering it's early March.

This event was the drive-in for 2014 Captain Alan Tolley and to help his chosen charity (The Brain Tumour Charity) fundraising, we had the usual guesses for the length of Alan's drive. Not being the biggest of hitters, most of the guesses were on the low side and some sniggered at anyone guessing more than 200 yards. There were 40 guesses in total ranging from 60 yards through to 240 yards. Spurred on by the watching crowd, Alan snorted one down the middle and the ball ran to a whopping 230 yards meaning Neil Preston took the £20 for his guess of 232 yards. The other £20 went into the charity pot.

Onto the days best performers, in fifth place (beating Bill Hancock on countback) was Gary Tyler who, if you speak to his wife, wasn't here today (it's was his wife's birthday). Playing off 17, Gary scored 20 on the front nine and 17 on the back for a 37 point total. Continuing his fine form from last season, Alex Tolley (20 handicap) scored a very stead 19 points on each nine for a 38 point total and fourth place.

Perennial bridesmaid, Alan Tolley, was at it again and missed out on his maiden BUNGS victory by one point (again). Playing off 18, Alan seemed to take to Captaincy very well and started with five straight pars and scored a whopping 24 points on the front nine. The first six holes of his back nine were steady but only 3 points amassed on the final three holes cost him dear and he had to settle for third place on 39 points. Pipping Alan into second on countback was Neil White playing off 10, scoring a very steady 20 on the front nine and 19 on the back nine.

With a birdie at the first for four points, it was a good start for Ivan Wozniak and this continued throughout the front nine with a huge 23 points amassed. Just like Alan, holes 10-15 were good to Ivan and he stood on the 16th tee with 37 points in the bag. Ivan had holed some cracking putts so far but his putter let him down on the last three holes and he only added a further 3 points for a 40 point total. This didn't prove costly though as Ivan took his first ever BUNGS title - well played Ivan.

View full results and handicap adjustments from Kilworth Springs

Gross 2's Scored by the following

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The Christmas Cup
Maxstoke Park Golf Club - 12th December 2013
18 hole stableford (full handicap)

Write-up by Steve Lloyd
A superb turn-out of 45 players arrived at Maxstoke Park for the annual Christmas Cup event. The weather was dry and surprisingly mild for the time of year and the golf course was in excellent condition for December, with the greens still pretty quick.

After the bacon sandwiches it was out onto the course to compete for the cup. Scoring wasn't particularly good (I certainly thought we'd see better, despite my own pathetic performance). 34 point was enough for fifth place and there were 4 players on that total - Neil White (8th), new member Douglas Treacher (7th), Ivan Wozniak (6th) and Alex Tolley (5th). One point ahead in fourth place was Steven Raji off his handicap of 19. Another new member, Wayne Conlon, took third place off his handicap of 22 with 36 points and Mike Fox (handicap 19) was one point further ahead in second on 37 points.

The winner with a superbly steady round was Richard Mansell playing off a handicap of +2. Richard made four birdies and fourteen pars for a 38 point total. Get back to the States Richard and keep improving on your golf scholarship and we'll look forward to perhaps see you on the PGA Tour in the near future - well played.

View full results and handicap adjustments from Maxstoke Park

Gross 2's Scored by the following

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The Cliff Thompson Salver
North Wales Golf Club - 16th November 2013
18 hole stableford (full handicap)

Write-up by Steve Lloyd
26 players headed North and West to Llandudno for this year's Llandudno trip, there should have been 27 players but one didn't turn-up (we're still not sure what happened).

Our first day's golf was at Conwy Golf Club and it was decided to play our regular morning event format (in threeballs) where one score counts for the first 6 holes, two scores count for the next 6 and all three to count for the final 6 holes.

The course was in a very good condition for the time of year and the weather, although cold and blustery, remained dry. Some were enjoying the weather so much they decided to slow down their pace of play so that everyone behind them could enjoy the conditions. Kev Morris and Alan Heard (in a two ball at the head of the field) even had the time and energy to go out again for another 10 holes!

Second place with 69 points were James Shipman, Peter Meaney and Terry Tomkiss who scooped £6 each and the winners with a crisp tenner each were Gary Tyler, Steven Raji and Steve Barkshire on 71 points. The Longest Drive was won by Steve Lloyd and the Nearest the Pins by Phil Latham (2nd), Tim Thacker (6th), Mike Fox (13th), Graham Thorpe (15th).

It was off to The Dunoon Hotel in Llandudno, that although it's an old fashioned establishment , it was clean, the staff and food were great, and everyone agreed it was a marked improvement on The Esplanade where we have stayed for the previous visits to Llandudno.

After a few drinks and a lovely five course meal, some headed to bed for a (very) early night while a large group headed into town. Around half returned back to the Dunoon at 10.15pm to find the bar closed (the only criticism of the hotel). They did agree to open the bar for a short period (no draught beers available though as he'd already cleaned the pipes), but the shutters were down again by 11pm, so most people headed for some beauty sleep. Some hardy soles (buoyed by young girls in short skirts) did remain out on the town until the early hours and even risked kipping on the bench outside as they'd forgotten to pick-up a night key and were locked out.

Saturday morning was cloudy and not quite as cold as Friday, but the wind had picked-up and this certainly made shot selection difficult at North Wales Golf Club, where we were competing for this year's Cliff Thompson Salver.

Scoring was pretty good as the tees were forward on just about every hole. James Shipman got off to a flyer with 15 points after 5 holes but could only add a further 16 points on the final 13 holes so had to settle for a mid-field finish.

With less than 30 attendees, the prizes were for the top four finishers only and Phil Latham beat Gary Tyler into fourth place with a better back nine of 19 points after both players scored 36 points. There was then a four point gap to three players who all scored a whopping 40 points. New BUNGS member Kevin Morris who, off his handicap of 5, had a superb 2 under gross front nine for 23 points but just 17 on the back nine meant he had to settle for third on countback.

Second went to Graham Thorpe off a handicap of 21 with 21 points on the front nine and 19 on the back nine. The winner was another player off a handicap of 5. John Shaw scored an even 20 points on each nine even if his back nine was a bit erratic with 4 birdies, 4 bogeys and and just the one par. Well done John on taking your first BUNGS title since 2008.

View full results and handicap adjustments from Llandudno

Gross 2's Scored by the following

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