Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2015 21:02:31 GMT -5
Remembrance Sunday Golf Club was originally a small 9 hole pitch and putt course on the West coast of Scotland until the advent of the First World War when the M.O.D. bought the property and turned it into a training ground for trench warfare exercises. The grounds remained abandoned after the war, but were re used for training during the Second World War. After the war ended the property was bought by the property billionaire “Auld” Don Trumpton to turn into a golf course for the weary soldiers returning home. During the excavation of where the 11th hole is now located the remains of an unknown soldier were unearthed. A memorial now stands behind the 11th green to pay tribute to the brave men and women who gave their lives during the wars and on the 11th green at 11 o’ Clock of the 11th Day of the 11th Month a ceremony is held to commemorate their bravery on Armistice Day. Mr. Trumpton thought it would be fitting to name the course:
Remembrance Sunday Golf Club.
Hole #1: Birds Eye View
Named after the designer that Mr. Trumpton had design the course. Chris Bird’s only orders were to make a course that was tough but fair with a premium on driving and having large greens so chip ins were not common. He decided to incorporate some of the training trenches and old bomb craters that had left somewhat natural water hazards on the property.
Hole #2: Smiffy’s Swing Change
During the 1979 Club Championship Andi Smith was having a torrid time driving the ball and keeping it on the fairway. This continued into the 3rd round when after a wayward drive on the 1st one of the Scottish locals in the gallery called out “Your troosers are a wee bit tight laddie, you need to swing without hindrance”. Inspired by this comment Andi hid behind a bush on the second tee and swapped clothes with his wife who was caddying for him. The results were spontaneous and every drive from then on was smack dab down the middle of the fairway. Andi went on to win the Championship by two strokes and put it down to being able to “Swing freely wearing a skirt” during the trophy presentation. From that moment on he would be known as SMIFFYLFC79, which stood for Smiffy Loves Female Clothing ‘79 Champion.
Hole #3: Blackman’s Ace
The 2013 Wounded Warrior Charity Event held at the course had a prize of closest to the pin on the Par 3 Hole #3 of a years supply of Irn-Bru. Having never heard of this Scottish beverage, Mike Blackman was determined to win the prize. The wind was slightly against so he pulled his 6 iron out the bag against his caddies advice who warned him that you have to allow for roll out on this course and not aim for the pin. Mike ignored this advice as he said he had a lucky feeling and the tee shot was hit as flush as can be. Halfway through the air his caddy had a look of disgust as he knew the ball would probably end up off the back of the green, but Mike was confident as it was heading straight for the pin……then there was a huge cheer from the crowd as the ball Slam Dunked straight in the hole on the fly. Mike celebrated after the round drinking his first ever Irn-Bru, but it is unknown if he ever drank the other 364 days worth. As a memento Barr’s had a commemorative label featuring Mike’s shot with the caption “BlackAces13”.
Hole #4: Trench Foot
This is the first sight of playing through and trying to avoid the trench’s that the soldiers would get experience of what was to come when they were shipped off to the front. The trench’s were cold, damp and muddy causing the soldiers feet to blacken due to death of the surface tissue when immersed for too long in those conditions. It is best to avoid these trench’s at all cost now as they are filled for the most part with water.
Hole #5: BBT’s OTT
During the final of the 1999 Club Match play Championship Brionne Beaumont-Thomas put his tee shot to the Par 3 into one of the trench’s. Luckily for him it had been the driest summer in years and there was just a hint of water left in the trench. Taking his shoes and socks off, then rolling up his trousers BBT climbed down into the trench and hit a miraculous flop shot that somehow went Over The Top of the wooden supports and landed inches from the hole to amazingly halve the hole. Brionne went on to win the Final 1 Up and in recognition of the shot every year since the day before the Club Match play is held there is a nearest to the pin from down in the trench that has been pumped out for the occasion. On a side note the week after Brionne’s shot Jean van de Velde tried to do the same thing at Carnoustie……..but bottled it as he’s no BBT.
