Frodsham Golf club, cheshire
Bunkers presents "the justice cup"
end of season event
Sunday 20th october 2013
this event was won by
mark gaskell
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finishing table & review of the day
and in the end...
The end of Bunkers’ debut season loomed upon us and after some great courses and superb days out, we headed across to Frodsham to finish on a course that advertises itself as “always dry always welcome”. It was specifically picked for this time of year in the knowledge that poor weather would probably be a given in this part of the world – and it certainly didn’t work out much different.
Terrible weather in the lead up to Frodsham left a few people wondering if we would be “rained out” on the day. A heavy morning shower did little to persuade us otherwise. However, the weather gods were relatively kind and the day passed with the odd rain shower and a mixture of sunny spells and bursts of wind on some testing holes.
The course itself was in pretty good condition given the time of year. However, it was apparent that it would be a very slow round as the groups in front continually lashed balls into the wilderness and then proceeded to spend ages looking for balls that were quite frankly never going to found. Given that we were all on buggies for the day, only intensified this as we waited on pretty much every tee.
The greens were tough. Very undulating and the pace was mixed with some being fluffy and slow [even more so after a rain shower] and some being cut short and slick. This gave pretty much all of the group a very tricky and often frustrating day on the putting surfaces.
With Marc Lloyd back after his sabbatical it was down to him to send us off on the 1st. A borrowed driver and much talk of lessons meant that everyone was watching closely. A swipe of the club and his ball majestically flew off down the centre of the fairway – much to everyone’s delight. This would be the only highlight for 6 holes for Lloydy though as his pre round optimism was hoover from his body with some horror shots. The first hole saw him nearly take out Andy Roper as the ball whizzed past his head following a shank, and the next shot from the bunker was bladed and flew above Kev Givnan’s head as he lined up a putt. It was the start of 6 consecutive blobs that saw Marc go from through a range of emotions before he decided on “you’ve just gotta laugh haven’t ya?”. You shouldn’t laugh, but his self confessed ‘worst moment’ was the 2nd tee when he wound up so quickly and swung so fast with the driver than he nearly cork-screwed himself into the floor, only to see his ball clipped 2 foot forwards off the tee and just past the tee markers. He followed this up with a duffed 10 yarder and from this point on it went from being amusing, to be quite hard watching as he melted down over the next few holes. However, from the 7th onwards he turned it around – thanks in large part to some wonderful work with his putter. He had the measure of the greens and sank two wonderful long putts – the best being a meandering, downhill effort on 7th and he finished with another beauty on the 18th. However, it wasn’t enough to save him from the dreaded t-shirt and with this being his 3rd time this season…..he gets it for keeps!!! The wall of shame welcomes Marc Lloyd.
The rest of the first group also contained plenty of confidence and optimism. Defending champion [from The Miracle at Tytherington] Andy Roper started off really well with a rescued ‘up and down’ on the first and was striking the ball wonderfully throughout the front 9 and had 18 points at the turn. A poorer back 9 of 13 and 3 or 4 unlucky ‘lip outs’ prevented a score that may have pushed for a second consecutive win. However, he had a poor day with the putter and left several putts too short and struggled with the inconsistency o the surfaces. Pipped to 2nd and 3rd place on a card playoff – it was still a good round for Andy.
Kev Givnan’s mid season form seemed to be in a bit of a dip and with some negative swing thoughts through the round and with a pretty cold putter he struggled throughout. The usually strong driving deserted him and he hit quite a few approach shots ‘too fat’ and didn’t really give himself much of a chance to score well. The highlight of the round was winning the nearest the pin in 2 on the hardest hole of the course with a great tee shot and superb approach that landed a few inches onto the putting surface. The mid section of the course saw him shoot 3 consecutive blobs that brought some knee trembles as he suspected the loser shirt could be a real possibility. He then picked up again before stumbling to two more blobs at 17 and 18 and a nervous wait in the clubhouse. Definitely a day to forget for Kev.
Kev Murphy produced a very solid round for the most part. Some wonderful long iron shots were the key feature in the front 9 score of 17 and a delicate touch around the green made him a firm favourite for a win. However, the last 5 holes yielded only 6 points and were most probably the undoing of a victorious round. That said, he can be very pleased with his play up until the 14th.
The second group started well with all three players crunching majestic drives down the first fairway. Optimism was high amongst the group as Mark Gaskell, Mark Spalding and Dave Ashley continued to play some high scoring quality shots.
Scoring did suffer a little though when the squally showers forecast did eventually arrive causing some disruption as players scuttled for cover to don waterproofs. Some very impressive driving coupled with deft short iron play enabled Dave to compile a stunning total of 19 points after 9 holes. Sadly for Dave his wheels gradually began to seize up before falling off completely with blob after blob after disappointing blob! An 18 hole total of 30 points could have been so much better.
