2024 Results

Our results for the 2023/2024 season were as follows

(most recent event first):

Challenge Trophy
The Leicestershire Golf Club - 24th October 2024
27 hole stableford (95% handicap)

Write-up by Alan Tolley
25 players turned up at the excellent Leicestershire Golf Club to contest this year’s Challenge Trophy, the conclusion of another great year’s golf for the Society. Play was over 9 holes in the morning and 18 in the afternoon, with all 27 to count towards the overall scores.

Being the last event of the season all the Society’s annual competitions were also up for grabs, including the gross and nett birdies leagues as well as the League Cup which saw Adrian Marchant going into the final day on 111 points and a slender one point lead over Steve Gibbons, with captain Ian Ronson a further point back, and Society secretary Steve Lloyd not quite out of it, but hoping for a miracle,10 shots adrift.

Conditions were forecast to be dry and not too cold for the time of year. That said, the early arrivals found themselves driving in foggy conditions on the Leicester ring road only to find a course shrouded in mist and fairways covered in leaves. Peter Meaney is always one of the most punctual members but even he outdid himself by arriving at 7 50am : an hour and 10 minutes before the bacon rolls were due to appear, but his What’s App message to everyone containing the door code was very welcome!

Given the cool and cloudy conditions we got to experience the generational ‘gap’ in all its glory when next year’s captain, Graham Thorpe, one of the most senior, and respected, members of the Society, understandably turned up with extra layers (although most of us regarded it as ‘camouflage’ gear), to be followed shortly afterwards by Ian Ronson and Darren Penny, clearly within the category of ‘younger’ members, who both turned up wearing shorts despite it being freezing first thing.

Luckily, as the day wore on the weather got much better, so much so that, for a time in the afternoon it felt like we were on the Costa del Sol. Darren and Ian’s decision to go for the shorts option proved to be the right one after all. The ‘Indian Summer’ conditions didn’t help with the scoring however as many players found the course hard to score well on, not surprising when you consider that from the yellow tees there wasn’t one single par 5 on the course. This meant that, even some of the Society’s better players struggled for par on holes such as 9, 11 and 16 with yardages of 443, 446 and 443 respectively.

As all 27 holes counted towards the scores there was no usual morning practice session, but captain Ian Ronson’s Charity Challenge had an intriguing aspect to it. Using their knowledge of fellow society members’ ability to find the sand, players were asked to predict the total number of shots taken during the 27 holes by all players. Clearly this wasn’t an exact science and there were some wildly outrageous predictions but, in the end no one got close the final total of 100 shots taken in bunkers during the day. Nearest to that total was Wayne Tandy with his guess of 81 and a bottle of wine as a prize, the only thing he had to celebrate all day!

Onto the prizes

Nearest the pins:
3rd hole (am) : Steve Gibbons
8th Hole (am) : Gary Tyler
3rd  hole (pm) : Steve Gross
8th hole (pm) : Shaun Mullaney
12th Hole (pm) : Darren Penny
17th Hole (pm) : Kevin Morris
Nearest the pin in 2 (13th) : Kevin Morris
Longest Drive (18th) : Kevin Morris
Captains Par 3 Charity Challenge (8th Hole) not won yet again so the ‘pot’ carries over to the next golf day. Mind you, if we’re not careful the Government will be wanting it to fill that ‘black hole’ of theirs !

Onto the main prizes for the day:
4th place : Alan Tolley with 46 points (26 hcp)
3rd place : Peter Meaney with 46 points (8 hcp)
2nd place : Shaun Mullaney with 48 points (9 hcp)
1st place : Kevin Morris with 49 points (+1 hcp)

This was Kev’s first BUNGS outing since May this year as he’s been improving his golf game as a county player. He was certainly the outstanding player on the day, winning the top prize but also a nearest the pin, nearest the pin in 2 and, of course, the longest drive prize. Well done Kev ! (or as Steve Gross more accurately put it, “we haven’t missed him have we” ?)

Best of the Rest : 1 to 18 hcp : Steve Lloyd with 42 points (10 hcp)
19 to 28 hcp : Heather Marchant with 45 points (26 hcp)

Annual Competitions round-up:
League Cup winner: Adrian Marchant held off his challengers to win the cup
Gross Birdies League : Kevin Morris
Nett Birdies League : Ian Ronson
Matchplay Knockout Champion : Paul Askew

 View full results and handicap adjustments from The Leicestershire

Gross 2's Scored by the following

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Captain's Trophy
Wollaton Park Golf Club - 27th September 2024
18 hole stableford (95% handicap)

Write-up by Steve Lloyd
30 BUNGS members plus one guest make their way to Wollaton Park for this season's Captain's Trophy. The week beforehand had seen torrential rain and unfortunately there was a buggy ban in play which meant a couple of the original attendees could not attend. The weather on the day was great though, it stayed dry and we even had a little sunshine to enjoy the course and the wildlife.

