this event was won by
kev murphy
Medal [Stroke Play] events are always tough, especially on unfamiliar courses like Didsbury - with its narrow fairways and well guarded greens.
However, one player stood head and shoulders above the rest of the society, coming home with an exceptional score of 2 over par Gross - giving him a nett score of 63 [-7]. Included in that round was two 2's on par 3's and 12 pars and a score that would have seen him bag 43 points in Stableford format!! He also walked away with 2 of the 3 nearest the pins. Golf of the highest quality and a worthy winner of any competition. In the words of his playing partners, "it was a joy to watch" Congratulations to Kev Murphy |
Read our members reviews on Teeuplo
official bunkers review...
As a society, we have visited Didsbury Golf Club every year since we have been formed. As a club, we enjoy the warm welcome and the 'local golf club' feel. Its also a lovely little course that is usually in immaculate condition and wonderfully lush and green.
On this visit, we were welcomed with a tasty bowl of soup and plates of sandwiches. The club was very quiet, and the clubhouse was like the Mary Celeste – but that was absolutely not a problem for us. Maybe the fact we were in Manchester, and City were playing Chelsea at home that afternoon had some part to play.
The course was once again extremely lush with emerald green fairways and well-defined rough. The greens were cut with beautiful fringes and canopies and made them stand out against the fairways. The tee boxes were all in good condition and were large and fair. There isn’t a massive amount of punishing rough on the course, but what there is a vast amount of trees that line the fairways and more often than not – they are without a clear route out and make sure you have to “take your medicine”.
The pre round practice facilities are good with a 120-130 yard pitching area to two greens, and two practice nets to hone the longer clubs as well as a large putting green. The pro shop was well stocked but not overly welcoming on this occasion – although certainly not an issue, it just wasn’t as warm as the rest of the club.
The course itself follows the meandering path of the River Mersey – yes, the banks of the River Mersey. In Manchester? Yes, you read that correctly. There are several holes that very much have the river in play if you are wayward off the tee and Didsbury is more of a course to plot you way around as opposed to try and thrash you way to success.
Unusually, it starts and ends with par 3’s and this isn’t the only unique and original trait of the course. Plenty of doglegs and gentle turning holes with positioning being the absolute key. The first four holes are along the river side before crossing the motorway bridge to play 5 holes that are all tightly compacted and overlapping, and then its back over the same bridge for a very unusual hole that has a local rule of only being able to hit clubs above 18 degrees of loft – on account that the motorway is tight to your left hand side and anything ‘hooky’ could end up bouncing down the fast lane!
The only downsides to this particular visit were that most of the bunkers [a good 80-90%] were filled with standing water. We had had a fair amount of rain the day before, but the rest of the course was bone dry but the bunkers took the brunt. As it had puddled in the middle of the bunkers, the edges were unraked and flat compacted sand meaning that any ball that didn’t gather into the water, or was dropped, was on a horrendous lie.
The other point was that four or five greens were a bit inconsistent with the rest of the course. Generally, they were slick and true, but a few just caught you out with a slower pace and uneven roll and appeared in poorer condition to the others.
Despite this, it was still a lovely visit to what has traditionally been a real firm favourite of our members.
Group 1 - Craig Evans, Peter Woolley & Allan Gunn
Allan Gunn as always was bemoaning his handicap at the start and during the round. The handicap secretary had a close look and this is what he saw…. that his Driving was superbly accurate and Allan hardly missed a fairway. The long grass and soft surface didn’t help with the distance but definitely the best part of Allan's game. His approach play lacked that consistency but at times was great as shown by the excellent 2 on 6th where Allan stiffed one to 5 feet. A couple of short putts and struggles when in the rough is ultimately what cost Allan a better score but as for his handicap…. NO CHANGE!
