W.W.G.S.
WW06/16 - Wearside Finals Day & Season Report, 15/10/06
After the closest season in the history of the society congratulations go to our new champion Ian Heptinstall, who finished the season on 326 points, two clear of myself (Ian Gunn) in second and six clear of John Ford who just piped Joe Marshall to third place. The winner on the day was Joe Hammal who tied with John Ford on 34 points but won on a back nine countback. This was Joe's first round win of the season after coming very close on more than one occasion, congratulations to him. The longest drive on the day was once again by "Mr Ping" himself, John Ford, that makes three round wins on the trot and sends ominous signals for next seasons championship. Derek Griffiths won Nearest the Pin category on the day, this was his first category win this season.
The season finale post match gathering was an excellent affair comprising of a very nice meal, good crack and Paul Marshall's unusual talent for finding humour in tragedy (or golf as we know it). He has managed to introduce quite a few new categories to our prizegiving bash including "Strop of the Year", and "Bandit of the Year", although I could have won either of these awards I came away with the much deserved Bandits trophy. Many thanks go to Paul for the thought that went into those prizes, just remember mate, he who laughs last - didn't get the joke in the first place. The photographs taken on the day will be posted on a new page on the website as soon as Andrew and I get it sorted. It was good to see our glorious leader Brian back in the saddle (well, in a golf club at least) many thanks to him for being our star guest for the presentation of prizes and thanks also to his wife Eileen for ensuring he could make it by acting as chauffeur for the day. I would personally like to thank him for his gift of a golf instruction DVD ( for those of you not there it was a copy of the film Happy Gilmore, if you have seen the film you will know it was quite apt for me really ). This years Chairman's Cup knockout competition has been won by John Ford beating Joe Hammal in a very tight game at Easingwold golf club. The final result was John 30pts and Joe 28pts. From the description given by John, Easingwold is a very nice, mature and flat course and is only about an hour from Sunderland so we may well consider it for next season. Congratulations go to John on his win and commiserations to Joe, the runner up.
I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank the following people - Paul Marshall, Rico Liverani, Joe Hammal, Derek Griffiths and Brian Sykes for their generosity in providing corporate sponsorship allowing us to purchase some excellent prizes. Paul Marshall's company, DESCO, for providing the tickets for the finals day golf. John Ford for his help and assistance throughout the year and especially with the preparations in the run up to finals day. Andrew Teasdale for his time and effort in setting up this website and training me in updating it. And last but certainly not least, all of you players who have made this a very enjoyable golf season, lets hope for more of the same next year.
WW06/15 - South Moor, Saturday 30th September 2006
South Moor was exactly as I remembered it, especially the twelfth hole, having to drive about 200 yards BEFORE you reach the hill is a bit much but once you did get to the top at least there was a spectacular view to look at while you got your breath back. The course was very unforgiving if you strayed off the fairway as a combination of the rough, heather and gorse had a tendency to devour golf balls for fun. Saying that the course was in excellent condition, the fairways were perfect for those of us lucky enough to find them and the greens were very soft and forgiving (even if it took me 18 holes to read them correctly). The scoring on the day was very good considering the severity of the course. Congratulations go to Derek Griffiths on his second round win with 33 points, second on countback was Joe Marshall on 32 and third was Ian Heptinstall also with 32 points. This result puts Ian in the lead of the overall championship on 325 points with myself in second one point behind, Joe Marshall is in third with 314 points. The Longest Drive and Nearest the Pin categories have already been settled but the winner on the day with a double whammy was John Ford, he has also come the closest all season to a hole in one on our Nearest the Pin holes with an excellent 1.15m effort, well done John.
WW06/14 - Bedlington, Sunday 17th September 2006
Report missing.
WW06/13 - Stocksfield, Sunday 13th August 2006
Report missing.
WW06/10,11 & 12 - Torwoodlee, Duns & Peebles (Weekend Away), 26,27&28th August 2006
What a weekend that was, we had every kind of weather except snow! It has certainly re-arranged the Championship standings as Ian Heptinstall is now in the lead on 309 points, closely followed by John Ford with 306 points and myself on 304 points. Congratulations go to John for his first round win at Peebles, the other two round winners were Rico at Torwoodlee and Dennis at Duns. The Nearest the Pin championship is still open as the current leader Joe Hammal did not play the last three Borders rounds but still leads with five wins, Paul Baker won at Torwoodlee with 9.73m, Paul Marshall had another 3m win at Peebles and the windy weather got the better of us at Duns with no winner. The Longest Drive competition is still lead by Paul Baker who won at Torwoodlee, he now has five wins to his name. Ian Heptinstall won the Duns round and Dennis Williams won at Peebles with an almighty strike that at the time of writing is thought to be still traveling! (It may have landed by the time Paul Baker got his main course at the Italians, but that's another story!) We also had a Two's pot during the weekend, this was won by myself (the only player to score a two all weekend) on the tenth hole at Torwoodlee. Torwoodlee on Saturday was very busy and was spoilt slightly by the on and off nature of the weather. Duns on the Sunday was a challenge as it was blowing a gale making golf very difficult for most of us. Peebles on Monday was another day of changeable weather conditions, starting off sunny and warm then five minutes later we were in the monsoon season. This weather affected some of us more than others, just see the results page.