The traffic didn't seem as bad as normal at Wollaton so most people made it there on time, one couple from Cirencester who I won't name did arrive a little after everyone else as they were heading to Druids Heath Golf Club instead for some reason until they saw some early morning messages about the course conditions.

After one of the nicest bacon baps we've evey had, it was onto the course for the morning team event. The course was relatively dry considering the rain and in a very good condition considering and everyone was enjoying the company of the deer that were roaming the course. The money was won by Gary Tyler, John Dean and Captain Ian Ronson was starting his day in style with a win and 37 points.

The sun started to appear over lunch and remained pleasant for the afternoon, so it was back out onto the course, but first the Captain's Challenge on the putting green using John Haley's long putter. The starting position for the long putt was just off the green (presumably to stop people taking divots from the putting green, lol). Most people struggled and two of the 'shorties' Steve Gross and Bobby Ho were trying to putt with a club taller than themselves nearly. The winner was Shaun Mullaney who stiffed it to 25cm.

Alongside the afternoon competition we also had the Captain's Day yellow ball team competition. As the rough was cut back in most places, we thought most groups would be able to get round the course with it (especially as Jeff Sackettt wasn't attending) but three groups did manage to lose it on the way round, including myself on the sixth after a storming start by my team. The winners Adam Thompson, James Shipman and Mike Fox with 34 points.

Onto the prizes

Nearest the pins:
2nd hole: Darren Penny
8th hole: Paul Askew
11th hole: Steve Gross
13th hole: Adam Thompson
17th hole: Ian Ronson
Nearest the pin in 2 (7th): Peter Meaney
Longest Drive (18th): Craig Fallon
Blackout Competition: Steve Lloyd (Brighton, kindly picked for Steve by Marcho)

Onto the main prizes for the day:
5th place: Craig Fallon with 33 points
4th place: Heather Marchant with 33 points (better back nine)
3rd place: Wayne Taylor with 34 points
2nd place: Darren Penny with 35 points
1st place: James Shipman with 36 points

View full results and handicap adjustments from Wollaton Park

Gross 2's Scored by the following

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Pairs Championship
Market Drayton Golf Club - 28th August 2024
18 hole fourball-betterball stableford (85% handicap)

Write-up by Alan Tolley
28 players turned up at the delightful Market Drayton Golf Club to contest this year’s Pairs Championship, most having successfully navigated the surrounding narrow lanes without meeting a car coming the other way. Not having a tee time list in advance no one knew until after they’d arrived who they were going to be paired with for the day as the draw was only made after the customary bacon rolls and coffee at the club.

Although breakfast refreshments weren’t scheduled to be served until 9am Mark Johnson demonstrated his ability to arrive on time anywhere by getting to the club first and then letting everyone know the door entry code via a What’s App message at 8 21am ! Mark, sticking to the principle that it is the early bird that catches the worm, then went on to finish 2nd in the morning practice and, in the afternoon competition won not one but two nearest the pins, at the 7th and the 12th.

Luck of the draw always plays its part in the Pairs competition and there were certainly some unlikely combinations setting out from the 1st tee, no doubt more in hope than anticipation. Market Drayton itself proved to be a fantastic course, the condition of the fairways perhaps the best we’ve played so far this year and the greens – as has been the case with every event in 2024 – fast and difficult to read at times.

Earlier in the week the forecast had been for a dry, sunny, and generally warm day. We certainly had warm conditions, with Captain Ian Ronson in particular, proudly displaying a fine pair of legs underneath a smart set of shorts. Sadly, this debonair approach, whilst to be applauded, failed to get him into any of the prizes.

We had spells of rain in both the morning and the afternoon, some of which were on the heavy side, but the day remained generally cloudy albeit warm until the latter half of the back nine when the sun finally came out in earnest and showed its face at last.  

Darren Penny deserves singling out for special praise : hitting what must have been a contender for ‘worst’ tee shot of the day with his opening drive at the 1st in the morning and then, at the dog leg 8th in the afternoon, hitting what must be one of the best drives of his life, rightly earning him the longest drive prize.

Ian Ronson had yet again come up with an entertaining Captain’s Charity Challenge for the day. It was in the shape of a quiz, ‘Spot the Celebrity Golfer’. Pairings were presented with 20 random photos of ‘celebrities’ playing golf and, just for fun (no winning prize on offer) asked to identify as many as they could. Most people managed to name 17 or so, spending much time in the process on photo 20 (Kirsty Gallagher) which seemed to send more than a few ‘male’ hearts fluttering. A cool head was clearly needed and Adam Thompson’s table appeared to be the outright winners, if only for the fact that Ian kept asking Thommo what the answer was as he went through all 20 photos ! Apologies if any others were equal to the task too but it certainly wasn’t obvious the way Thommo and his ‘team’ were celebrating. All good fun at least, and more importantly, another way of raising money for Ian’s nominated charity.