Peter Woolley was wearing the champion shirt and by the second he must have felt that it was made of lead as he made an 8. He truly battled his way round the course and once again showed some wonderful touches around the green but in truth it was the putter that saved Peters bacon. Around 7 putts held from outside of 10 feet tell its own story. Peter had been commenting to Evo that he just wanted to match him as Evo was playing well. He did. A great finish from Peter took him down the 18th just 1 shot behind. He left himself a 25 footer for par and by now we all knew where it was going and that resulted in Peter beating Evo on a card playoff and a very satisfying performance.
Evo started off okay. Struck the ball sweetly. Too sweetly on the third as he struck a 3 wood over the canal and a reload was required, resulting in a poor 8. This left him 4 over after 3 and things weren’t looking good. However Evo then found his rhythm and was striking the ball nicely and he finished the rest of the front 9 one under par. This continued and he was still only 4 over par on the 16th tee but a pulled 8-iron left him with no shot and a double bogey took the wind out of his sails and he bogeyed the last too to finish with a whimper and an 8 over total. Could and should have been better.
Group 2 - Chris Parrish, Kev Murphy & Dave Ashley
The second group out featured the experienced and very consistent Chris Parrish, the relatively inexperienced and inconsistent Kev Murphy and the pre-tournament Bookies Favourite Dave Ashley.
The group’s opening shots were in many ways indicative of what was to come throughout the rest of the round…
Chris pushed his tee shot way right and eventually finishing the hole with double bogey after failing to pick up the pace of the green and three putting. Kev crashed his opening shot to the fringe of the green from where he easily made par after rolling his first putt up to 6 inches. Dave nailed his to 15 feet but still needed to sink a tricky 5 footer to make his par!
Chris played well in spells, hitting many good shots in a round ultimately filled with frustration. His driving was consistently long and accurate but his iron play was erratic and compounded by his inability to find his touch on the greens. Sadly for him handing in a card showing 86 (net 76) including 4 double bogeys put paid to any chances he might have had of ending the day victorious.
Dave too was playing some tidy golf at times but one or two loose mid-irons left him scrambling about too often to record a winning score. Three putts on at least three of the greens cost him dearly and spoiled what might otherwise have been a score sufficient to earn him a minor prize. 83 (net 73) could have been so much better.
The undoubted star of this trio though was Kev Murphy. From the first hole to the last Kev struck shots of the highest quality….Long accurate drives…controlled, precise irons…..smooth perfectly weighted putts. All came together in a display of ball striking which it was a privilege to witness close up! With a gross score of 72 (net 63) it was not surprising that he romped to a very well deserved and extremely comfortable victory. Coming home with two nearest the pins to boot and a great looking scorecard - that will no doubt be checked in detail by Mr Evans JNR when he does the society handicaps next!
Group 3 - Allan Gannon, Tony King, Marc Lloyd and Steve Bradshaw
The third group out had high expectations considering the lack of wind and the course not being too long in length. However, it quickly became clear that accuracy was needed and this a difficult task for all players and all four were soon battering and bruising the trees from all Angles.
Steve recorded his worst front 9 of the year and the day was pretty much done by the halfway mark. However, the fighting spirit and a couple of birdies on the back 9 helped raise the already heavy chin that Mother Nature has provided him with.
Tony turned up and the gloves were off. He had a mixture of good and bad holes after jabbing a few trees & punching a few chips he succumbed to the unwanted Wooden Spoon and a dejected shell of a man made his way for a post round drink.
Allan played the best golf of the bunch and after a slow start he produced some fine drives and controlled iron play which accumulated in him finishing with a level par Nett score for the day.
Marks round was up and down with some good play thrown in that produced a good medal score on the day, this could have been better if the big stick stayed in play a bit more as opposed to wondering off line – particularly on the 3rd tee where he took 4 –YES FOUR – tee shots. Still, its good to have him back!
