Society members offer memories of past escapades. If you would like to contribute to this page, please send your recollections, including any photos, to the .
| The Year | The Stories |
| The 1980s | |
1987 | IN THE BEGINNINGOn December 17th, 1987 Terry Wall went to the Basingstoke IBM Club committee meeting and talked them into (out of?) the first year subsidy of over £5,000 for 1988. He and Mike Houghton booked the first year's fixtures. Our 20th birthday was marked by the West Hill event on 17th December 2007 - an event organised by Mike Houghton! |
1988 | 1+ **In1988 Dave McCormick had just been given the task of creating the Application Software function: the next brave new future for IBM. He picks up the story: One of its initial members was Terry Wall, who we never saw much of during the year. If I'd appreciated the contribution he was making to my real future - and those of many others post Big Blue - his appraisals would undoubtedly have been 'ONE-plus-extra-stars'. Instead, the best I can do is congratulate him on creating something of lasting value that we all enjoy so much and which has stood the test of time far better than that business back in 1988 (which was, of course, disbanded two years later). |
March 1988 |
WATER LOGTerry Wall booked the first fixture for the new society - a 36 hole event at North Hants. By noon, horizontal rain had dissolved the cards along with the course, which had turned into a lake. During one heavy downpour, Gerry Young was sheltering in a small wooden hut with a group who refused to come out. He still regrets his decision to continue playing... Bryan Reid's abiding memory is an image of Mike Harris with rain dripping off his cap and onto his glasses - which needed windscreen wipers. Mike played on, despite not being able to see. Drenched but not daunted, Dave Tulloch squelched around the sodden course in leaky shoes. He returned to his car to find it in a 4-inch deep lake where the car park had been. No matter, his feet were already wet... Mike Houghton abandoned the afternoon round when his waterproofs couldn't take anymore. He remembers a steamy locker room as everyone tried to dry out. He also swore not to let Terry book anymore fixtures, so took the job on for the next five years! And as we know, the sun always shines on Mike's fixtures. Terry officially abandoned the afternoon competition after 9 holes - just as the sun came out. This prompted complaints from the early starters for not abandoning sooner, and from the late starters that he had no authority to abandon at all. Those who hung on for dinner were offered a second pork chop. |
1988 |
THE BIGHEAD TROPHYSoon after founding the society Terry Wall was strolling through Chichester and noticed a golf items shop. In the window was the biggest sand iron ever seen. This was in the days before big-headed drivers, though it still looks huge even today! He had to have it, even though he couldn't imagine what to use it for. At its first outing a general discussion on the ambiguity of the "BigHead" phrase led him to donate it for use as a prize for (unconsciously) conceited comments or remarkable actions. Anyone who seems to be trying to win it is automatically excluded. The perfect anecdote leaves the recipient wondering whether to be proud or ashamed! Does anyone know who the first winner was - and why? |
September 1988 |
BANDITMike Houghton claims he hadn't played much golf during the preceding years, then with a handicap of 23 went out at Brockenhurst and scored 25 points on the front 9. Dave Tulloch, who was marking his card, had a hard time keeping score with all the 3's and 4's. He kept Mike calm though, helping him turn in a 45 point card and become the society's first bandit. Captain Terry Wall rewarded Mike with a 3-stroke handicap cut on the day. |
1988 |
...and then there was the time Mike Houghton beat Terry Wall by one shot to win the Champion's Cup... [Is that why we include Runners Up in the Hall of Fame? ..ed.] |
| The 1990s | |
Autumn 1992ish
Villamartin? |
SPANISH FLYINGMemories of those early autumn trips merge, but Rick Jones remembers villas overlooking the golf course, set in an attractive valley. There was no organised meal on the first night so the 24 members of the party found themselves in a local restaurant, halfway up the hill out of the valley. After a good meal with much wine the restaurant treated them to a complimentary unknown fruit liqueur. When Mike Tyrer suddenly announced that it was Rick's birthday (it wasn’t) many people gratefully passed their unwanted free drinks to him and much-missed Patrick Cull - the singletons in the group. Needless to say, they became fairly legless fairly soon. When the waiters went to the balcony and started letting off fireworks, Patrick decided to join in. Unfortunately, he did not have their skill in letting go of the rockets, and the party had to rescue him or lose him at the beginning of the holiday! The day after the sun shone brightly and hot. After a rather fragile early morning round, everyone gathered around the pool to relax. Getting bored quickly, some impromptu golf lessons were organised. Terry Wall, resplendent in swimming shorts, demonstrated the perfect swing, hitting champagne corks over the pool into into the shrubbery, ending his instructions with “Pose, pose, and pose!” He has followed this advice ever since. |
September 1993 |