Mind you, as John Haley rightly pointed out, this was supposed to be a quiz about ‘celebrity’ golfers so most of us are still asking ourselves how photo 17 got into the quiz …

Onto the prizes

In the morning practice over 9 holes the pairing of Mark Johnson and Douglas Treacher were runners up with a total of 21 points which meant they shared £20 (£10 each). The morning competition was won with an impressive total of 24 points by Dave Borasinski and Bob Stretton sharing £30 (£15 each). £6 also made its way into the charity pot.

Unbelievably, for the second time this year (it happened at Trentham Park earlier) not one single player managed a gross 2 all day. Fair enough, the greens were fast and tricky to read but you’d normally expect at least one person to get the ball into the hole in 2 strokes. What was probably the closest to a 2 came at the 18th where Paul Askew deservedly won the prize for being nearest the pin in two. Paul’s tee shot at the 319 yard par 4 was his best of the day, finishing just 20 yards short of the putting surface. His subsequent chip onto the green almost landed first bounce in the hole itself but struck the bottom of the flagstick instead and ended up less than a foot from the hole.

Captain’s Par 3 Challenge on the 4th hole : Once again, not one of the pairings could rise to the challenge so the prize pot rolls over yet again – any group fortunate enough to win the challenge at one of the remaining events ought, with a bit of luck, to be able to pay off their mortgages …

Nearest the pins:
4th hole: Kev Armitt
7th Hole: Mark Johnson
12th hole: Mark Johnson
15th hole: Steve Owen
Nearest the pin in 2 (18th): Paul Askew
Longest Drive (8th): Darren Penny
Blackout Competition: Steve Gibbons (Aberdeen)

Onto the main prizes for the day:
3rd place: Maria Perkins and Steven Raji with 39 points
2nd place: Phil Latham and Paul Askew with 40 points
1st place: Steve Gibbons and Paul Jobbins with 42 points

View full results and handicap adjustments from Market Drayton

Gross 2's Scored by the following

No 2's scored

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BUNGS Shield
Willesley Park Golf Club - 1st August 2024
36 hole eclectic stableford (90% handicap)

Write-up by Steve Lloyd
28 players, including one guests, arrived at Willesley Park Park Golf Club to contest this year’s BUNGS Shield. After several days of glorious sunny and hot weather, the forecast was a bit iffy with rain due at some point in the day and thunder/lightning possibly due at around 4pm. Luckily, the rain stayed away all day and the weather was hot and humid with a mix over overcast and sun.

As this was the 36 hole eclectic, there was no morning team competition and it was straight onto the individual stableford.

The course was in fantastic condition, the greens were true and pretty quick (much slower uphill though) and the rough was nice and 'juicy' but the fairways were wide and generous and luckily under most of the trees, the rough had been cut right back, so at least you could find your ball.

The morning scores were mixed, after the opening 18 there were some decent tallies, Mark Johnson and Adam Thompson on 32, Maria Perkins and Glenn Saunders on 33, Craig Fallon and Ian onson on 35, Anthony Jackson and Bob Stretton on 36, Kev Armitt on 37 but a mile ahead of everyone on 44 points was Wayne Tandy - surely he wouldn't be able to improve his score too much in the afternoon.

The afternoon remained hot and humid and this time we were also playing for the nearest the pins etc.

Nearest the pins:
4th hole: John Shaw
6th Hole: Peter Whittingham
10th hole: John Shaw
16th hole: Steve Gibbons
17th hole: Glenn Saunders
Nearest the pin in 2 (5th): Peter Whittingham
Longest Drive (18th): Steve Lloyd
Blackout Competition: Tim Thacker (Tottingham Hotspurs)

Onto the main prizes for the day:
4th place: Glenn Saunders with 43 points (19 shots)
3rd place: Anthony Jackson with 44 points (23 shots)
2nd place: Craig Fallon with 46 points (12 shots)
1st place: Wayne Tandy with 53 points (14 shots)

Best of the Rest:
1 to 18 hcp : Kev Armitt with 41 points (17 shots)
19 to 28 hcp : Dave Borasinski with 43 points (20 shots)  

There were some great improvements on the afternoon round. Dave Borasinski jumped from 28 points to 43 points to finish fifth and best of the rest in the 19 to 28 handicap category. New member Glenn Saunders went from 33 to 43 points in fourth place, Anthony Jackson (who only had three points after five holes of the morning round) jumped from 36 points to 44 in third place.

Craig Fallon improved from 35 to 46 points which would normally be easily enough to win the event, but he had to settle for second place. After his massive 44 points in the morning, Wayne Tandy continued his fantastic form and added a further 9 points for a 53 point total to take the 2024 BUNGS Shield in fine style, Well played Wayne!

The Captain's charity competition (who scores the most points on the ten par three's) was won by Dave Borasinski on 20 points.