Group 4 - Andy Roper, Phil Williams, Brendan Smith & Chris Warbrick
These reviews are normally quite easy to write as they generally involve mocking the poor and heaping praise on Warbrick. Well some things are just the norm and Chris despite bemoaning his poor start battled on and continued to play some beautiful drawing tee shots with his new bed companion (we all want one) and delicious approaches from distance. An eagle chance on the 9th just trickled by and a birdie was to be had bringing him back to 2 over. The back 9 started perfectly. Birdie 10, then what looked like a wonderful tee shot on the par 3 flying the green and after looking lost was found plugged in the bank. Thank god for rules and a drop onto the bank followed by a deft chip and a birdie. In the meantime Brendan had just sunk a lovely right to left 15footer for birdie, but no one noticed. A great round of golf. 4 over gross and a happy man. Just to let you know though. He duffed one. Duffed it 150 yards mind you but it was definitely a duff.
What was noticed was Brendan's quality of strike improvement. With the driver secondary to his fairway woods there were some really nice tee shots and some crisp approaches. His green side work also showed off some deft touches. However, he had a mare on the 5th digging up more cabbage than Percy Thrower and recording double figures. Nonetheless he was still in the mix at the 15th but lost too many shots on the final 4 holes to have any hope of a podium. He will feel let down by his putting. It's difficult to watch a putt go 10 foot left of target sometimes but it's always worth it to hear Brendan's own response to such a faux pas. A shame that the last few holes cost him really, but loads of positives to move forward with.
Roper started well hitting the 1st green. 3 putts later things were not quite as well not helped by a bit of a duff off the second. The third didn't go too well either heading towards those pesky people enjoying the canal. There were not that many bad shots to understand where things went wrong but maybe a few putts were left short and a shocker on the 6th par 3. 2 birdies on the 5th and 9th were well received with the 9th coming from a wonderful 3 wood approach from 230 yards to leave a 20 foot eagle putt. In fairness he gave it a chance but no one wants to par after an eagle putt so protecting the birdie it was. Just 2 holes spoilt an otherwise good round of golf of 14 over gross.
Phil was left annoyed after the 1st. He had been to the beach the previous night and was all confident and that. Golf decided to test him and put a perfectly acceptable tee shot into the sand. Three woeful putts later!! Course management was the ethos today and the hybrid that he had fallen out of love with was back. 1 over for the next four holes put a spring in his step and a nearest the pin on the 4th being the cherry on top. The easy 6th par 3 produced a 7. John Daly would have been proud of his defiance not to just whack it out of the right hand bunker instead. Lesson learnt.
His approach play was better than ever before and plenty of putting opportunities were given. From 20 foot plus his putting was very good. Just a 2 footer for par then...miss. Just tap that in...miss...and so on. Highlight was the 10th where a foot short of the green he cockily requested to leave the flag in like he was ever going to hit it. The others received one hell of a dose of smugness as it touched the flagpole and popped in. 10 over gross could have been better but a really pleasing round when taken as a whole.
On this visit, we were welcomed with a tasty bowl of soup and plates of sandwiches. The club was very quiet, and the clubhouse was like the Mary Celeste – but that was absolutely not a problem for us. Maybe the fact we were in Manchester, and City were playing Chelsea at home that afternoon had some part to play.
The course was once again extremely lush with emerald green fairways and well-defined rough. The greens were cut with beautiful fringes and canopies and made them stand out against the fairways. The tee boxes were all in good condition and were large and fair. There isn’t a massive amount of punishing rough on the course, but what there is a vast amount of trees that line the fairways and more often than not – they are without a clear route out and make sure you have to “take your medicine”.
The pre round practice facilities are good with a 120-130 yard pitching area to two greens, and two practice nets to hone the longer clubs as well as a large putting green. The pro shop was well stocked but not overly welcoming on this occasion – although certainly not an issue, it just wasn’t as warm as the rest of the club.
The course itself follows the meandering path of the River Mersey – yes, the banks of the River Mersey. In Manchester? Yes, you read that correctly. There are several holes that very much have the river in play if you are wayward off the tee and Didsbury is more of a course to plot you way around as opposed to try and thrash you way to success.