A PERFECT DAYBryan Reid was playing off 28 and was drawn in the first group. The start was delayed by a BT society ahead, so by tee-off time he was a bag of nerves and promptly hit his drive straight at the clubhouse window. Perhaps he was aiming at Terry Wall, watching through the window, who reckons the shot would have taken his kneecaps off if it hadn't hit the frame. All was not lost, however. The ball bounced back into the fairway, and Bryan scored 2 points for the hole. His drive off the second went into the woods, but after finding it and taking a drop he scored another point. After this inauspicious start, imagine everyone's shock when he came into the clubhouse with a final score of 44 points! How do we know? Ivan Dally had all the players sign the card, then framed it in memory of 'A Perfect Day at Brockenhurst Manor Golf Club' - a memento still treasured by Bryan. |
September 1993 |
UGLY HOOKERSWas that the same Brockenhurst event where Mikes Hougton and Harris were paired in the greensomes, and despite their propensity to hit the ball from right to left, came in with an enormous score? Terry Wall allowed as how they were the two ugliest hookers he'd ever spent the afternoon with... |
September 1995 |
AHEAD OF THE GAMEBryan Reid always wanted to play at Cowdray Park. The opportunity finally came during his Captaincy in 1995. At the time he was working and had great difficulty getting time off to get to matches, but was determined not to miss this one. Getting up very early to get to the course in good time, he arrived before everybody else. After a bit of practise, he returned to the clubhouse for coffee and to meet people, only to find out he'd arrived a day early! When the kitchen staff stopped laughing they gave him free coffee and a bacon roll - which actually cost £28 because he couldn't get the next day off...and he still has never played Cowdray Park. |
July 1996 |
HOLE OF FAMEOn 30th July 1996 playing in the society matchplay singles against Dave Lewis, Terry Wall scored a hole in one. As there was nobody in the bar at the Club on the day, he bought the obligatory drinks the following week - at North Hants. |
| The 2000s | |
July 2005 |
A WORLD RECORDIt was Captain’s Day and Brian Woodham declared a Yellow Ball Competition. Each threeball received a yellow ball which each person played for a hole in turn. The team scoring the most Stableford points with the ball after 18 holes wins. One group was overheard discussing tactics: “If you play second then you will also play the two long par threes,” or, “You play a fade from the tee so you should play the dogleg seventeenth,” and so on. Eventually they agreed a cunning plan: give the ball to their strongest player on the first hole. Up he stepped, made a good swing, hit the ball off the middle... and hooked it into the houses beyond the boundary of the (very) wide fairway. Thus Nick Buse set the world record for the shortest-lived yellow ball, which stands to this day. |
April 2007 |
THE PINK TROUSERS
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June 2007
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ACTION MAN
Cheating only once (taking a ferry from Calais to Dover) he completed every stage early. The final leg saw him escorted by men in white vans down the Champs Elysee, around the Arc de Triomphe, and on to the Eiffel Tower, where he promptly got off his bike and threw it in the Seine (click photo to enlarge). His efforts raised a total of £1980 for Action Medical Research. |
1988-2008 |
CHAMPIONS LEAGUEIn 1988, our first year as a Society, not many members made it through the IBM National Qualifier. Tony Woolcott went as reserve with a chance of playing in the Final. Several weeks later, playing in a society competition at Hindhead, Tony was asked how he got on. "Oh," he said, "actually, I won." In 1994, BGS member Keith Dunn won at Dunbar, in 2000 Chris Jaques won at Blairgowrie, followed by Terry Wall at the Warwickshire in 2001. Lacking Tony's modesty, everyone knew about Terry's win very quickly!
(click to see more of Rona) |
June 2008 |
ACE IN THE HOLERupert Tomkins and Ken Crookes lined up for the second round of the singles knockout at Hankley Common on D-Day - June 6th. Little did they know that history would be made again. Rupert stole the match with a stunning hole in one on the 120 yard par 3 2nd. But the ball won't be in his trophy case. He lost it on the next hole. |
July 2008 |
ACE IN THE HOLE IIDuring the 2008 3-way match for the Silver Jubilee Cup, while playing with IBM Surrey & Sussex Captain John Slater and IBM Hursley Captain Andy Murphy, our own Captain Mike Bell aced the 12th at Basingstoke Golf Club, using a five iron to hole out on the 184 yard par 3. Unfortunately, John Slater missed the excitement as he wasn't wearing his glasses! |
June 2008 |
A GRAND DAY OUT
Mike raised £946.54 from this endeavour for Rowans Hospice. |
September 2008 |
HIGH SOCIETY
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July 2009 |
SIX POINT STARWhile playing a Society matchplay game against Mike Houghton and Paul Holmes, Paul Staples had an eagle three on the par 5, Stroke Index 2, 9th hole at Chobham. "He hit a flawless drive, a four iron to the centre of the green and one putt. Perfection. He didn't do much else, though. We lost 3 & 1," allowed partner Dave McCormick. Off his handicap it would have been SIX points in Stableford play. The other three insist his achievement should go into the Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, there's no category for holes-in-three. Immortality on the Stories page will have to do. |