View full results and handicap adjustments from Willesley Park

Gross 2's Scored by the following

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BUNGS Championship & BUNGS Masters
Trentham Park Golf Club - 4th July 2024
18 hole stableford (95% handicap)

Write-up by Alan Tolley
26 players, including two guests, arrived at Trentham Park Golf Club to contest this year’s BUNGS Championship, 10 of whom were also contesting this years’ BUNGS Masters competition.

The morning practice was played over 12 holes instead of the usual 9, with the Championship being decided with an afternoon Stableford competition of 18 holes. The Masters competition was based on scoring over all 30 holes.

The previous day had been benign with hardly a breath of wind but come the golf day we were faced with a forecast of largely unsettled weather, with possible showers later in the day, and a fairly stiff breeze to greet those stepping onto the first  tee : not an easy shot at the best of times with water everywhere to the right, a slither of fairway to aim at down the left,  and the wind, inconveniently, blowing hard from left to right so one or two, shall we say, heart stopping moments as anything hit with a hint of spin had a good chance of either getting wet or, worse, sailing into oblivion.

The course itself always seems to be compared unfavourably with its more illustrious neighbour just up the road at Trentham, but the day we played it was in magnificent condition with well contoured fairways, excellent but, admittedly, hard to read and really quick greens. The only downside was the length of the rough in places, particularly in many areas just in front of the tees which inevitably caught out many of the higher handicappers (no names mentioned Dave) and could genuinely be described as ‘knee high’ even if you were a basketball player !

Ian Ronson had once again come up with an ingenious Captain’s Charity Challenge for the day. This being the general election day, players were presented with their own ‘ballot’ papers on which to mark a ‘X’ against a series of unusual, but fascinating, questions. Most of us had earlier been to our local Polling Stations, scratching our heads at the possibility of finding someone on the election ballot paper that we genuinely wanted to vote for, but the Captain’s challenge was very much a fun thing to take part in, and involved, inevitably, a lot of (wild) guessing.

For instance, for the rather ‘topical’ first question participants were asked to decide whether BUNGS’ own ‘PM’ Peter Meaney would score more pars and birdies than Adam Thompson. He didn’t. For another question, could Dave Grubb and Steve Gross have a combined points total exceeding 55 pts. Clearly not, as they managed a ‘modest’ 26 points between them. Another riveting question concerned the ‘family’ fortunes of the Marchants and the Perkins, ie would Heather and Adrian end up with a higher combined points total than Maria and Alan. Indeed they could, managing 55pts as opposed to the Perkins’ 34.

All in all, good fun, well done to Ian for coming up with the idea in the first place, and yet another way of making some money for the Captain’s chosen charity.

Contender for quote of the day must go to Dave Grubb, playing the 11th in the afternoon with only 3 points to his name at that stage (and seriously going for the BUNGS’ record of 4) when he said that it would be a toss up as to whether the number of points he ended up with was less than the number of balls he lost. He scored 11 points so, having played alongside Dave I reckon it must have been a close run thing when you consider the number of sleeves he appeared to be going through …

Onto the prizes:
The morning practice over 12 holes was won by Maria Perkins, Darren Penny and Shaun Mullaney with 46 points, sharing £16 each. Shaun was an impressive one over par gross for the 12 holes played. It was two wins in a row for Maria as she also shared the spoils in her morning grouping at Handsworth last time out.

The Captain’s Charity ‘Ballot Paper’ competition was won by Dave Grubb who had a torrid time on the course, but proved he can mark an ‘X’ in the right place better than anyone else.

Unbelievably, not one single player managed a gross 2 : that’s 26 players playing four par 3 holes, or in other words, no less than 104 attempts to hole the ball in 2 shots but, it’s true, none of us could manage it.

Captain’s Par 3 Challenge – the 15th hole was chosen and given where Steve Gibbons’ ball finished, literally right on the edge of the green, (he won the nearest the pin prize on that hole) it’s a fair bet that he was one of the few who even managed to get his ball on the green.

Nearest the pins:
4th hole: Mick Clempson
7th Hole: Darren Penny
13th hole: Graham (it’s not how, but how many) Thorpe 
15th hole: Steve Gibbons (just)
Nearest the pin in 2 (11th): Steve Lloyd
Longest Drive (12th): Steve Lloyd
Blackout Competition: Marcho (Coventry)

Onto the main prizes for the day:
4th place: Steve Gibbons (‘driving instructor of the day’) with 30 points (18 shots)
3rd place: Adam Thompson with 32 points (6 shots)
2nd place: Mick Clempson with 32 points (17 shots) * on countback
1st place: Steve Lloyd with 35 points (9 shots)

NB It was Mick Clempson’s BUNGS golf day debut after attending this years Durham tour. Well done Mick !

Best of the Rest:
1 to 18 hcp : Shaun Mullaney with 28 points (6 shots)
19 to 28 hcp : Heather Marchant with 30 points (24 shots) * Heather’s second win in a row in this category, so well done Heather !  