Unusually, it starts and ends with par 3’s and this isn’t the only unique and original trait of the course. Plenty of doglegs and gentle turning holes with positioning being the absolute key. The first four holes are along the river side before crossing the motorway bridge to play 5 holes that are all tightly compacted and overlapping, and then its back over the same bridge for a very unusual hole that has a local rule of only being able to hit clubs above 18 degrees of loft – on account that the motorway is tight to your left hand side and anything ‘hooky’ could end up bouncing down the fast lane!
The only downsides to this particular visit were that most of the bunkers [a good 80-90%] were filled with standing water. We had had a fair amount of rain the day before, but the rest of the course was bone dry but the bunkers took the brunt. As it had puddled in the middle of the bunkers, the edges were unraked and flat compacted sand meaning that any ball that didn’t gather into the water, or was dropped, was on a horrendous lie.
The other point was that four or five greens were a bit inconsistent with the rest of the course. Generally, they were slick and true, but a few just caught you out with a slower pace and uneven roll and appeared in poorer condition to the others.
Despite this, it was still a lovely visit to what has traditionally been a real firm favourite of our members.
Group 1 - Craig Evans, Peter Woolley & Allan Gunn
Allan Gunn as always was bemoaning his handicap at the start and during the round. The handicap secretary had a close look and this is what he saw…. that his Driving was superbly accurate and Allan hardly missed a fairway. The long grass and soft surface didn’t help with the distance but definitely the best part of Allan's game. His approach play lacked that consistency but at times was great as shown by the excellent 2 on 6th where Allan stiffed one to 5 feet. A couple of short putts and struggles when in the rough is ultimately what cost Allan a better score but as for his handicap…. NO CHANGE!
Peter Woolley was wearing the champion shirt and by the second he must have felt that it was made of lead as he made an 8. He truly battled his way round the course and once again showed some wonderful touches around the green but in truth it was the putter that saved Peters bacon. Around 7 putts held from outside of 10 feet tell its own story. Peter had been commenting to Evo that he just wanted to match him as Evo was playing well. He did. A great finish from Peter took him down the 18th just 1 shot behind. He left himself a 25 footer for par and by now we all knew where it was going and that resulted in Peter beating Evo on a card playoff and a very satisfying performance.
Evo started off okay. Struck the ball sweetly. Too sweetly on the third as he struck a 3 wood over the canal and a reload was required, resulting in a poor 8. This left him 4 over after 3 and things weren’t looking good. However Evo then found his rhythm and was striking the ball nicely and he finished the rest of the front 9 one under par. This continued and he was still only 4 over par on the 16th tee but a pulled 8-iron left him with no shot and a double bogey took the wind out of his sails and he bogeyed the last too to finish with a whimper and an 8 over total. Could and should have been better.
Group 2 - Chris Parrish, Kev Murphy & Dave Ashley
The second group out featured the experienced and very consistent Chris Parrish, the relatively inexperienced and inconsistent Kev Murphy and the pre-tournament Bookies Favourite Dave Ashley.
The group’s opening shots were in many ways indicative of what was to come throughout the rest of the round…
Chris pushed his tee shot way right and eventually finishing the hole with double bogey after failing to pick up the pace of the green and three putting. Kev crashed his opening shot to the fringe of the green from where he easily made par after rolling his first putt up to 6 inches. Dave nailed his to 15 feet but still needed to sink a tricky 5 footer to make his par!
Chris played well in spells, hitting many good shots in a round ultimately filled with frustration. His driving was consistently long and accurate but his iron play was erratic and compounded by his inability to find his touch on the greens. Sadly for him handing in a card showing 86 (net 76) including 4 double bogeys put paid to any chances he might have had of ending the day victorious.
Dave too was playing some tidy golf at times but one or two loose mid-irons left him scrambling about too often to record a winning score. Three putts on at least three of the greens cost him dearly and spoiled what might otherwise have been a score sufficient to earn him a minor prize. 83 (net 73) could have been so much better.
The undoubted star of this trio though was Kev Murphy. From the first hole to the last Kev struck shots of the highest quality….Long accurate drives…controlled, precise irons…..smooth perfectly weighted putts. All came together in a display of ball striking which it was a privilege to witness close up! With a gross score of 72 (net 63) it was not surprising that he romped to a very well deserved and extremely comfortable victory. Coming home with two nearest the pins to boot and a great looking scorecard - that will no doubt be checked in detail by Mr Evans JNR when he does the society handicaps next!
