this event was won by
craig evans
The society visited the wonderful Vale Royal Abbey for another superb midweek event.
A tricky course that demanded good course management as much as correct club selection. It also required an ability to get the ball to either spin on the greens or pitch short and run on and this in an area where Craig excelled on the day. Superb from tee to green and an around great performance, he will tell you there has been a winning score hiding in there for a few weeks and where better than a superb venue for it to flourish. A great victory and congratulation to this events winner, Craig Evans with a great score of 37 points. |
official bunkers review
The third midweek event of the season saw 15 hopefuls make the journey down to Vale Royal Abbey.
Situated in a prime location outside of Northwich, this venue looked immaculate as we drove in through "millionaires row" and didn't disappoint throughout.
The feeling in the clubhouse was that there was no fall guy for this event with most players form being at the peak, and that everyone had a chance of winning, mainly because Chris Warbrick had decided to give everyone else a chance.
Organisation was left in the hands of the secretary who came equipped with enough instructions from the absent Chairman to ensure all ran smoothly and after a very tasty bacon butty it was time to see what this place had to offer. A 200 yard plus practice range, nets, large short game area and a wonderful putting green is what it offered. Facilities that were faultless and that impressed one and all. The putting green was rapid and it gave an insight to what may be to come.
The course is fantastic and is a stern test of golf. The bunkers are very well placed, fairways are tight and each hole sits perfectly in its own environment. There are a few blind tee shots yes, but none that fool you by running out of fairway or doglegging left or right and the fairway markers tended to be accurate guides. The entire course is immaculately well kept. The fairways firm but with a nice bounce and the tee boxes huge. Need a broken tee for an iron off the tee? Tough because either people tidy up after themselves or someone else does it. A nice touch. The greens were flawless in their appearance and how they rolled. They were quick, very quick in places and the flag positions on some made putting a lottery if you had to chip on or roll one from 30-feet.
Group 1 - Craig Evans, Peter Woolley & Kev Murphy
As soon as the draw was made in the clubhouse before play, Peter made comment that he had to be on his A-game to match Evo jnr and Kev Murphy. He couldn’t of wished for a better start as a power draw tee-shot was matched with a lovely approach to 7 feet. The nerves were surely settled? No! Peter went on to really struggle off the tee for the next 4-5 holes but excellent scrambling skills scored the odd point here and there. But in truth after 6 holes Peter was worrying about the dreaded spoon.
Suddenly the 3 wood began to click. Lovely long and more importantly straight shots became common place and Peter was giving himself chances. Excellent lag putting on what were lighting fast greens was key to Peter having a storming back 9 holes. This concluded on the 18th when Peter hit a beautiful 3rd shot from 100 yards to 5 feet and subsequently hole the putt for a very welcome (and decisive) birdie resulting in second place. A welcome return to form from Woolley!
Kev Murphy walked off the 18th green shaking his head and bemoaning his lack of consistency. In truth… Kev just didn’t have the rub of the green on the day. Some eye watering thwacks of the big stick and the 3-wood left left his playing partners speechless. There is little doubt that this fella is the “longest” in the club (Ahem). But great length doesn’t always guarantee you getting a lovely hole. Unless its on a beach because Kev found way too many bunkers on the day and they proved brutal to his chances as he struggled to come to terms with the compact sand. it didn’t help that he often had awkward stances and/ or lies. This was evident on the nearest the pin in two 13th. A storming 3-wood off the tee left Kev in the green-side bunker and surely a decent chance of nearest the pin. 1 shot later he was picking his ball out of a bush (but not the one he wanted). Some real glimpses of class and maybe just a little less aggression could see Kev dropping a bit of length and getting his hole sooner.
Craig Evo has been feeling like a good run of results was not far away. His consistency had been returning in previous rounds with a few lapses of concentration letting him down and resulting in 4th place finishes. He arrived first at Vale Royal having not hit a ball since Carden Park, he felt a few practice swings were very much in order. To his delight the practice facilities were magnificent and he was able to get his eye in. So stood on the first Evo was feeling confident. A fairly decent drive left him about 100 yards to a fairly large green. “Ive just been practicing these”. So obviously he pulled one left of the bunker and blobbed the hole, Great start!