BUNGS Masters results Competition played over 12 holes in the morning and 18 in the afternoon, 30 in total:  
3rd place : James Shipman 18 (morning) 28 (afternoon) : 46 points in total
2nd place : Adam Thompson 23 (morning) 32 (afternoon) : 55 points in total
1st place : Steve Lloyd 20 (morning) 35 (afternoon) : 55 points total * won on countback  

Thommo, in the first group out, and leading at lunchtime, had to leave early afterwards to go to a dinner of his own in Lichfield and must have left thinking he’d done enough to win his 3rd Masters title. Unfortunately, he didn’t reckon on the outstanding, and continuing, form of Society Secretary Steve Lloyd who pipped him to it on countback, both having scored 55 points.

With it being the general election day and an incoming government promising ‘change’ it was, instead, pretty much as you were for Steve, not only winning on his second successive golf day, having triumphed in the Enterprise Cup at Shrewsbury in April, but now adding his first-ever BUNGS Championship having been a founder member of the Society in 1994.

Steve’s form also saw him deservedly take the prodigious Masters title, again a first for him to add to the many trophies he’s already won over the years. He didn’t stop there of course, picking up prizes on the day for Nearest the pin in two at the 11th, and Longest Drive (and it was LONG) at the 12th.

The downside is, he’ll have to polish both trophies before bringing them back next year but, in the meantime, given all the brilliant work he does, week in week out on behalf of the society, we don’t begrudge him his moment of celebration, especially as we’re all expecting the guaranteed handicap cut in time for the next event !

View full results and handicap adjustments from Trentham Park

Gross 2's Scored by the following

No 2's scored

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BUNGS Memorial Salver
Handsworth Golf Club - 24th May 2024
18 hole stableford (95% handicap)

Write-up by Alan Tolley
34 players turned up at Handsworth Golf Club to contest this year’s Memorial Salver, the best society turn out for some time. The field included 2 women players, Marcho having already set the trend earlier by introducing his wife Heather to the BUNGS ‘clan’, Alan Perkins did the same by accompanying his wife Marie to this event, It was great to see both of them, especially as each had good reason to be pleased with their performance at the end of the day.

Conditions at the start were grey, overcast, on the cool side and with a hint of showers to come. On arrival, despite there being heavy rain in the past week, the course looked in magnificent condition with lush, manicured fairways.

The main talk over the welcoming coffee and breakfast baps centred on the Captain’s Charity Challenge for the day with Ian had choosing his own BUNGS ‘Fantasy Golf’ competition. Money had already been raised for the Captain’s Charity from 2 ‘majors’ competitions held so far, both of which had kept Marcho busy for the last month or two (although it hadn’t prevented him from sporting an impressive sun tan!)

Instead, this particular challenge asked members to use their knowledge (or lack of it) of fellow BUNGS members by predicting the 4 players who would score the most combined Stableford points over the afternoon’s 18 holes. There were some initially ‘wild’ predictions, Marcho himself trying to discourage everyone from choosing him, whilst others had a more subtle (although not, ultimately, ingenious) approach of going for players who had shed loads of shots to play with.

Those who played in the last society event at Shrewsbury were still talking about how good the greens were there but, from the off, it was apparent that the Handsworth greens, whilst certainly not as fast, were just as good and clearly among the best we will play on this year.

There were a few low clouds and the odd spot of rain here and there but, apart from remaining cool for most of the day, the weather, and the course,were just about perfect for a day’s golf.

Most groups experienced the presence of a fox at some stage during their round but ‘Foxy’ wasn’t supposed to be playing so how he got past the security gate we’ll never know!

In Steve’s absence (showing how much we miss him) there was momentary confusion at the start of the afternoon round when no one seemed to know which holes the longest drive, nearest the pin in 2 and the Captain’s par 3 Challenge would be on. Fortunately, Wayne Tandy came to the rescue of those ‘stranded’ on the first tee via the wonders of modern telecommunications, and all became clear 2 BUNGS members were making their first society appearance of 2024, Graham Thorpe and Douglas Treacher, and the field also included 2 new members making their very first appearance, John Foxley and Andrew Whittingham    

Onto the prizes:
The morning practice was won by the husband and wife ‘double duo’ of Heather and Adrian Marchant and Marie and Alan Perkins, with an impressive 39 points, sharing £17 each.

The Captain’s Charity ‘Fantasy Golf’ competition was won by Anthony Jackson with 127 points.

6 different players managed to score a Gross 2:
Darren Penny, Kevin Morris, Andrew Whittingham, Paul Jobbins, Anthony Jackson (in his own words, a ‘thinned 8-iron at the 6th) and finally Karl Hughes who went one better than the rest by scoring 2 x 2s (or 4 as I was taught at school in the 1950s)

Nearest the pins:
4th hole – Craig Fallon
6th Hole – Peter Meaney
13th  hole  -  Phil Latham
17th hole – Kevin Morris
Nearest the pin in 2 (11th) – Mark Johnson
Longest Drive (18th) – Kevin Morris (Kev no doubt well chuffed to be back among the prizes again)

Captains Par 3 Charity Challenge – not won so, yet again, the ‘pot’ carries over to the next golf day

Blackout Competition – John Haley, the ‘prince’ of predictions, won the money.

