Dumfries Tour 2021

BUNGS Tour 2021 - Dumfries & Galloway and Silloth

19th to 22nd June 2021

Write-up by Graham Thorpe, many thanks for doing this once again Graham.

After last Year's Tour had to be cancelled due to Cov 19, and with most members having had their jabs and behind face masks 23 members and one guest (on his second Tour) ventured for the first time for the Bungs Society across boarder control just into the arse end of Scotland.  The  teams lined up as above with 2 new debutants, Owen Strudwick and Darren Penny and guest Craig Fallon who came back for more !

Sunday 20th June 2021 - morning
Powfoot Golf Club - 9 holes
6 x greensomes matches

The weather was perfect for the start of the Tour and both teams posed for the usual team photograph on the first tee .Both Captains's were boyant before the start and were intending to lead their teams by example ?

The 1st Tee did not look too daunting but several BUNGS members decided the fairway was too narrow and with the adrenalin rush, the farmers field on the RHS was full of BUNGS balls by the end of the day plus a few wayward hooks finished in the gorse on the LHS !

The Captain’s team made a strong start winning five matches out of the first six pairings, and a whitewash was averted by John Martin & Graham Thorpe who recovered to win the ninth and tenth to get the half point for John Haley's team.

Session Score - Captain's Team - 5.5 / Challenger's Team - 0.5

John Haley had some reorganising to do with his afternoon pairings?  Could he stem the tide!

 

Sunday 20th June 2021 - afternoon
Powfoot Golf Club - 18 holes
6 x fourball-betterball matches

Captain John Haley led from the front in the afternoon fourballs with partner Gordon Galloway (sorry I mean't he went out in the first pairing), but his opponents Craig and Adam were driving it long and straight and were putting the Challengers Captain to the test. They managed to hold out until the 18th where they succumbed to the long accurate hitters.

John Shaw the other Captain and his partner Karl Hughes realised fairly quickly they were in a contest as they were 3 down after 6 holes, and 2 down after 9 holes, to opponents Graham Thorpe and Gary Tyler.  Five of the next six holes were halved even though John was playing his "A" game scoring 5 birdies and partner Karl chipped in with 2 birdies (one of these on the 18th). The match finished 1 up to John and Karl but it was a great game.

John Martin and Phil Latham spent most of the afternoon excavating some of the Powfoot bunkers in their match and lost 4/3.

Finally the Challengers won the last two pairings to eventually get wins on the board for John Haley.

Session Score - Captain's Team - 3.5 / Challenger's Team - 2.5

Cumulative Match Score - Captain's Team - 9 / Challenger's Team - 3

 

Leading players after Day 1 from each team

Black Team

Six players have won 2 from 2:
John Shaw, James Shipman, Kevin Armitt, Craig Vale, Adam Thompson & Karl Hughes .   .  

Blue Team

Not one player in John Haley's team had a 100% winning ratio. (Losing 100% perhaps?)

 

The Challengers had a mountain to climb after only the first day with a 6 point deficit.

I am sure Captain Haley will have nightmares tonight but have a new strategy by breakfast time tomorrow. Now when you come away on Tour you have to be prepared for the under privileged to join you particularly at the dinner table in the evening.

Now opening restaurent sachets of sauce is not always easy for the elderly in our party but the younger members also have trouble as you can see below.

New member Darren Penny also lost his sweet to Graham Thorpe as he did not claim it quickly enough from the waiter and had to take Graham's instead. 

Monday 21st June 2021 - morning
Southerness Golf Club - 18 holes
6 x foursomes matches

The weather was gloomy with mist and drizzle which greeted us at the club house on our arrival with a cold sharp wind as we waited for all the members to tee off in front of us.

The Challengers got stuck into John Shaw's titans in the morning with a view of repairing the damage to our wounded ego's. (Apart from our complacent Captain.)

The first three pairings brought a return of 2.5 pts with two wins and a half.

The fourth pairing was Captain Haley partnered with Mark Johnson. With five holes to play at pedestrian pace they were 4 UP. Complacent or what they finished shaking hands on the 18th having lost by one hole!  "Sacre bleu" !

The final two pairings produced another two comprehensive wins for the Challengers, taking the morning foursomes by 4.5 to 1.5.

