"He came in with a Musketeers record of a mere 23 putts. We can't see that ever being beaten."
N-n-n-nineteen. . . the number of Musketeers that played at Bagnères-de-Bigorre in the 2013 version of our annual President's Decanter. This year the competition was sponsored and organised by Roger Barton who had celebrated a senior birthday just a couple of days before (everyone sang "Happy Birthday" over lunch).
We all arrived for a 9.00 tee-off from five different tees in a shotgun start. The competition was an individual Stableford off full handicaps, played from the yellow tees. But in a break with tradition there was no longest drive and no nearest the pin. Instead, Roger chose to present prizes for the Best Score on Par 3s, Best Score on Par 5s, Fewest Putts, Best Front Nine and Best Back Nine. It meant a heavy workload for the scorers, but also meant more prizes — especially as Roger decided on a "one prize per person' rule.
Normally, Bagnères is one of the most spectacularly located courses in France and part of the joy of playing there are the magnificent views of the Pyrenean backdrop. However, we might as well have been playing in Huddersfield as the entire course was in the clouds, it was hard enough to see the greens, let alone the mountains. However, one of the other joys of Bagnères is the wonderful food that we have enjoyed over the years. We were not disappointed — the 3-course lunch, service and carafe wine were all of top quality.
Undeterred by the poor weather the Musketeers attacked the course with vigour and some excellent results came in. Firstly Greg Conley put up a valiant defence of the title he won at last year's event held at Eauze where he parred the course. This year he played to two over par in the exacting conditions and scored 38 points."We have a winner," thought the scorers. And nobody had won back-to-back decanters before. But there was an even better result lurking in the yet-to-be-checked cards.
But before revealing the winner, there were other prizes up for grabs. A magnificent performance with the putter meant the prize for fewest putts went to Fergus O'Neill. He came in with a Musketeers record of a mere 23 putts. We can't see that ever being beaten.
The best score on the Par 3s went to Richard Gibson whilst the best score on the Par 5s went to the sponsor, Roger. The best Front Nine was won by Charles Prendergast and the Best Back Nine was won by Reg Hole. And with Greg Conley taking the second place prize of a splendid bottle of Pellehaut red wine (which he promptly opened and shared) it only remains to reveal the winner of the Decanter. . .
Seldom have the Musketeers been witness to such a great performance. Not only was the winner playing Bagnères for the first time, not only was he playing with a bunch of old farts, but he was also playing alongside the pipe-smoking Richard Gibson who was adding to the fog making visibility near impossible. Yes, the winner was the youngest Musketeer of them all, Dominic Slaven. And he didn't just beat everyone else, he slaughtered them! Off his handicap of 26 he managed to go round in gross 84 — that's 12 over par. He scored a magnificent 50 points and as he received the President's Decanter for his sterling efforts he was loudly applauded by an enthusiastic and appreciative medley of Musketeers. Well done Dominic!
The tradition of the Decanter is that the winner returns it the following year full. This year Greg returned it full of a 2006 St.Mont red which was passed around the lunch table and disappeared very quickly. There were pleas to Dominic that despite him not being old enough to drink alcohol yet, that it would be returned filled with wine and not Coca Cola.
In his normally cool manner Dominic just smiled. I'm not sure he will be smiling when he realises his Musketeers handicap has been cut by 8.4 shots (another Musketeers record) to 17.6 — but knowing Dominic, he's probably laughing.
We all arrived for a 9.00 tee-off from five different tees in a shotgun start. The competition was an individual Stableford off full handicaps, played from the yellow tees. But in a break with tradition there was no longest drive and no nearest the pin. Instead, Roger chose to present prizes for the Best Score on Par 3s, Best Score on Par 5s, Fewest Putts, Best Front Nine and Best Back Nine. It meant a heavy workload for the scorers, but also meant more prizes — especially as Roger decided on a "one prize per person' rule.
Normally, Bagnères is one of the most spectacularly located courses in France and part of the joy of playing there are the magnificent views of the Pyrenean backdrop. However, we might as well have been playing in Huddersfield as the entire course was in the clouds, it was hard enough to see the greens, let alone the mountains. However, one of the other joys of Bagnères is the wonderful food that we have enjoyed over the years. We were not disappointed — the 3-course lunch, service and carafe wine were all of top quality.
Undeterred by the poor weather the Musketeers attacked the course with vigour and some excellent results came in. Firstly Greg Conley put up a valiant defence of the title he won at last year's event held at Eauze where he parred the course. This year he played to two over par in the exacting conditions and scored 38 points."We have a winner," thought the scorers. And nobody had won back-to-back decanters before. But there was an even better result lurking in the yet-to-be-checked cards.
But before revealing the winner, there were other prizes up for grabs. A magnificent performance with the putter meant the prize for fewest putts went to Fergus O'Neill. He came in with a Musketeers record of a mere 23 putts. We can't see that ever being beaten.
The best score on the Par 3s went to Richard Gibson whilst the best score on the Par 5s went to the sponsor, Roger. The best Front Nine was won by Charles Prendergast and the Best Back Nine was won by Reg Hole. And with Greg Conley taking the second place prize of a splendid bottle of Pellehaut red wine (which he promptly opened and shared) it only remains to reveal the winner of the Decanter. . .
Seldom have the Musketeers been witness to such a great performance. Not only was the winner playing Bagnères for the first time, not only was he playing with a bunch of old farts, but he was also playing alongside the pipe-smoking Richard Gibson who was adding to the fog making visibility near impossible. Yes, the winner was the youngest Musketeer of them all, Dominic Slaven. And he didn't just beat everyone else, he slaughtered them! Off his handicap of 26 he managed to go round in gross 84 — that's 12 over par. He scored a magnificent 50 points and as he received the President's Decanter for his sterling efforts he was loudly applauded by an enthusiastic and appreciative medley of Musketeers. Well done Dominic!
The tradition of the Decanter is that the winner returns it the following year full. This year Greg returned it full of a 2006 St.Mont red which was passed around the lunch table and disappeared very quickly. There were pleas to Dominic that despite him not being old enough to drink alcohol yet, that it would be returned filled with wine and not Coca Cola.
In his normally cool manner Dominic just smiled. I'm not sure he will be smiling when he realises his Musketeers handicap has been cut by 8.4 shots (another Musketeers record) to 17.6 — but knowing Dominic, he's probably laughing.
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