Hole #6: Sheridan's Sand Trap
In 1978, employees of Scotland Yard Ltd - The Spy Shop were treated by their owner to an all expenses paid trip to Scotland for some sightseeing and golfing. Nobody had the heart to tell the owner that Scotland Yard is in London and not Scotland and as one of the employees, Jimmy Sheridan said "I get to drink and play golf in Scotland for free, I'm not telling him". Jimmy would soon regret that decision as with no Heineken on tap and only room temperature beer to choose from in those days he decided to sink into the Whiskey from the local distillery. By the 6th hole Jimmy was three sheets to the wind and never got close to clearing the fairway cross bunker. Down into the bunker Jimmy went but lost his footing, slipped and fractured his wrist. Maybe karma came back to bite him and he had to be carted off in the ambulance and missed out on the rest of the trip. One of the local caddies was heard saying "That guy from Nevada's Ballin his eyes out after that break". Word travelled of the accident and a year later The Undertones released "Jimmy Jimmy" with all proceeds going towards the "Don't Drink and Drive Your Golf Ball" awareness program.
Hole #7: Shaken Not Stirred
In amongst the crowd of the 1952 Cross Tour Championship was aspiring author Ian Fleming, little did he know what was about to happen would change his life. On the tee was the Commissioner of the Game League and his tee shot was hooked into the water, followed by his next tee shot sliced into the pond the other side of the fairway. The Commissioner was heard to say “That’s a Double Oh-No on 7”, to which a Scottish Member called out “Who are you anyway?”. “The names LeBlond, James LeBlond” was the Commissioners response, “Aye, well after those two pish shots you’ll be Shaken Not Stirred” was the members reply…..The rest is history.
Hole #8: Balzhiser’s Bunkers
The 2005 Member/Guest Championship was not good for Bob Balzhiser. In each of the four rounds he ended up in one of the fairway bunkers off the tee and couldn’t make par missing out on the victory by only two shots. “Maybe he just didn’t have What It Takes, while Livin’ On The Edge of the bunker, but there was plenty of Cryin’ and going Crazy. Hopefully he may Dream On again and get Back In The Saddle for next years event as he displayed plenty of Sweet Emotion” was the write up in the local paper of Bob’s exploits.
Hole #9: Garcia’s Alley
The 2011 Club Match play championship was something of a grudge match between Bradley Garcia and his fiercest rival who would try and take down his course records by always going back to the first tee if he could only make par instead of birdie. Garcia was playing out of his skin much to the bemoaning of his unkempt opponent and was 8 up through 8 holes. Looking to go dormie, Garcia decided to put pressure on and hit a wonderful tee shot up the narrower right hand side of the fairway much to the displeasure of his opponent. Being fed up with the constant complaining and foul language Garcia wanted to end it then so outrageously opened the face of his 3 iron and hit it to two feet of the pin leaving a tap in eagle. Not impressed with what he had just witnessed Bradley’s disheveled opponent let out another barrage of insults and walked off the course never to be seen of again. The small landing strip is now known as “Garcia’s Alley”.
Hole #10: Russell’s Ravine
In the Millennium Challenge in the first week of 2000 Tim Russell was looking for victory over his opponent to propel himself into the playoffs that would take place the following week. Standing on the 10th tee Tim had the choice of playing the safe route to the fairway or going for glory and driving the green in one. Bravado over brains ensued and Tim went for it. There was a sudden gust of wind which took the ball off course and ended up in the Ravine. Trying to salvage the hole Tim went looking for his ball and ended up falling over and spraining his ankle. Unable to carry on he missed out on the playoffs and hasn’t had a sniff of them since just like his Buffalo Bills. One of the fellow members commented that Tim’s “Gone for a Burton”.
Hole #11: Unknown Soldier
Behind the 11th green is the grave and memorial of the Unknown Soldier where the Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday ceremonies takes place. There is a local legend that claims if you play the course in early November when its foggy out and there is dew on the green then a trail can be seen as if a putt has been taken even before the first group out has even got to the green.
Hole #12: McGettigan's Magic Moment
2007 saw the reintroduction of the Celtic Cup between Scotland and Ireland. Tony McGettigan had been having an up and down season until this point, but with an unexpected heatwave baking the Scottish coast Tony saw his form come back to life. He won his first three pairs matches and knew his singles result would determine the outcome, however Tony's caddy had forgotten to pack his sun cream. With his face starting to blister from the scorching sun Tony put his foot down and was six up on the 12th hole. Knowing he could end the match right there he hit a superb 5 Iron pin high to seven feet and holed the putt to win the cup for Ireland. As soon as the ball went in the hole Tony made a dash for the water surrounding the green and cannon balled in to cool down. The Scottish media still refer to him today as Tony the Red Devil.
