Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club win the British Club Championship

Four Ashes Golf Centre, Dorridge, October 2

Ruth Bullin, Bill Bullin, Tim 'Ace Man' Davies, 'Big Top' Ted McIver (captain)

With the British Championships at Stratford now a fast fading memory, the BMGA tour moved on to Dorridge on a cold October morning, and the British Club Championship.  For the first time, the title of best club in the country was to be decided in a separate competition and London's own Jon Angel had devised a scoring system so mesmerising that it was sure to bamboozle the opposition into dropping a few strokes whilst just trying to keep track of the score. The Londoners, of course, had had a preview of this months earlier.

And so we had five teams in all - defending champs London had elected to send two teams, but due to the late withdrawal of some key players, were left with two teams of three players. But hey, they weren't worried - after all, four of their players had finished in the top five the previous day, the A team was full of internationals and featured the current British numbers 1, 3 & 5. But on an unknown course…?

Welwyn, had also selected only three - Robert, Steve and Mitchell Vallory. God knows what happened to the other hundred or so from the family. Or maybe God didn't know. Well, Jo Vallory was on holiday, that much was sure.

The other two clubs had put out full teams of 4 players. And was this to prove to be their master stroke was soon to be seen. Hastings, under the leadership of captain McIver, had decided to drop Peter Parr and Rocky Bullin and play with a team of McIver, Bullin B, Bullin R, Davies. Rocky was left despondent, and despite trying in vain to join both London and Welywn, was left to play by himself. 

The Midlands/North team, were an unfancied bunch - missing the leadership of captain Chris Harding - and expected to battle it out for bottom spot. But they had a couple of aces up their sleeves - the Bousfield's; Phil and John; at home they knew the course well, and Messer's Moore and King proved to be quick learners.

The format was simple. Each team plays each other once. The best three individual scores per team per hole were added together to make the team total that hole. And over the 12 hole course, the team with the lowest score won. The advantage of four players - one can have a bad hole and it didn't matter: 1, 1, 1 & 7 still made 3. For the teams of three however, they all counted 1, 1 & 7 made 9! With 3 points for a win, basically the team with the most points won. Simple.

Round 1: Midlands/North v London A; London B v Welwyn;

Pre-competition favourites London A were given an easy opener in the first round being drawn against Midlands. A steady start from both teams saw them level at the half way stage. But from then on it was a steady climb into the lead by London, to see them 3 strokes ahead at the 11th. Midlands played first: 2, 2, 7 were their first three scores. London could smell victory now. But a solid 4 from Michael King and a team hole score of 8 meant it wouldn't be easy for London. Angel 2; Shepherd 4; Kellard 5. It had all gone wrong for London. An eleven. Scores were level. On to the final hole. John Moore playing first put the pressure on London with an ace, and with two further 2's it left London needing to find that shot from somewhere. 2 - 2 - 2 and it was all over. Midland's had triumphed by a stroke. 

Meanwhile, six holes away, London's B team and Welwyn were having their own little battle. Starting at hole 7, they'd quickly come upon the mighty 11th, with only a single stroke separating them. And with team scores for the hole of 17 & 15, it was left to Robert Vallory to steady the Welwyn boat and see them home victorious by 6 strokes.

Round 2: London B v London A; Planet Hastings v Midlands;

The two first round losers now took to the field for the battle of London. With both teams looking to get one over on the other, it was the "B" team who seemed to be heading for glory. They'd taken the lead at the first and held it until the 11th, with consistent play from Steve, Chris and captain Russ. But the 11th again was to be their downfall. The B's took an 11 to the A's 6 and it was all but over. And despite reducing the deficit to 3 strokes on the last, it was "A" who recorded the three points.

Rocky had joined this grouping for this round, and after a disappointing first round 35 was pleased to take a 27 in his quest to beat himself.

Hastings had expected this to be an easy match, but after the shock of the first round defeat of London, the Midlands team were hoping to create further embarrassment, this time to the South Coast team. Playing first, Hastings had dropped a couple of strokes behind by the third hole (9) but had turned it around by the halfway point thanks to a three shot advantage at the 11th. This lead increased to two strokes by the 8th, but a perfect 3 at hole 3 and a one shot advantage on 4 meant that the last hole would be a shoot out. It was Ruth Bullin who struck the killer blow for Hastings with her only ace of the round, as Midlands' chances fell away with scores of 2-2-3-2. And despite a course record 22 from Phil Bousfield, Hastings had won, but it was only by one stroke.

Round 3: Welwyn v Midlands; London A v Hastings;

This first match proved to be something of an anti-climax for Midlands after the exhilaration of the first two rounds. Expecting a difficult time against Welwyn, they stormed into a three stroke lead at the first hole and kept building hole by hole to eventually finish a commanding 23 strokes clear, this time with John Moore equalling the course record of 22.