Fortunately he didn’t let it get to him (for once) and he followed the first with a lovely birdie at the second and he was away. Lovely tee-shots were followed with crisp irons. Course management was the key to Evo’s success as he regularly used 5 iron, and even 6 iron off the tee to keep himself out of dangers way. This resulted in only 1 visit to a bunker, 3 birdies and no 3 putts on his way to 37 points. A welcome return to form is pleasing although the inevitable self “docking” will be less satisfying.
Group 2 - Phil Williams, Chris Parrish & Paul Davies JNR
The fact that this group finished 10th place at best was surprising given that they all played some decent golf in patches. Paul came out of the blocks like a rocket and knowing his ball flight he plotted his way around the front 9 with a very respectful 16 points.
Chris took a few holes to get into his rhythm and his driver was a bit off. Inconsistency was his downfall and it was a bit one hole on one hole off. Persistence paid off and come the back 9 a flow of 2's followed.
Phil had a poor front nine and just couldn't get the measure of the greens. Knowing his score was going to be troublesome and remembering Preston spurred him on and he kept at it.
Come the 18th no one thought they were in the wooden spoon position. Indeed Chris and Paul were joking about who would win their mini battle. Paul sliced his tee shot OB having hooked pretty much every other tee shot that round and he ended with a credible single point. Chris plotted his way to another 2 pointer and Phil pulled his tee shot into the water. Cue the type of golf that keeps us coming back for more. Phil should have come last, he really should but a massive 265 yard hybrid that pitched and rolled over the back of the green followed by an 8 iron chip and run that broke hard left before hitting the cup and 4 points and an undeserved group winning score.
Paul came last with 27 points probably the highest losing score in Bunkers history, if that's any consolation? We doubt it.
Group 3 - Allan Gannon, Paul Davies JNR & Tom Davies
A family affair for group 3....with both the Davies brothers out to impress bringing the overall average age to a respectable 24ish! Paul was unpredictable throughout the first nine holes with some poor play by his standards - with a few to many blobs early doors which annoyed him.
Likewise for Tom, he suffered a similar front 9 to his brother with too much inconsistency to give himself a chance of scoring well. It must be in the Davies gene!!
An all round bad day for the Davies family in general...not even a nearest the pin - which is unusual to see!!!.
Allan played his usual self...sublime and catastrophic at the same time! With the good shots quickly ruined by the bad ones and giving him too many thoughts as he stood over his next shot wondering if it would go left, right or straight!
Too many blobs hampering any chances of winning.
Group 4 - Dave Ashley, Steve Evans and Stu Seddon
The penultimate group was made up of The Captain, The President and the in-form Stu Seddon. The President was first off and immediately pushed his tee shot into the trees on the right side of the fairway. From a difficult position close to a tree which threatened to see his utility club snap in the execution of his shot, The President played a quite remarkable recovery shot which saw his ball roll gently to the front of the green from where his first long-range putt left him a tap in par from no more than 10 inches. Meanwhile his two playing partners - both from the centre of the fairway, conspired to produce only bogeys!
The Captain - although continually whining about his sore arm - continued to send his tee shots straight down the middle of each fairway and only some mediocre iron play and the odd three putt prevented him from amassing a winning score. His 30 points though was the best of the three but could easily have been much better. Stu played plenty of good golf but unfortunately combined the good with too much of the bad and a fair bit of the downright ugly! 27 points was just enough on count back for him to avoid the embarrassment of the wooden spoon. The President, playing for the first time off his new, reduced handicap played steadily but too many pushed drives meant that he was always scrambling for his 29 points. The highlight of his round though was a sweetly struck 9 iron third shot from a fairway bunker to 8 feet at the par 5 second hole to ensure his par...or maybe it was his magnificent 8 iron to 4 feet at the 16th to earn for him the nearest the pin prize....or maybe it was the 20 foot downhill right to left putt on the last for par...you decide!
This was a magnificent venue, played in almost perfect conditions and as always with Bunkers, in great company. There was plenty of good golf and plenty of laughs too. A thoroughly enjoyable day!