Group 3 - Allan Gannon, Tony King, Marc Lloyd and Steve Bradshaw
The third group out had high expectations considering the lack of wind and the course not being too long in length. However, it quickly became clear that accuracy was needed and this a difficult task for all players and all four were soon battering and bruising the trees from all Angles.
Steve recorded his worst front 9 of the year and the day was pretty much done by the halfway mark. However, the fighting spirit and a couple of birdies on the back 9 helped raise the already heavy chin that Mother Nature has provided him with.
Tony turned up and the gloves were off. He had a mixture of good and bad holes after jabbing a few trees & punching a few chips he succumbed to the unwanted Wooden Spoon and a dejected shell of a man made his way for a post round drink.
Allan played the best golf of the bunch and after a slow start he produced some fine drives and controlled iron play which accumulated in him finishing with a level par Nett score for the day.
Marks round was up and down with some good play thrown in that produced a good medal score on the day, this could have been better if the big stick stayed in play a bit more as opposed to wondering off line – particularly on the 3rd tee where he took 4 –YES FOUR – tee shots. Still, its good to have him back!
Group 4 - Andy Roper, Phil Williams, Brendan Smith & Chris Warbrick
These reviews are normally quite easy to write as they generally involve mocking the poor and heaping praise on Warbrick. Well some things are just the norm and Chris despite bemoaning his poor start battled on and continued to play some beautiful drawing tee shots with his new bed companion (we all want one) and delicious approaches from distance. An eagle chance on the 9th just trickled by and a birdie was to be had bringing him back to 2 over. The back 9 started perfectly. Birdie 10, then what looked like a wonderful tee shot on the par 3 flying the green and after looking lost was found plugged in the bank. Thank god for rules and a drop onto the bank followed by a deft chip and a birdie. In the meantime Brendan had just sunk a lovely right to left 15footer for birdie, but no one noticed. A great round of golf. 4 over gross and a happy man. Just to let you know though. He duffed one. Duffed it 150 yards mind you but it was definitely a duff.
What was noticed was Brendan's quality of strike improvement. With the driver secondary to his fairway woods there were some really nice tee shots and some crisp approaches. His green side work also showed off some deft touches. However, he had a mare on the 5th digging up more cabbage than Percy Thrower and recording double figures. Nonetheless he was still in the mix at the 15th but lost too many shots on the final 4 holes to have any hope of a podium. He will feel let down by his putting. It's difficult to watch a putt go 10 foot left of target sometimes but it's always worth it to hear Brendan's own response to such a faux pas. A shame that the last few holes cost him really, but loads of positives to move forward with.
Roper started well hitting the 1st green. 3 putts later things were not quite as well not helped by a bit of a duff off the second. The third didn't go too well either heading towards those pesky people enjoying the canal. There were not that many bad shots to understand where things went wrong but maybe a few putts were left short and a shocker on the 6th par 3. 2 birdies on the 5th and 9th were well received with the 9th coming from a wonderful 3 wood approach from 230 yards to leave a 20 foot eagle putt. In fairness he gave it a chance but no one wants to par after an eagle putt so protecting the birdie it was. Just 2 holes spoilt an otherwise good round of golf of 14 over gross.
Phil was left annoyed after the 1st. He had been to the beach the previous night and was all confident and that. Golf decided to test him and put a perfectly acceptable tee shot into the sand. Three woeful putts later!! Course management was the ethos today and the hybrid that he had fallen out of love with was back. 1 over for the next four holes put a spring in his step and a nearest the pin on the 4th being the cherry on top. The easy 6th par 3 produced a 7. John Daly would have been proud of his defiance not to just whack it out of the right hand bunker instead. Lesson learnt.