Having won both of the 2 ‘majors’ competitions so far this year John continued in the same vein by winning the Blackout competition as well. Clearly, he is either very fortunate, extremely good at predicting events, or he’s just BUNGS own version of Marty McFly, coming back from the future time and time again, and all without a flux-capacitor!  

Onto the main prizes of the day:
5th Place – Kevin Morris with 33 points (-2 shots)
4th place – Phil Latham with 33 points (17 shots) (* a better back 3)
3rd place – Ian Ronson with 34 points (14 shots)
2nd place – Alan Perkins with 35 points (18 shots)
1st place – Andrew Whittingham, on his BUNGS debut, with 37 points (15 shots)

Best of the Rest:
1 to 18 hcp – Peter Meaney with  31 points (7 hcp)
19 to 28 hcp – Heather Marchant with 32 points (26 hcp)

View full results and handicap adjustments from Handsworth

Gross 2's Scored by the following

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Enterprise Cup
Shrewsbury Golf Club - 19th April 2024
18 hole stableford (95% handicap)

Write-up by Alan Tolley
26 players turned up at the picturesque Shrewsbury Golf Club to contest this year’s Enterprise Cup.

The first thing to negotiate for most was the southern approach from the A49 which was just wide enough for a Fiat 500 let alone anything wider. Those approaching from the north had no such problems but how last year’s captain Gary Tyler and his huge ‘machine’ managed to negotiate the route from the south is anyone’s guess.

In the weeks leading up to the golf day the weather had remained wet and, ominously there was a notice on the club’s website the night before stating that buggies could only be hired with a medical certificate. Jeff Sackett has, of course, negotiated his way out of many, shall we say ‘tricky’ situations in his previous life with the US Air Force and he equally didn’t have any problems finding himself a buggy for the day, when asked by the pro on arrival whether he could walk 27 holes Jeff simply answered ‘No’ and promptly got his ‘wheels’ for the day!

The implication from the club was that conditions might still be fairly wet in places but things proved to be very different. The morning practice session got under way in grey, cold and windy conditions, and perhaps a hint of a shower, but the course overall was fairly dry and played really well. The highlight for many was the condition of the greens,They were easily the best the society has played on for some time, but with the added ‘attraction’ (if you’re a sadist) of being incredibly quick. The stimp meter reading was given as 11, which matched the first 2 days of the recent Masters tournament.

The greens may have been a pleasure to experience but they were faster than some of the passing trains which meant that low scoring proved to be really difficult for most. Indeed, it was almost impossible to ‘lag’ a putt from long range and any putts narrowly missing the hole, even from close range, invariably ended up 4 or 5 feet past the pin so a day of many 3 putts (or more) was the norm for many participants.

Everyone seemed to like the course – even those with really ‘low’ scores (no names mentioned but at least Bobby Ho made it into double figures). Most difficult hole appeared, quite rightly, to be the stroke index 1 par four 12th hole, 434 yards of undulating territory on an otherwise fairly flat course. If anyone did get a par they weren’t shouting about it – instead, at least 5 players admitted that they had putted off the green, the slopes, and pace, proving far to difficult to master.

Onto the prizes:
The morning practice was won by Dave Borasinski, Booby Ho and Steve Lloyd, with 35 points, sharing £15 each

The Captain’s ingenious challenge of nearest the ‘bin’ was won by Kevin Armitt.

3 players managed to get the ball in the hole by taking only 2 shots – Darren Penny, Wayne Taylor and Alan Perkins, three of the society’s genuinely ‘nice’ guys (that doesn’t necessarily mean the rest of us are ‘bad’ boys).

Nearest the pins:
2nd hole – Alan Perkins
6th Hole – Craig Fallon
8th hole  -  Mark Johnson
17th hole – not one single player managed to hit the green all day!
Nearest the pin in 2 on the 18th – Peter Meaney
Longest Drive – Alan Perkins (a man having a fantastic day, at least prizes-wise)
Captains Par 3 Charity Challenge – not won so the ‘pot’ carries over to the next golf day
Blackout Competition – Bournemouth was the winning team and Darren Penny the recipient of the prize, which he promptly donated to the captain’s charity

Onto the main prizes of the day:
1 to 18 handicap best score : Jason Cooper with 29pts (17 shots)
19 to 28 handicap best score : Alan Tolley with 29pts (25 shots)
In 4th place it was Steve Owen with 30 points (8 shots)
In 3rd place, on countback, was Kark Hughes, also with 30 (9 shots)
In 2nd place, in only his 2nd BUNGS event was Wayne Taylor, with 33 points (9 shots)

In 1st place was society secretary Steve Lloyd, who had hardly played any golf recently but, nevertheless, after pocketing the money for the morning practice round, Steve went on to be the best player in the afternoon, scoring 34 points off 12 shots to secure his first golf day win in 5 years, his 11th in total (in 30 years mind). Well done Steve!