Mark (G) though continued to score well without having much luck at all even finding his ball on occasions settled in divots in the middle of fairways! He worked hard however to grind out scores against all odds. Mark followed up his promising 17 points on the front nine with another 15 on the back nine to post a winning total of 32.
Mark (S) meanwhile was putting together a decent score of his own without too much drama. Having played little golf in recent months and having to leave the course because of illness last time out, his rusty short game saw him leak points when his silky smooth swing looked more impressive than his score would eventually indicate. 29 points could have been so much better. The highlight of of his round coming at the short 9th when a perfectly struck tee shot settled just 5 feet from the hole to win six quality golf balls for his nearest the pin prize. All in all this was a strong three ball who enjoyed the golf almost as much as the post round steak pie and chips!
The final group started out in a buoyant mood with a previously unseen dose of optimism from Ste. This quickly disappeared along with his ball as he had an annoying issue with a hook off the tee causing the loss of a couple of balls notably on the 16th into the gully. A good run of straight drives however, delivered a number of pars ensuring safety but the only prize he was in contention for was for scent marking as he passed water on virtually every hole.
Paul had a steady start generally using his woods and hybrid to good effect. With the others in the rough he would often be found lurking in the middle of the fairway ready to produce accurate shots bound for the green. So where did it go wrong? With what would become a theme for the group he closely missed important putts. A missed putt on the 10th should have dropped but didn't and a chip hitting the flag left a taste of what could have been.
Rob tried something new with his swing, he didn't say what it was and we still have no idea what it was but after 18 holes and nestled mid table he seemed happy with the result. For the second week running though Rob was not very Rob like off the tee tending to push right. This is where the new magic trick paid dividends and off the floor he was longer and straighter. Longer and straighter did not apply to a number of putts that barely left the face before stopping leaving long second putts. However, he scored well on some of the tougher holes and no one can be upset with a par 3, 5 for 3 for 2!!! The 16th saw him finally breathe easy with a great 12 footer for par and 4 points. Keep doing whatever it was Rob.
Phil started in his normal slow manner and as normal struck his irons well. Putting is what wins golf comps though and the Phil's day crumbled on the green. A new putter was nearly required as after hitting a great 3 wood and wedge into the 14th green he four (4) yes four putted. As he turned away a genuine thought of launching it into the adjacent field came over him. The thought of being likened to Roper repulsed him and the putter went back in the bag ready to miss a load more easy putts.
Terrible weather in the lead up to Frodsham left a few people wondering if we would be “rained out” on the day. A heavy morning shower did little to persuade us otherwise. However, the weather gods were relatively kind and the day passed with the odd rain shower and a mixture of sunny spells and bursts of wind on some testing holes.
The course itself was in pretty good condition given the time of year. However, it was apparent that it would be a very slow round as the groups in front continually lashed balls into the wilderness and then proceeded to spend ages looking for balls that were quite frankly never going to found. Given that we were all on buggies for the day, only intensified this as we waited on pretty much every tee.
The greens were tough. Very undulating and the pace was mixed with some being fluffy and slow [even more so after a rain shower] and some being cut short and slick. This gave pretty much all of the group a very tricky and often frustrating day on the putting surfaces.
With Marc Lloyd back after his sabbatical it was down to him to send us off on the 1st. A borrowed driver and much talk of lessons meant that everyone was watching closely. A swipe of the club and his ball majestically flew off down the centre of the fairway – much to everyone’s delight. This would be the only highlight for 6 holes for Lloydy though as his pre round optimism was hoover from his body with some horror shots. The first hole saw him nearly take out Andy Roper as the ball whizzed past his head following a shank, and the next shot from the bunker was bladed and flew above Kev Givnan’s head as he lined up a putt. It was the start of 6 consecutive blobs that saw Marc go from through a range of emotions before he decided on “you’ve just gotta laugh haven’t ya?”. You shouldn’t laugh, but his self confessed ‘worst moment’ was the 2nd tee when he wound up so quickly and swung so fast with the driver than he nearly cork-screwed himself into the floor, only to see his ball clipped 2 foot forwards off the tee and just past the tee markers. He followed this up with a duffed 10 yarder and from this point on it went from being amusing, to be quite hard watching as he melted down over the next few holes. However, from the 7th onwards he turned it around – thanks in large part to some wonderful work with his putter. He had the measure of the greens and sank two wonderful long putts – the best being a meandering, downhill effort on 7th and he finished with another beauty on the 18th. However, it wasn’t enough to save him from the dreaded t-shirt and with this being his 3rd time this season…..he gets it for keeps!!! The wall of shame welcomes Marc Lloyd.