Group 5 - Steve Bradshaw, Allan Gunn, & Jay Wright
The final group teed off with great expectations, not knowing the course proved a point deductor with shots in to the greens running through by all three players. The greens were dry and fast and putting was key and only really Steve Bradshaw started to get the pace and lines quickly.
Allan was steady eddy as usual just the odd slack approach shot stung the card and prevented him from building something solid that would challenge the prize places.
Jay turned up in his Sunday best suit - Changed to his Thursday best golf attire and after a shaky start had some superb drives from the Tee.
Steve played a solid game most of the day but some wayward tee shots showed that the short game was still intact to rescue the odd point and a 3rd place finish.
Situated in a prime location outside of Northwich, this venue looked immaculate as we drove in through "millionaires row" and didn't disappoint throughout.
The feeling in the clubhouse was that there was no fall guy for this event with most players form being at the peak, and that everyone had a chance of winning, mainly because Chris Warbrick had decided to give everyone else a chance.
Organisation was left in the hands of the secretary who came equipped with enough instructions from the absent Chairman to ensure all ran smoothly and after a very tasty bacon butty it was time to see what this place had to offer. A 200 yard plus practice range, nets, large short game area and a wonderful putting green is what it offered. Facilities that were faultless and that impressed one and all. The putting green was rapid and it gave an insight to what may be to come.
The course is fantastic and is a stern test of golf. The bunkers are very well placed, fairways are tight and each hole sits perfectly in its own environment. There are a few blind tee shots yes, but none that fool you by running out of fairway or doglegging left or right and the fairway markers tended to be accurate guides. The entire course is immaculately well kept. The fairways firm but with a nice bounce and the tee boxes huge. Need a broken tee for an iron off the tee? Tough because either people tidy up after themselves or someone else does it. A nice touch. The greens were flawless in their appearance and how they rolled. They were quick, very quick in places and the flag positions on some made putting a lottery if you had to chip on or roll one from 30-feet.
Group 1 - Craig Evans, Peter Woolley & Kev Murphy
As soon as the draw was made in the clubhouse before play, Peter made comment that he had to be on his A-game to match Evo jnr and Kev Murphy. He couldn’t of wished for a better start as a power draw tee-shot was matched with a lovely approach to 7 feet. The nerves were surely settled? No! Peter went on to really struggle off the tee for the next 4-5 holes but excellent scrambling skills scored the odd point here and there. But in truth after 6 holes Peter was worrying about the dreaded spoon.
Suddenly the 3 wood began to click. Lovely long and more importantly straight shots became common place and Peter was giving himself chances. Excellent lag putting on what were lighting fast greens was key to Peter having a storming back 9 holes. This concluded on the 18th when Peter hit a beautiful 3rd shot from 100 yards to 5 feet and subsequently hole the putt for a very welcome (and decisive) birdie resulting in second place. A welcome return to form from Woolley!
Kev Murphy walked off the 18th green shaking his head and bemoaning his lack of consistency. In truth… Kev just didn’t have the rub of the green on the day. Some eye watering thwacks of the big stick and the 3-wood left left his playing partners speechless. There is little doubt that this fella is the “longest” in the club (Ahem). But great length doesn’t always guarantee you getting a lovely hole. Unless its on a beach because Kev found way too many bunkers on the day and they proved brutal to his chances as he struggled to come to terms with the compact sand. it didn’t help that he often had awkward stances and/ or lies. This was evident on the nearest the pin in two 13th. A storming 3-wood off the tee left Kev in the green-side bunker and surely a decent chance of nearest the pin. 1 shot later he was picking his ball out of a bush (but not the one he wanted). Some real glimpses of class and maybe just a little less aggression could see Kev dropping a bit of length and getting his hole sooner.
Craig Evo has been feeling like a good run of results was not far away. His consistency had been returning in previous rounds with a few lapses of concentration letting him down and resulting in 4th place finishes. He arrived first at Vale Royal having not hit a ball since Carden Park, he felt a few practice swings were very much in order. To his delight the practice facilities were magnificent and he was able to get his eye in. So stood on the first Evo was feeling confident. A fairly decent drive left him about 100 yards to a fairly large green. “Ive just been practicing these”. So obviously he pulled one left of the bunker and blobbed the hole, Great start!