WW06 - Borders Championship
After the weekend in the Borders five of us went across to Dumfries & Galloway meeting up with Joe Hammal to compete for the original Borders Championship. This time we based ourselves in Newton Stewart, playing three courses twice each, this proved to be a resounding success as the chosen courses were nothing less than superb in all ways. We started at Kirkudbright, a beautiful, if quite hilly course, with stunning scenery and testing holes. Then we visited Newton Stewart, this course starts off quite blandly and only comes to life after the second hole when you go onto the upper plateau where the scenery and course layout combine to produce one of the best courses I have ever played on. Our final round produced an absolute peach of a course at Moffat, with greens like carpet and stunning scenery, it is a true gem of a course. The course boasted two holes that will stick in our memories for many years, firstly a par three up a cliff face and secondly a 271yd par four off a cliff top that two of our group will never forget (John and Derek) after they both drove the green. All in all it was an excellent week as not only was the golf good and the food at the Bruce Hotel excellent but the accommodation at The Stables Guest House in Newton Stewart was superb. Jaqui the proprietor bent over backwards to make us feel really welcome and make our stay memorable. Thanks go to Paul Marshall for organizing the accommodation both there and at the Watson Lodge in Galashiels. As things stand we propose to return to this area next year, hopefully staying longer.
WW06/9 - Mount Oswald, 6th August 2006
Mount Oswald may be a municipal type course but it was still in excellent condition considering the amount of use it gets. The greens were really good and the fairways, though dry and patchy in places, played very well. The post match meal was excellent and the overall package was great value for money at £25 per player. The scoring on the day was on the whole very good, the winner was a guest player, Eddie Harrison, with a score of 46pts (though I think I may have been a bit generous with his handicap) Eddie also had the nearest the pin with 10.95m but as a guest is not registered for either championship. I would like to thank both Eddie and Steve Grant who were Kevin Hall's guests on the day for playing with the society and hope to see them again at some time in the future. With regards to the main society players the winner was Kevin Hall with an excellent score of 43pts, though the Championship is still lead by myself with Rico, Joe Marshall and Ian Heptinstall close behind. Joe "Metric Martyr" Hammal once again won the Nearest the Pin though he has spoilt his run of lowering the distance with a frankly pitiful 47' 5" (14.33m) but as previously mentioned he was beaten by Eddie Harrison. Congratulations go to John Ford for his excellent drive on the 9th hole, he now has a marker on the board but the competition is still led by Paul Baker.
WW06/8 - Durham City, 21st July 2006
Phew what a scorcher! the weather on Friday was fantastic (and the golf wasn't too bad either). We have now reached the half way point of the Championship and the standard of scoring is getting better and better as the season has gone on. There has been a change at the top of the Championship, once again modesty prevents me blowing my own trumpet too loudly but I have taken the lead by 3 points from Rico and Joe Marshall in joint second place. The winner on the day was Dennis Williams with a brilliant 41 points (including a nett Hole in One on the 18th following on from John's on the 7th hole, get the drinks in lads), closely followed by Joe Hammal having another tidy, high scoring round of 39 points. Joe also tightened his grip on the Nearest the Pin trophy with another "Metric Mangling" strike to within 10ft of the flag. Rico launched the ball down the 11th fairway to take the Longest Drive honours on the day though Paul Baker still leads the competition overall. I would like to thank Steve Merrit my guest for the day for his company, he played with Ian Heptinstall and myself and carded a very respectable 23pts considering he has only been playing for about 8 months and had never played at Durham before.
The recent dry weather has certainly taken its toll on the fairways at Durham which helped my game by allowing the ball to run for miles even from a poor tee shot but it made it very difficult to stop the ball when approaching the greens. When the ball reached the hole it was a different matter, the greens were in excellent condition and very consistent (when you got used to them). Once again, as at Darlington last year, a couple of our group fell foul of the vaguries of golf course "clothing etiquette". At the start of this season we distributed a booklet with the details of the championship and our rules as agreed at the end of last year. This included a guide to suitable clothing to try to alleviate any of the problems we encountered last season but it appears to have been overlooked. From now on I will include any specific clothing requirements for any course we play in the Email before the round.