The rest of the first group also contained plenty of confidence and optimism. Defending champion [from The Miracle at Tytherington] Andy Roper started off really well with a rescued ‘up and down’ on the first and was striking the ball wonderfully throughout the front 9 and had 18 points at the turn. A poorer back 9 of 13 and 3 or 4 unlucky ‘lip outs’ prevented a score that may have pushed for a second consecutive win. However, he had a poor day with the putter and left several putts too short and struggled with the inconsistency o the surfaces. Pipped to 2nd and 3rd place on a card playoff – it was still a good round for Andy.
Kev Givnan’s mid season form seemed to be in a bit of a dip and with some negative swing thoughts through the round and with a pretty cold putter he struggled throughout. The usually strong driving deserted him and he hit quite a few approach shots ‘too fat’ and didn’t really give himself much of a chance to score well. The highlight of the round was winning the nearest the pin in 2 on the hardest hole of the course with a great tee shot and superb approach that landed a few inches onto the putting surface. The mid section of the course saw him shoot 3 consecutive blobs that brought some knee trembles as he suspected the loser shirt could be a real possibility. He then picked up again before stumbling to two more blobs at 17 and 18 and a nervous wait in the clubhouse. Definitely a day to forget for Kev.
Kev Murphy produced a very solid round for the most part. Some wonderful long iron shots were the key feature in the front 9 score of 17 and a delicate touch around the green made him a firm favourite for a win. However, the last 5 holes yielded only 6 points and were most probably the undoing of a victorious round. That said, he can be very pleased with his play up until the 14th.
The second group started well with all three players crunching majestic drives down the first fairway. Optimism was high amongst the group as Mark Gaskell, Mark Spalding and Dave Ashley continued to play some high scoring quality shots.
Scoring did suffer a little though when the squally showers forecast did eventually arrive causing some disruption as players scuttled for cover to don waterproofs. Some very impressive driving coupled with deft short iron play enabled Dave to compile a stunning total of 19 points after 9 holes. Sadly for Dave his wheels gradually began to seize up before falling off completely with blob after blob after disappointing blob! An 18 hole total of 30 points could have been so much better.
Mark (G) though continued to score well without having much luck at all even finding his ball on occasions settled in divots in the middle of fairways! He worked hard however to grind out scores against all odds. Mark followed up his promising 17 points on the front nine with another 15 on the back nine to post a winning total of 32.
Mark (S) meanwhile was putting together a decent score of his own without too much drama. Having played little golf in recent months and having to leave the course because of illness last time out, his rusty short game saw him leak points when his silky smooth swing looked more impressive than his score would eventually indicate. 29 points could have been so much better. The highlight of of his round coming at the short 9th when a perfectly struck tee shot settled just 5 feet from the hole to win six quality golf balls for his nearest the pin prize. All in all this was a strong three ball who enjoyed the golf almost as much as the post round steak pie and chips!
The final group started out in a buoyant mood with a previously unseen dose of optimism from Ste. This quickly disappeared along with his ball as he had an annoying issue with a hook off the tee causing the loss of a couple of balls notably on the 16th into the gully. A good run of straight drives however, delivered a number of pars ensuring safety but the only prize he was in contention for was for scent marking as he passed water on virtually every hole.
Paul had a steady start generally using his woods and hybrid to good effect. With the others in the rough he would often be found lurking in the middle of the fairway ready to produce accurate shots bound for the green. So where did it go wrong? With what would become a theme for the group he closely missed important putts. A missed putt on the 10th should have dropped but didn't and a chip hitting the flag left a taste of what could have been.
Rob tried something new with his swing, he didn't say what it was and we still have no idea what it was but after 18 holes and nestled mid table he seemed happy with the result. For the second week running though Rob was not very Rob like off the tee tending to push right. This is where the new magic trick paid dividends and off the floor he was longer and straighter. Longer and straighter did not apply to a number of putts that barely left the face before stopping leaving long second putts. However, he scored well on some of the tougher holes and no one can be upset with a par 3, 5 for 3 for 2!!! The 16th saw him finally breathe easy with a great 12 footer for par and 4 points. Keep doing whatever it was Rob.
Phil started in his normal slow manner and as normal struck his irons well. Putting is what wins golf comps though and the Phil's day crumbled on the green. A new putter was nearly required as after hitting a great 3 wood and wedge into the 14th green he four (4) yes four putted. As he turned away a genuine thought of launching it into the adjacent field came over him. The thought of being likened to Roper repulsed him and the putter went back in the bag ready to miss a load more easy putts.
tee times & groups
We will be meeting about 11:00am at Frodshamn for pre round bacon rolls and tea/coffee and to provide some information regarding the day.
