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Tonsley Golf Society - Winter Tour 2010

 

Saturday 27th February saw the Tonsley Golf Society gather for their annual meeting at the now familiar Belmont Golf Club.

This time, in true Tonsley style, the competition bar had been raised, the individual competition (Get in the Hole Challenge) remained, but the competition was now in Ryder Cup format with the Angels playing the Devils for the Tonsley Cup.

In a bid to talk team tactics and gain the early advantage, the Angels met on Friday and stayed in Hereford. Whilst their strategy may have been sound, when the Angels arrived at the club, the aroma of hops gave the Devils a sense of confidence for the day ahead.

   

The Ryder Cup style tournament (using stableford scoring) was enhanced through Tonsley's partnership with VPAR, a virtual scoring system where all players were able to track the scores of each individual and their team in real time on handheld PDAs as they played the course. This proved an exciting way to play out the day with it all being square at the end of Saturday, the singles day.

There was much to discuss in the clubhouse whilst watching Ireland put one over England in the Six Nations. A smart dinner, prize giving and some late-night trombone playing saw a liquid evening pass quickly.

The Angels and Devils
 
Day two, pairs day and it was all to play for. The Angels got off to a cracking start and after nine holes had a comfortable lead. But the Devils dug deep and pulled it back to set up a final hole showdown between the final pairs. When it mattered, the putting of the Angels faltered and the Devils pulled off a magnificent win to take the (inaugural) Tonsley Cup 2010.

Particular note should be made of the following:

  • Mark Goodall's calamitous dip from his 2009 form
  • Paul Pannell sweeping the floor on both days (with hire clubs!)
  • Pete Bullock's terrible putting form on Saturday, topping an easy 2-foot putt (Dick of the Day nomination)
  • Dan Potter not being able to drive past the ladies tee (Dick of the Day nomination)
  • Rupert Bell snoring in the clubhouse in front of the rugby (Dick of the Day nomination)
  • Simon Woolf having the decency to go to his room to sleep during the rugby (Dick of the Day nomination)
  • Richie Duncan waking some old duffer who had passed out in the bar with point-blank use of the Shiny Trombone (Champagne Moment)
RB
 

Here's the detail and prizes (whatever, show me the photos):

The Tonsley Cup 2010
The Tonsley Cup is a matchplay competition which loosely follows a Ryder Cup format. On Saturday we played ‘singles’ where there were two matches in each fourball.
On Sunday we played ‘fourballs’, where each hole was won by the team whose individual golfer had the lowest score. Handicaps were taken into account.
All players were designated a team: Floody and Woolfy’s guests playing in the Angels team (captained by Floody) and Rob and Joe’s guests playing in the Devils team (captained by Rob).
 
 
And the Tonsley Cup 2010 was won by The Devils!

Get in the Hole Challenge Trophy 2010

The individual competition run over both Saturday and Sunday rounds and based on a combined ‘stableford’ score was won by Paul Pannell (turning up with minutes to spare and hiring some old clubs from the pro-shop!... total bandit.)

Paul Pannell - Get in the Hole Challenge winner 2010

Other Prizes

Nearest the Pin winners:

Saturday - Rob Bruce

Sunday - Rupert Bell

Longest Drive winners:

Saturday - Al Muir

Sunday - Ant Dutton


Champagne Moment:

Richie Duncan - for waking some old duffer who had passed out in the bar with point-blank use of the Shiny Trombone.

...wakey wakey! (Champagne Moment)

... Anton Barlow, for hitting the same tree three times.


Prize of the Shiny Trombone (AKA “Dick of the Day”):

Anton Barlow - for hitting the same tree not once, but three times!

Hover over an image to see its caption. Click on an image to see its enlargement and then scroll through other images by clicking over it or using the cursor keys.
 

Joe demonstrates the live digital scoring system - a handheld PDA for each pair Jonny takes team talk very seriously Barlow, little tinker Power play from Mr Muir Barl gets narky with the paparazzi Belmont Lodge The 18th tee Muppey Joe: a rescue shot from the trees... ...finds a sandpit A close finish Mike tweaks his (almost) final stroke of the day Jerry, Woolfy and Ed Straight onto the cider Ed Shakerdearse Just like C3PO, except with a trolley Jerry - well out Pannell, the dark horse There's a hand missing here Ed holes the 18th Jolly well done Potter and Lovers All intact? Lovers and Ben Ben takes the scenic route Well, well, well. Watching the scores come in - a tense finish! Desperate times, Potter resorts to a Nazi march across his opponents line Paul, Dan and Ben - in full view of a gathering crowd Ben sinks his last How sweet Mark looks for a bridge Pedro digs up the lawn... ...and Dutton makes sure he doesn't get away with it Dutton plays with his eyes closed Jonny on the approach Tense speculation Nice little chip for the crowd Can he hole it...?! ...er, no. Penultimate putt Hockey And that's that The Angels and Devils

Mark, Ben, Al and Lovers Cuddington crew... Joe, Rich and Mark Joe and Rich Paul and Mike A couple of old farts No idea, but he's wearing that hideous tie again You can't thumb your thumber Camp manequin Jonny, Mike and Paul How about Pete's shirt with Ed's trousers (and Rupert's tie)? Al Muir - Longest Drive Pete and Dutton appeal Rob calls in the Dick of the Day nominations Footsie Richie collects a prize Big day Paul Pannell - in case it rains Woolfy considers his Dick of the Day chances Ed recounts a story to support his nomination And the Prize fo the Shiny Trombone, AKA Dick of the Day... ... Anton Barlow, for hitting the same tree three times. A glance at tomorrow's teams And back to the bar (Richie has ideas for the trombone) ...1am and some old boy has passed out in the lounge... ...wakey wakey! (Champagne Moment) Day 2 prizegiving Who else Rupert Bell - Nearest the Pin Anthony Dutton - Longest Drive The Angels concede the Trophy to the Devils Potter, for being brilliant... ...Lovers, equally so And bandit of the tour... Paul Pannell - Get in the Hole Challenge winner 2010 Well done Really well done.