View full results and handicap adjustments from Shrewsbury

Gross 2's Scored by the following

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Ballesteros Bowl
Kilworth Springs Golf Club - 21st March 2024
18 hole stableford (95% handicap)

Write-up by Alan Tolley
28 players – including no less than 5 new members of the society - turned up for the first event of 2024 at Kilworth Springs Golf Club.

Kilworth is known for always being open, whatever the weather conditions but, given how much rain had fallen generally in the days and weeks prior to the event, most were expecting the course to at least be soggy and perhaps the greens to be far from their best.

As it turned out any fears we had were unfounded. Despite the recent poor weather which has seen many golf courses closed at times during the winter, Kilworth proved to be perfectly playable with the areas around one or two greens (notably the 17th) being wetter than others but only one fairway, the difficult par 4 13th showing signs of standing water.  

Having ‘crusty’ bacon rolls before play set everyone up nicely and, although there was a threat of rain throughout the day, other than a few spots here and there no one needed to put a brolly up at any time. The day started breezy and a little on the cool side but it gradually warmed up an, by the time the last group came in the sun was out and the weather almost perfect.  

Most players praised the quality of the greens, especially given all the recent bad weather so scoring was pretty good too, players needing at least 35 points just to get among the prizes.  

This being Ian Ronson’s first golf day as Captain of the society there was a decent crowd gathered around the 1st tee to watch his opening drive. With all the pressure – and under some constant barracking from a few who will remain nameless, Ian managed to hit a really decent drive, eventually measured as 212 yards. Wayne Tandy was the lucky man to have predicted exactly that figure so well done Wayne!

Newlyweds Marcho and Heather were making their first society appearance since tying the knot, as it were, but Marcho had more cause to celebrate as it was his birthday so he handed out pieces of birthday cake at one stage to players in the group behind. This kindly gesture didn’t prevent him from putting 2 balls into the water on the same hole later. Coincidentally, the Captain’s other challenge on the day was a ‘Wetballs’ competition, in other words to have a guess at how many balls would end up in the water during the 18 holes. There were some wild and wacky guesses, Karl Hughes predicting more ‘wet’ balls than his beloved Everton have scored goals this season, Shaun Mullaney on turning up at the clubhouse at the start of the day was asked for his entry, Shaun immediately reaching out for the first number that came into his head and said ‘9’ and that, against all odds, proved to be the winning prediction.

On to the prize winners and fourth went to Wayne Tandy with 16 shots on 35 points, pipping newbie Steve Owen (9 shots) with a better back nine. One point ahead was Marcho (8 shots) on 36 points. Jacko finished in the prizes again so, as he intimated over coffee and bacon rolls earlier that he wanted to get his handicap down, he’s definitely going about it in the right way. Jacko also scored 36 points (23 shots) beating Marcho into second with a better back nine.

It may have been Ian Ronson’s debut as Captain but it was Ian’s day in every sense as he walked off with the Ballesteros Bowl with a mighty 39 points off 17 shots. Well played Ian!

In Kev’s absence the prize for longest drive was up for grabs. Darren Penny’s last society outing at Maxstoke Park coincided with one of his worst-ever rounds of golf – and one of his miserable drives which didn’t make the Ladies tee being captured on film by the society’s captain and put on the web site for all to see. At Kilworth, Darren came back fighting and got his name of the longest drive. Nearest the pins went to Paul Jobbins (2nd), another of the newbies Clive Copeland (6th), marcho at the 11th and Howard Holliday at the 18th. Nearest in 2 at the 8th went to Pete Meaney.

View full results and handicap adjustments from Kilworth Springs

Gross 2's Scored by the following
No 2's scored

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Christmas Cup
Maxstoke Park Golf Club - 14th December 2023
18 hole stableford (95% handicap)

Write-up by Steve Lloyd
A few days prior to this event the course at Maxstoke Park was closed and for the preceeding two days, only 12 holes were open so we were lucky to have all 18 holes open for play on the day of our visit. Unfortunately it was 'carry only' so seven of those due to attend had to cancel so there were just 19 BUNGS members plus one guest to compete for the 2023 Christmas Cup.

There was some light drizzle as the first group teed-off but luckily that was all the rain we had and it remained dry but chilly for the rest of the day.  As we 'squelched' down the first we were ominious about the state of the rest of the course, but considering the rain that had fallen in the month prior, it wasn't that bad to be honest. There were some very wet patches in places and the course was playing long, but the greens were decent, so we were glad to be playing a full round of golf.

Scoring wasn't fantastic with several scored in the low 20's. Darren Penny didn't have the best of days although he did have a couple of decent holes and a monster drive at the third amongst his last place finish on 16 points.