WW06/7 - Tynemouth, 7th July 2006
Tynemouth really threw a cat among the Championship pigeons, the scoring was nothing less than spectacular, when you consider the player in last position scored 29 Points (just 3 points less than the winner at Matfen and Seaham). The Championship has really been thrown wide open, Rico still leads but only by two points from Joe Marshall and myself a further point behind, ten points cover the top five players. Modesty prevents me from harping on too much about the winner at Tynemouth, needless to say I am very happy with my score an commiserations to Joe Hammal who finished a point behind me after an excellent round of 41 points. Joe and myself had a clean sweep of the honours at Tynemouth, I manage to crack an excellent drive away on the 18th , it may not have been the longest but it stayed on the fairway, though Paul Baker still leads the championship with 3 round wins. Joe (the new Metric Martyr) strengthened his grip on the Nearest the Pin championship by winning on the day with a very respectable 9' 8" (I have been reliably informed that is 2.95m in modern money). I would like to take this opportunity to thank John Rodgers, Joe Hammal's guest for the day who not only out drove me but was also inside Joe's Nearest the Pin distance (but is not registered for either championship, phew!) and scored a creditable 31pts. off a handicap of 15. If anyone else wishes to bring a guest to any of the rounds they are more than welcome to come along on a "Pay and Play" basis, just let me know beforehand. Tynemouth may not have been the longest or most challenging course but it was still interesting none the less, the wind direction and strength was quite influential bringing it's own problems on quite a few holes.
WW06/6 - Boldon, 23rd June 2006
Well, we have finally found how to beat Rico, make sure he doesn't play! he still heads the championship overall, though his lead has been slashed by Joe Marshall to 2 points. The winner on the day at Boldon was Neil Parkin who gave an excellent display on his debut with the Wanderers, scoring an impressive 38 points off a handicap of 13. Paul Baker has strengthened his defense of his Longest Drive trophy with another almighty strike, though apparently a stewards enquiry was called for as to whether it was on the fairway or not. Nearest the pin was won by Kevin Hall with a slightly more respectable 6m, though the championship is still lead by Joe Hammal (with two round wins and the closer distance). Boldon was a nice course with some very interesting holes including a bit of rock climbing on the stroke index 1 hole. As with the previous round at Seaham, the greens were excellent and generally the course was in very good condition.
WW06/5 - Seaham, 9th June 2006
The weather at Seaham was fantastic and the course was in excellent condition, the greens were among the best I have played on and I have been informed the fairways were perfect (not that I saw many). The highlight of my day was sitting down to attack the Whale & Chips for tea, I didn't know Captain Ahab sailed out of Seaham when he went hunting Moby Dick. I think we all agree that the package was brilliant value for money at £23.50 and unless anyone has any comments otherwise I intend to draft a letter thanking the club and clubhouse staff for their hospitality.
After another tidy round of golf while most of his closest chargers faltered , Rico has extended his lead in the championship to 13 points, will there be no holding him back? I hope Rico is beside his phone because I think he will be getting a call from Ian Woosnam to see if he is available in September for the Ryder Cup squad. Congratulations go to Paul Marshall who came out on top on the day after a tight battle between Paul Baker and himself winning on a back nine countback. Davie Caine finished third, after a three way tie also sorted out by a countback. We finally have an outright leader in the longest drive competition in Paul Baker who has won two rounds, but our accuracy is not improving as the nearest the pin competition was won by Steve Sykes with an unbelievable 14.1m. I think I am in the lead of the two newest categories in the society, the "Longest 9 Iron" competition, having managed to throw it at least 10 yards and the "Biggest Pet Lip" competition.
WW06 rounds 1 to 4 - Matfen Hall, Catterick, Penrith & Wynyard Park
We have now played four rounds of this years championship and Rico Liverani is still in pole position with an 11 point lead, though the chasing pack are closing in behind him (10 points cover the next five places). Penrith was a very nice course with some stunning scenery to entertain the seven of us who made the effort to get up early and drive two hours to get there on Saturday morning. The weather conditions made for some interesting golf (high winds and occasional heavy showers) but for me it was all worth it for the drive home (via Hartside Pass, Alston and Weardale). On Spring Bank Holiday Monday we visited Wynyard Park, the weather was a little harsh (high winds and blooming cold, as Joe Marshall has pointed out to me it was more like Siberia than Stockton!). This was reflected in the scores though some players made more of the conditions than others. Personally I was a bit disappointed in the course, the greens had recently been hollow tined and putting was a bit like playing pinball (that's my excuse anyway!). Ian H. and I both agree that this is the only course we have been to with LESS sand in the bunkers than Wearside (and that takes some doing!). Please see the current season results page for full listings, results, the league table and an electronic copy of everyones scorecard (If anyone wants to see their original scorecard please contact me).
May 2006 - Wearside Wanderers Golf Society website opened.