Fortunately he didn’t let it get to him (for once) and he followed the first with a lovely birdie at the second and he was away. Lovely tee-shots were followed with crisp irons. Course management was the key to Evo’s success as he regularly used 5 iron, and even 6 iron off the tee to keep himself out of dangers way. This resulted in only 1 visit to a bunker, 3 birdies and no 3 putts on his way to 37 points. A welcome return to form is pleasing although the inevitable self “docking” will be less satisfying.
Group 2 - Phil Williams, Chris Parrish & Paul Davies JNR
The fact that this group finished 10th place at best was surprising given that they all played some decent golf in patches. Paul came out of the blocks like a rocket and knowing his ball flight he plotted his way around the front 9 with a very respectful 16 points.
Chris took a few holes to get into his rhythm and his driver was a bit off. Inconsistency was his downfall and it was a bit one hole on one hole off. Persistence paid off and come the back 9 a flow of 2's followed.
Phil had a poor front nine and just couldn't get the measure of the greens. Knowing his score was going to be troublesome and remembering Preston spurred him on and he kept at it.
Come the 18th no one thought they were in the wooden spoon position. Indeed Chris and Paul were joking about who would win their mini battle. Paul sliced his tee shot OB having hooked pretty much every other tee shot that round and he ended with a credible single point. Chris plotted his way to another 2 pointer and Phil pulled his tee shot into the water. Cue the type of golf that keeps us coming back for more. Phil should have come last, he really should but a massive 265 yard hybrid that pitched and rolled over the back of the green followed by an 8 iron chip and run that broke hard left before hitting the cup and 4 points and an undeserved group winning score.
Paul came last with 27 points probably the highest losing score in Bunkers history, if that's any consolation? We doubt it.
Group 3 - Allan Gannon, Paul Davies JNR & Tom Davies
A family affair for group 3....with both the Davies brothers out to impress bringing the overall average age to a respectable 24ish! Paul was unpredictable throughout the first nine holes with some poor play by his standards - with a few to many blobs early doors which annoyed him.
Likewise for Tom, he suffered a similar front 9 to his brother with too much inconsistency to give himself a chance of scoring well. It must be in the Davies gene!!
An all round bad day for the Davies family in general...not even a nearest the pin - which is unusual to see!!!.
Allan played his usual self...sublime and catastrophic at the same time! With the good shots quickly ruined by the bad ones and giving him too many thoughts as he stood over his next shot wondering if it would go left, right or straight!
Too many blobs hampering any chances of winning.
Group 4 - Dave Ashley, Steve Evans and Stu Seddon
The penultimate group was made up of The Captain, The President and the in-form Stu Seddon. The President was first off and immediately pushed his tee shot into the trees on the right side of the fairway. From a difficult position close to a tree which threatened to see his utility club snap in the execution of his shot, The President played a quite remarkable recovery shot which saw his ball roll gently to the front of the green from where his first long-range putt left him a tap in par from no more than 10 inches. Meanwhile his two playing partners - both from the centre of the fairway, conspired to produce only bogeys!
The Captain - although continually whining about his sore arm - continued to send his tee shots straight down the middle of each fairway and only some mediocre iron play and the odd three putt prevented him from amassing a winning score. His 30 points though was the best of the three but could easily have been much better. Stu played plenty of good golf but unfortunately combined the good with too much of the bad and a fair bit of the downright ugly! 27 points was just enough on count back for him to avoid the embarrassment of the wooden spoon. The President, playing for the first time off his new, reduced handicap played steadily but too many pushed drives meant that he was always scrambling for his 29 points. The highlight of his round though was a sweetly struck 9 iron third shot from a fairway bunker to 8 feet at the par 5 second hole to ensure his par...or maybe it was his magnificent 8 iron to 4 feet at the 16th to earn for him the nearest the pin prize....or maybe it was the 20 foot downhill right to left putt on the last for par...you decide!
This was a magnificent venue, played in almost perfect conditions and as always with Bunkers, in great company. There was plenty of good golf and plenty of laughs too. A thoroughly enjoyable day!
Group 5 - Steve Bradshaw, Allan Gunn, & Jay Wright
The final group teed off with great expectations, not knowing the course proved a point deductor with shots in to the greens running through by all three players. The greens were dry and fast and putting was key and only really Steve Bradshaw started to get the pace and lines quickly.