Hole #13: Acid's Flashback
The 1993 Invitational saw the popular return to the Scottish shores of Steve "Acidman" McFlinn. Steve was paired up on the first two days with his good friend Andi Smith and on the 13th tee of the 2nd round Andi dared Steve to climb the now defunct tee box that sits high above the regular tee to take his shot from there. Never known to duck out of a challenge Steve climbed to the top , but upon arriving at the top the view he got gave him a flashback of when he had been out drinking while on a rugby tour to Chile earlier in the year and had somehow been talked into climbing inside a barrel and being pushed over the Salto Grande Waterfall, because according to Steve it sounded like a fun thing to do at the time. Remembering he was now a bit skittish about heights and the fact that his white trousers may show how nervous he was at that moment he closed his eyes and whacked his tee shot as quick as possible before climbing down as fast as he could. To let everyone else experience the same shot the club now opens up the upper tiered tee box for one round of each Championship.
Hole #14: Simpson's Success
The 1981 Hemisphere Challenge saw Australia's Rod Simpson needing to win the final match for the Southerners to win the cup for the first time in thirty two years. Going in all square to the 14th Rod hit a monster drive, but pushed it slightly into the gorse bushes. With nothing else on his mind but securing the cup, Rod climbed into the bushes and after finding his ball somehow advance it 80 yards up the fairway. An exquisite pitching wedge followed by a nine foot par saving putt demoralized his opponent who ended up three putting to lose the hole. Rod went on to win the match 1 up and gave the Southern Hemisphere the glory they had been longing. Being his biggest accomplishment up to that point in his career the media back home dubbed him "Rod81Simo".
Hole #15: Karlsson's Collapse
The 2004 Club Championship saw Robert Karlsson off to a flier and was three shots clear in the last round coming to the par 3 15th when nerves got the better of him. He under clubbed his tee shot and the ball landed in the water, after reloading his next shot was too long and rolled into the bunker. Then Robert did his best impersonation of Tommy Nakajima and took four shots to get out of the sand. After missing his first putt Karlsson finally made the putt for a nine which took him out of contention. Locals now refer to a six over par for a hole as a "McBogga". Robert's last known whereabouts were in Japan trying to seek out Tommy to swap stories of bad bunker play over some Nori.
Hole #16: Sweeney's Sweepstake
Going into the 2005 Match Play Championship little was known of Ian Sweeney, so much so that in town bookmakers William Ladbrokes had him as a rank outsider. Knowing that his game was as good as anyone else he went and put a bet on himself. Ian breezed through to the final and was two up on the 16th tee, feeling confident he went with driver instead of the easier 3 wood lay up. It was a perfect shot up the right hand side of the narrower fairway putting pressure on his opponent to make the same shot. It ended in disaster as the drive was hooked into the face of one of the fairway bunkers. Ian made birdie and won the match 3 and 1. Next day he went and collected his £1543 winnings from the bookie and the ijs1543 legend was born.
Hole #17: Duel In The Currant Bun
During the blistering hot summer of 1977 a couple of Cockney Rhyming Geezers got the urge to sample golf on the West coast of Scotland after watching Watson hold off Nicklaus to win The Open at Turnberry. However they took a wrong turn is Ayeshire and ended up at Remembrance Sunday Golf Club. After going on a bender at the local pub they decided what the heck and started playing. Still half cocked on the 17th green, one of the lads felt as though chipping on the green with his sand wedge was a better option than putting and holed the chip. His buddy was not amused and a fist fight occurred. Luckily a roaming ranger was near by to break it up and they were both escorted off the property and told to never return again.
Hole #18: Humphries Howler
This last summer saw Tom Humphries returning to his best play just in time for the Club Championship. All was going well and Tom was in contention just a shot behind after round 2. Returning to the course on Saturday he was ready to make a push for the lead, but on arriving at the first tee he was informed that he had forgotten to sign his scorecard after the 2nd round and was disqualified. Tom vowed never to make that mistake again and is determined to win next years event.
Remembrance Sunday Golf Club.
Hole #1: Birds Eye View
Named after the designer that Mr. Trumpton had design the course. Chris Bird’s only orders were to make a course that was tough but fair with a premium on driving and having large greens so chip ins were not common. He decided to incorporate some of the training trenches and old bomb craters that had left somewhat natural water hazards on the property.