The other match pitted the two giants together. Perhaps the first time all the British top 5 had played the same hole together competitively. And what a match it turned out to be. Hastings with the advantage of playing second with an extra player, knew exactly what they needed to do. Strokes were traded early on, with London moving into a one stroke lead but Hastings pegging them back. But all that changed on the 9th hole (3), when Hastings moved into a two stroke lead thanks to aces from the dynamic duo of Ted and Tim. London pulled a shot back at the next but it was all on the last. A four from London put the pressure back on Hastings. Ted aced, Bill a two and Ruth picked up for a seven. It was down to the Ace Man - an ace to win. And an ace it was. Hastings had won by a shot. And despite scores of 25-23-22 from London, they were beaten. IF only they'd played a fourth man. Where was Lionel Bender?

Round 4: Welwyn v Hastings; Midlands v London B;

Welwyn were hoping to gain a victory over Hastings, to benefit both London and Midlands. And despite some strong play from all the Vallory's, the fourth man told again. Ted carded a 7, Bill a 5 and Ruth a 4 for Hastings. But the steady nerves, if unsteady stance, of Tim Davies proved to be Welwyn's undoing. Hastings took the match by 12 strokes.

Rocky, meanwhile, had become the unofficial fourth member of Welwyn, and his round of 29, had kept his steady progress going. If only he'd had a team to play with!

Midlands duly routed London B by 14 shots, the star of the round being Michael King with some crucial saves for the home team. Russ Dent had showed the talent that had taken him to fourth place in Stratford with a 26 for London, but the four man team had again proved too strong an opposition for the three. Midlands had played 4, won 3 and only lost their other by a single shot. The strength of teamwork showed through. And with a bye in round 5, John, John and Phil scuttled off for Sunday lunch.

Round 5: Hastings v London B; London A v Welwyn;

Needing only a draw to secure the title, Hastings turned on the individual style recording rounds of 29-28-27-23 to eventually finish a comfortable 10 strokes ahead of London B. London lost out by taking 15 shots on the 11th, after seeing Hastings crumble to a four man 12. Russ again top scoring for the "B's" with a 24, with Steve and Chris being the unlucky pair on the eleven.

London A, meanwhile had it very easy. Welwyn had already withdrawn, and with the three points already assured played a relaxed round of 74, Brad and Keith both netting 24's. Rocky had joined their little jaunt too, and recorded his best round of the day with a 26.

And so, after two years away, Planet Hastings had regained the crown of best club in Britain, and a place in the European Cup in Portugal 2006. Congratulations to Ted, Bill, Ruth and Tim for some fine individual performances and even better team play. They may not have been the best team there, but they were the best team on the day.

Thanks to everyone who took part, and the folks at Four Ashes Golf Centre, Dorridge, for letting us take over for the day.

Words: Keith Kellard

Round 1 
Midlands 76 beat London A 77 by 1 stroke 
London B 95 lost to Welwyn 89 by 6 strokes 

Round 2 
London B 84 lost to London A 81 by 3 strokes 
Hastings 70 beat Midlands 71 by 1 stroke 

Round 3 
Welwyn 95 lost to Midlands 72 by 23 strokes 
London A 70 lost to Hastings 69 by 1 stroke 

Round 4 
Welwyn 85 lost to Hastings 73 by 12 strokes 
Midlands 75 beat London B 89 by 14 strokes 

Round 5 
Hastings 72 beat London B 82 by 10 strokes 
London A 74 beat Welwyn WALKOVER 

(Welwyn scored 21 for each hole in round 5 due to their withdrawal - 252)

Individual scores

(Ranked in order of average, which is why there are some unusual placings for the Welwyn team as they only played three rounds each.)

BMGA record highlighted in red.

Bill	Robert	John	Ace Man

Photos: Jon Angel, Chris Jones, Lionel Bender

An analysis by Doc of which players from 4 player teams contributed the most individual scores to team hole score. London A, London B and Welwyn only fielded 3 players.  Players could contribute up to 12 hole scores per round i.e. their score being one of the teams 3 best scores.
In the instance, for example, of individual scores for a hole being 2-2-2-2, then all players are recorded as contributing to that hole. Otherwise, player 4 would lose out for simply being player 4.

Midlands/North scores.
Scores are listed in the order of
v London A
v Hastings
v Welwyn
v London B

John Moore [12-10-12-11] 93.75%
Phil Bousfield [12-11-10-11] 91.67%
John Bousfield [7-8-9-11] 72.92%
Michael King [10-10-11-9] 83.33%

Planet Hastings scores. Again listed in order of:
v London A
v Midlands/North
v Welwyn
v London B

Ted McIver [12-12-10-11] 93.75%
Bill Bullin [10-11-10-10] 85.42%
Ruth Bullin [7-10-11-10] 79.17%
Tim Davies [12-10-11-12] 93.75%

So John Moore, Ted McIver & Tim Davies, all contributed 45 out of a possible 48. John's three missing scores were 3, 4 & 5; Ted's 3, 3 & 7 and Tim's 3, 3 & 2! Get a two and it doesn't get ranked - how unlikely is that.

[review] [pics]

All results for British Club Championships  2004

Other minigolf competitions in the UK