His approach play was better than ever before and plenty of putting opportunities were given. From 20 foot plus his putting was very good. Just a 2 footer for par then...miss. Just tap that in...miss...and so on. Highlight was the 10th where a foot short of the green he cockily requested to leave the flag in like he was ever going to hit it. The others received one hell of a dose of smugness as it touched the flagpole and popped in. 10 over gross could have been better but a really pleasing round when taken as a whole.
Bunkers Golf Society Members £30.00 per person
Sunday 16th August 2015
Tee times from 13:30pm [arrive no later than 12:30pm] Prices include 18 holes + bacon roll & tea/coffee Website: www.didsburygolfclub.co.uk |
format for the event
Format: Stroke Play [Medal]
Handicaps: Players will play off full handicaps. [Except new members who are 3/4 handicap]
Groups: Will be drawn in the clubhouse before play.
Tee: Players will play off the yellow tees.
Mini Comps: There will be TWO nearest the pins and 1 nearest the pin in 2 shots. [See below]
Prizes: Will be for 1st, 2nd & 3rd & "The Wall of Shame" for last
Captain v's President competition will be in operation.
Handicaps: Players will play off full handicaps. [Except new members who are 3/4 handicap]
Groups: Will be drawn in the clubhouse before play.
Tee: Players will play off the yellow tees.
Mini Comps: There will be TWO nearest the pins and 1 nearest the pin in 2 shots. [See below]
Prizes: Will be for 1st, 2nd & 3rd & "The Wall of Shame" for last
Captain v's President competition will be in operation.
who's playing?
Tee Groups will be drawn on the day prior to play:
Keith Long
Andy Roper Chris Warbrick Ste Bradshaw Peter Woolley |
Allan Gannon
Phil Williams Dave Ashley Brendan Smith Kevin Murphy |
Allan Gunn
Tony King Craig Evans Marc Lloyd Chris Parrish |
NEAREST THE PINS
There will be 2 nearest the pins on the 4th hole and the 18th hole.
The nearest the pin in 2 will be on the par 4 16th hole.
CLICK ON THE IMAGES BELOW TO ENLARGE
The nearest the pin in 2 will be on the par 4 16th hole.
CLICK ON THE IMAGES BELOW TO ENLARGE
the venue
Former Ryder Cup golfers, Peter Allis and his partner Dave Thomas were the architects who produced the new course, which, with a few modifications, is that played today.
Didsbury was one of the highest ranked courses amongst Bunkers members in our end of season survery, and its with good reason. Considering the 2013 visit was almost washed out in heavy rain, the course still played wonderfully and the lush green surroundings and great layout left everyone very happy with the days outing - and so we have brought it back for 2014.
Didsbury Golf Club is a mature easy walking 18 hole parkland course meandering along the banks of the River Mersey. The clubhouse provides stunning views across the course with lounge, bar and meeting rooms suitable for various functions. Car parking facilities are available in the main car park and the separate overspill car park.
CLICK HERE TO SEE A HOLE BY HOLE COURSE GUIDE
Didsbury was one of the highest ranked courses amongst Bunkers members in our end of season survery, and its with good reason. Considering the 2013 visit was almost washed out in heavy rain, the course still played wonderfully and the lush green surroundings and great layout left everyone very happy with the days outing - and so we have brought it back for 2014.
Didsbury Golf Club is a mature easy walking 18 hole parkland course meandering along the banks of the River Mersey. The clubhouse provides stunning views across the course with lounge, bar and meeting rooms suitable for various functions. Car parking facilities are available in the main car park and the separate overspill car park.
CLICK HERE TO SEE A HOLE BY HOLE COURSE GUIDE
directions
Didsbury Golf Club is 8 miles South of Manchester City centre. It is 40 minutes from Skelmersdale and Liverpool.
The full address for Sat Navs is:
Didsbury Golf Club, Ford Lane, Northenden, Manchester, M22 4NQ - Tel: 0161 998 9278
The full address for Sat Navs is:
Didsbury Golf Club, Ford Lane, Northenden, Manchester, M22 4NQ - Tel: 0161 998 9278