Session Score - Captain's Team - 1.5 / Challenger's Team - 4.5

Cumulative Match Score - Captain's Team - 10.5 / Challenger's Team - 7.5

 

Monday 21st June 2021 - afternoon
Southerness Golf Club - 18 holes
6 x fourball-betterball matches

The afternoon was fine with warm sunshine and the leading pairs set off down the course on time. Bobby Ho had a collision with a wall driving his buggy to the first tee demolishing a wall near the putting green ! Foreign drivers !

The Challengers had halved the deficit from the previous day to three points now and the first pairing of Howard & Ian won 2 &1, and now it was only two points down.

The next pairing finished all square and Captain John being 5 down after nine holes was inspired again to win the 18th for a half point and finish all square.

The next three pairings were wins for John's team, Captain Haley being a victim of Craig Vale's perfect driving for the third match of this tour.

The final match saw Kevin and Gordon rescue another point for the Challengers, so the day had turned out not too bad in the end.

 The Captain's have a 4 point lead going into the 12 singles matches on the final day.

Session Score - Captain's Team - 3.5 / Captain's Team - 2.5

Cumulative Match Score - Challenger's Team - 14 / Challenger's Team - 10

 

Leading players after Day 2 from each team

Black Team

All  the Captain’s team lost their 100% records, leaving Bobby Ho to be the best with 3.5 pts. John Shaw , Adam Thompson ,Kevin Armitt and Craig Vale all on 3 from 4.

Blue Team

Howard Holliday is the leading player with 3 from 4, followed by  Ian Ronson and Kevin Morris with 2.5 from 4 matches.

 

Tuesday 22nd June 2021
Silloth Golf Club - 18 holes
12 x singles matches

Early breakfast and we journeyed South to Silloth Golf Club  a venue some members had played before and were always reminiscing of it's wonder and difficulty.

It was a really hot day and everyone was bubbling to play a wonderful golf course.

The first pairs out were the two Captains and  the  two vice captains. For the Challengers Captain Haley had his biggest challenge  yet of the Tour but he wins the 1st hole and then finds himself 3 down at the 9th.  Then whether he took his spinich (like popeye) he then wins the next 5 holes on the bounce. John (Bluto) starts beating his golf bag and making strange utterances, but it works and wins the next two holes to bring it back to all square. The match finishes and Captain John Haley triumph's with his first half point on the Tour.

The Vice Captain's match was also as close  and finished All Square too.

In the next pairings  Mark Johnson finished all square with Steve Harris and Kevin Morris beat Adam Thompson 4/2 for the Challengers team, -  

Captain's team  15.5, Challengers team  12.5

Bobby Ho beat Phil Latham 2/1 for the Captain's Team,  but Gary Tyler beat Craig Vale 4/3 for the Challengers to equal.

The next pairing saw Gordon Galloway win 3/1 against Alan Heard for the Challengers team.

Karl Hughes had a good win of 3/2 against Howard Holliday for the Captain's Team  

Captain's team  17.5, Challengers team  14.5

With four matches still remaining the Captain's team needed 1 more point to take the trophy.

Owen Strudwick won a close match with Peter Meaney 3/2 for the Challengers.

Guest Craig Fallon got the valuble point for the Captain's team with a 4/3 win over Graham Thorpe. Then Kevin Armitt finished 1 up over Darren Penny to secure the match for the Captain's team

John Martin for the Challengers team saved his best performance to the last with a 5/3 win over Steve Raji.

Session Score - Captain's Team - 5.5 / Challenger's Team - 6.5

Final Match Score - Captain's Team - 19.5 / Challenger's Team - 16.5

 

Leading players after Day 3 from each team

Captain's Team

Bobby Ho was the star for the Captains team winning 4.5 points from 5.
Kevin Armitt had 4 points from 5, and Captain John Shaw had 3.5 points from 5.

Challenger's Team

Kevin Morris had the best return with 3.5 points from 5.
Four players finished with 3 points from 5.  Ian Ronson , Howard Holliday , Gordon Galloway and John Martin.

 

Both Captains thanked all the participants for their efforts and points and another very enjoyable tour was concluded after the presentation.

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Current BUNGS tour win percentages

(After the 2021 Dumfries Tour)