- The post round meal is steak pie and chips.
- There are buggies booked at a cost of £15 per buggy.
- The post round meal is steak pie and chips.
- There are buggies booked at a cost of £15 per buggy.
- The format for the day will be Individual Stableford scores and we will be playing from the yellow tees.[6068yds]
- It will be FULL handicaps for all members and guests and newcomers will be playing 7/8ths of the given handicap as per the society rules.
tee time 12:04
Marc Lloyd [21]
Kevin Murphy [12] Andy Roper [21] Kev Givnan [12] |
tee time 12:12
Mark Gaskell [12]
Mark Spalding [16] Keith Malone [21] Dave Ashley [13] |
tee time 12:20
Rob Botterill [24]
Phil Williams [18] Peter Woolley [14] Ste Evans [14] |
nearest the pins...
Nearest the pins at the 9th and 17th and nearest in 2 hots on the 16th.
Click on the images to enlarge, or the links to see photographs of the holes from various angles.
Click on the images to enlarge, or the links to see photographs of the holes from various angles.
9th hole
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17th hole
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16th hole [in 2]
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BUNKERS GOLF SOCIETY MEMBERS £35.00 PER PERSON
NON BUNKERS GOLF SOCIETY MEMBERS £38.00
Deposit of £10 by 22/09/2013
FULL PAYMENT to be paid by 06/10/2013
If you are playing this event please complete the form required by clicking the "PLAY THIS EVENT" button above.
Sunday 20th October 2013.
Tee times: 12:04pm [Arrive no later than 11:05 for tea/coffee and bacon rolls]
Prices include 18 holes + Bacon Roll & Hot Drink pre play and a 1 course meal afterwards of steak pie, peas and chips
***PLEASE NOTE**** Buggies have been booked for this event at a cost of £7.50 per person. If you feel strongly against this and want to walk, please let us know ASAP.
"The Justice Cup" is our end of season closing event and comes with a award and title as well as having numerous prizes up for grabs.
Frodsham Golf Club has its own motto of "Always Dry, Always Welcome" and that perfectly describes this wonderful golf course. Its known as "winter proof" as never requires to play off mats or temporary greens. No matter what time of year you roll up at Frodsham, it always seems to play dry. On top of that, its beautifully kept and maintained.
Frodsham offers a unique blend of old and new amid 130 acres of rolling Cheshire countryside. The course has some wonderfully contrasting holes that are set over a picturesque backgrop.
Frodsham Golf Club was first opened in 1990 by Tony Jacklin. Since then, it is fair to say that it has come a long way. Over the years it has hosted several major professional and amateur events. Frodsham offers a unique blend of old and new amid 130 acres of rolling Cheshire countryside.
YOU CAN VIEW LOADS OF HOLE-BY-HOLE PHOTOS HERE
Frodsham Golf Club is just off the M56 and is 40 minutes from either Liverpool City centre or Skelmersdale.
The full address for Sat Navs is:
Frodsham Golf Club, Simons Lane, Frodsham, WA6 6HE. Telephone 01928 739 442
Sunday 20th October 2013.
Tee times: 12:04pm [Arrive no later than 11:05 for tea/coffee and bacon rolls]
Prices include 18 holes + Bacon Roll & Hot Drink pre play and a 1 course meal afterwards of steak pie, peas and chips
***PLEASE NOTE**** Buggies have been booked for this event at a cost of £7.50 per person. If you feel strongly against this and want to walk, please let us know ASAP.
"The Justice Cup" is our end of season closing event and comes with a award and title as well as having numerous prizes up for grabs.
Frodsham Golf Club has its own motto of "Always Dry, Always Welcome" and that perfectly describes this wonderful golf course. Its known as "winter proof" as never requires to play off mats or temporary greens. No matter what time of year you roll up at Frodsham, it always seems to play dry. On top of that, its beautifully kept and maintained.
Frodsham offers a unique blend of old and new amid 130 acres of rolling Cheshire countryside. The course has some wonderfully contrasting holes that are set over a picturesque backgrop.
Frodsham Golf Club was first opened in 1990 by Tony Jacklin. Since then, it is fair to say that it has come a long way. Over the years it has hosted several major professional and amateur events. Frodsham offers a unique blend of old and new amid 130 acres of rolling Cheshire countryside.
YOU CAN VIEW LOADS OF HOLE-BY-HOLE PHOTOS HERE
Frodsham Golf Club is just off the M56 and is 40 minutes from either Liverpool City centre or Skelmersdale.
The full address for Sat Navs is:
Frodsham Golf Club, Simons Lane, Frodsham, WA6 6HE. Telephone 01928 739 442
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