Allan was steady eddy as usual just the odd slack approach shot stung the card and prevented him from building something solid that would challenge the prize places.
Jay turned up in his Sunday best suit - Changed to his Thursday best golf attire and after a shaky start had some superb drives from the Tee.
Steve played a solid game most of the day but some wayward tee shots showed that the short game was still intact to rescue the odd point and a 3rd place finish.
Bunkers Golf Society Members £40.00 per person
Thursday 23rd July 2015
Tee times from 13:00pm [arrive no later than 12:00pm]
Prices include 18 holes + tea/coffee and bacon roll on arrival.
Website: www.vra.co.uk
Tee times from 13:00pm [arrive no later than 12:00pm]
Prices include 18 holes + tea/coffee and bacon roll on arrival.
Website: www.vra.co.uk
format for the event
Format: Stableford Singles
Handicaps: Players will play off full handicaps. [Except new members who are 3/4 handicap]
Groups: Will be drawn in the 2 weeks prior to 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. [Will be added before we visit]
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 2 weeks prior to 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. [Will be added before we visit]
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:
Dave Ashley
Craig Evans Paul Davies JNR Steve Bradshaw Steve Evans Allan Gunn Peter Woolley |
Paul Davies SNR
Phil Williams Kev Murphy Allan Gannon Chris Parrish Stu Seddon Jay Wright |
nearest the pins
There will be 2 nearest the pins on the 6th and 16th and a nearest the pin in 2 shots on the 13th.
CLICK THE IMAGES TO ENLARGE
CLICK THE IMAGES TO ENLARGE
the venue
Set amidst beautiful Cheshire countryside Vale Royal Abbey is a breathtaking backdrop to any occasion, and one that is sure to impress. It dates back to the 13th century when it was founded by Prince Edward - the future King Edward I - who's ship, when undertaking a sea voyage from France, was caught in a terrible storm. He made a vow that if he came safe to land he would create an Abbey of unprecedented size and grandeur as a thanksgiving to God for saving him. Vale Royal Abbey was therefore his creation.
Set within 150 acres of stunning Cheshire countryside, Vale Royal Abbey Golf Course was officially opened in 1998 and has since matured to become one of the best courses in the North West.
All greens are constructed to USGA specifications with natural free-drainage, enabling the course to remain open and fully-playable all year-round, irrespective of the weather.
Whatever your level, this is a great place to hone your skills. Each hole is individually characteristic and provides a true golfing test, requiring imaginative shot-making with every club while remaining enjoyable for all standards of golfer.
The course is 6,463 yards in length from the white tees, 6,160 yards from the yellow tees and 5,581 yards from the red tees.
VIEW A FULL COURSE HOLE-BY-HOLE FLYOVER HERE
DOWNLOAD A FREE COURSE PLANNER APP FOR iPhone HERE
Set within 150 acres of stunning Cheshire countryside, Vale Royal Abbey Golf Course was officially opened in 1998 and has since matured to become one of the best courses in the North West.
All greens are constructed to USGA specifications with natural free-drainage, enabling the course to remain open and fully-playable all year-round, irrespective of the weather.
Whatever your level, this is a great place to hone your skills. Each hole is individually characteristic and provides a true golfing test, requiring imaginative shot-making with every club while remaining enjoyable for all standards of golfer.
The course is 6,463 yards in length from the white tees, 6,160 yards from the yellow tees and 5,581 yards from the red tees.
VIEW A FULL COURSE HOLE-BY-HOLE FLYOVER HERE
DOWNLOAD A FREE COURSE PLANNER APP FOR iPhone HERE
directions
Vale Royal Abbey is just south of Northwich in Cheshire. It is 50 minutes from Skelmersdale and 45 minutes Liverpool.
The full address for Sat Navs is:
Vale Royal Abbey, Vale Royal House, Vale Royal Drive, Whitegate, Northwich, Cheshire CW8 2BA
Phone:01606 301291
The full address for Sat Navs is:
Vale Royal Abbey, Vale Royal House, Vale Royal Drive, Whitegate, Northwich, Cheshire CW8 2BA
Phone:01606 301291