With less that 20 BUNGS members there, prize vouchers for the the top three only and in third was incoming Captain Ian Ronson scoring 18 on the front nine and 15 on the back nine for 33 points off 22 shots.

Adrian Marchant won the prior event at Seacroft golf club and it looked like he was going to go 'back to back' after scoring 16 on the front nine and 18 on the back nine for 34 points off 8 shots. He was ahead of playing partner (and defending Christmas Cup champion) Steve Gibbons as they stood on the 18th green. However, a monster putt from Steve for a par and three points on the 18th, took Steve to 35 points to pip Marcho by a point. Steve's 35 points comprised 17 on the front nine and 18 on the back nine off 22 shots to take the Christmas Cup for consectutive years. Well played Steve.

View full results and handicap adjustments from Maxstoke Park

After another fantastic Christmas meal, the prizes were given out along with the trophies for the 2023 season long competition winners. Gary Tyler signed-off his year as Captain where he raised £1719.01 for Macmillan Cancer Support and passed the baton onto Ian Ronson who has chosen Leukaemia UK as his charity for 2024. He'll provide further in due course.

A brief AGM followed then it was time to scrape the windscreens again and head home. Merry Christmas to all BUNGS members.

Gross 2's Scored by the following

 

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The Cliff Thompson Salver
Seacroft Golf Club - 11th November 2023
18 hole stableford (95% handicap)

Write-up by Steve Lloyd
16 BUNGS members headed up to North Shore Hotel and Golf Club in Skegness on the Thursday night for an extra night's stay. Most journeys were pretty uneventful apart from traffic for some and near death experiences for others. It's a good job Anthony Jackson and Steve Lloyd brought along extra boxers as they were soiled after Tim Thacker nearly killed them all! John Martin had arranged a meal at a local Italian for some and Gary Tyler had sourced an all you can eat international buffet for others. Unfortunately after the long walk to the buffet restaurant, the wait was quite long (it didn't open until March 2024) so a further long walk in the cold finally found an Indian. Everyone headed back to the hotel for a few drinks, some more than others, with John Martin stubbing his toe in his room 'pissed' as he described.

Friday morning was dry and bright but chilly and we were joined by the other 16 attendees at North Shore for breakfast and onto the course for the fourball-betterball competition. The weather stayed dry apart from a few drops of rain at the end for the later starters, but the course was in decent condition and was a good venue for the first day.

Gary Campbell joined the BUNGS Hole in One club after aceing the par four ninth with his driver and purchased several bottles of wine for everyone at the evening meal, thank you Gary and well done!

Gary's five points at the ninth helped him and Chris Dewes to win on 41 points, taking £15 each. Second were Steve Harris and Adam Thompson on 39 points (£10 each) and third, also on 39 were James Shipman and Gary Tyler (£5 each).

Nearest the pins were won by John Shaw (3rd), Steve Lloyd (11th), Steve Gross (14th), nearest in 2 on the 17th by Marcho and longest drive by Valey on the 10th.

The late afternoon was either spent in the bar, having a stroll into Skegness or catching a few Z's in bedrooms before a really good evening meal at the hotel with a free drink for everyone plus the wine for Gary's hole in one. Most people stayed at the hotel, a couple did head into the bright lights of Skegness but a good evening was has by all.

Saturday morning was again dry, bright and chilly and after another good breakfast we took the short drive to Seacroft Golf Club (the walk from the golf club car park to the clubhouse was almost as long as the drive there). John Martin had to unfortunately head home as his toe had ballooned and turned black and he struggled to walk at North Shore and couldn't make it round Seacroft, which is a fine championship links course and was a good test. The greens had been recently hollow tined which was a shame, but for the green fee paid, represented excellent value for money.

People were finding the course difficult though and there were some pretty low stableford scores and 33 points was enough to get into the top five prizes.

Fifth went to new Matchplay Knockout Champion Mark Johnson scoring 33 off 8 shots, pipping Gary Tyler with a better back nine. Fourth with just one shot, Rob Hallworth scored 34 points, aided by a tap in eagle at the ninth. Also on 34 points was Lee Bullock with a better back nine, not only did Lee not have any shots, he had to give one back to the course playing off +1.

With a great front nine of 21 points, Steve Raji with 13 shots but couldn't keep it going and had to settle for 14 points on the back nine for 35 points and second place. The winner, and not drinking any alcohol during the trip, was Adrian Marchant. With 10 shots, Marcho scored a level 18 on each nine for 36 points to take The Cliff Thompson Salver. Well played Marcho - perhaps there's something is this zero alcohol thing!

Nearest the pins were Marcho at the 4th, Kev Armitt at the 10th, Leigh Bullock at the 12th and Ginger Gordon at the 14th. Nearest in two was Steve Lloyd at the 6th and Longest Drive Kev Morris at the 17th.

View full results and handicap adjustments from Seacroft

Gross 2's Scored by the following

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