Hole #2: Smiffy’s Swing Change
During the 1979 Club Championship Andi Smith was having a torrid time driving the ball and keeping it on the fairway. This continued into the 3rd round when after a wayward drive on the 1st one of the Scottish locals in the gallery called out “Your troosers are a wee bit tight laddie, you need to swing without hindrance”. Inspired by this comment Andi hid behind a bush on the second tee and swapped clothes with his wife who was caddying for him. The results were spontaneous and every drive from then on was smack dab down the middle of the fairway. Andi went on to win the Championship by two strokes and put it down to being able to “Swing freely wearing a skirt” during the trophy presentation. From that moment on he would be known as SMIFFYLFC79, which stood for Smiffy Loves Female Clothing ‘79 Champion.
Hole #3: Blackman’s Ace
The 2013 Wounded Warrior Charity Event held at the course had a prize of closest to the pin on the Par 3 Hole #3 of a years supply of Irn-Bru. Having never heard of this Scottish beverage, Mike Blackman was determined to win the prize. The wind was slightly against so he pulled his 6 iron out the bag against his caddies advice who warned him that you have to allow for roll out on this course and not aim for the pin. Mike ignored this advice as he said he had a lucky feeling and the tee shot was hit as flush as can be. Halfway through the air his caddy had a look of disgust as he knew the ball would probably end up off the back of the green, but Mike was confident as it was heading straight for the pin……then there was a huge cheer from the crowd as the ball Slam Dunked straight in the hole on the fly. Mike celebrated after the round drinking his first ever Irn-Bru, but it is unknown if he ever drank the other 364 days worth. As a memento Barr’s had a commemorative label featuring Mike’s shot with the caption “BlackAces13”.
Hole #4: Trench Foot
This is the first sight of playing through and trying to avoid the trench’s that the soldiers would get experience of what was to come when they were shipped off to the front. The trench’s were cold, damp and muddy causing the soldiers feet to blacken due to death of the surface tissue when immersed for too long in those conditions. It is best to avoid these trench’s at all cost now as they are filled for the most part with water.
Hole #5: BBT’s OTT
During the final of the 1999 Club Match play Championship Brionne Beaumont-Thomas put his tee shot to the Par 3 into one of the trench’s. Luckily for him it had been the driest summer in years and there was just a hint of water left in the trench. Taking his shoes and socks off, then rolling up his trousers BBT climbed down into the trench and hit a miraculous flop shot that somehow went Over The Top of the wooden supports and landed inches from the hole to amazingly halve the hole. Brionne went on to win the Final 1 Up and in recognition of the shot every year since the day before the Club Match play is held there is a nearest to the pin from down in the trench that has been pumped out for the occasion. On a side note the week after Brionne’s shot Jean van de Velde tried to do the same thing at Carnoustie……..but bottled it as he’s no BBT.
Hole #6: Sheridan's Sand Trap
In 1978, employees of Scotland Yard Ltd - The Spy Shop were treated by their owner to an all expenses paid trip to Scotland for some sightseeing and golfing. Nobody had the heart to tell the owner that Scotland Yard is in London and not Scotland and as one of the employees, Jimmy Sheridan said "I get to drink and play golf in Scotland for free, I'm not telling him". Jimmy would soon regret that decision as with no Heineken on tap and only room temperature beer to choose from in those days he decided to sink into the Whiskey from the local distillery. By the 6th hole Jimmy was three sheets to the wind and never got close to clearing the fairway cross bunker. Down into the bunker Jimmy went but lost his footing, slipped and fractured his wrist. Maybe karma came back to bite him and he had to be carted off in the ambulance and missed out on the rest of the trip. One of the local caddies was heard saying "That guy from Nevada's Ballin his eyes out after that break". Word travelled of the accident and a year later The Undertones released "Jimmy Jimmy" with all proceeds going towards the "Don't Drink and Drive Your Golf Ball" awareness program.
Hole #7: Shaken Not Stirred
In amongst the crowd of the 1952 Cross Tour Championship was aspiring author Ian Fleming, little did he know what was about to happen would change his life. On the tee was the Commissioner of the Game League and his tee shot was hooked into the water, followed by his next tee shot sliced into the pond the other side of the fairway. The Commissioner was heard to say “That’s a Double Oh-No on 7”, to which a Scottish Member called out “Who are you anyway?”. “The names LeBlond, James LeBlond” was the Commissioners response, “Aye, well after those two pish shots you’ll be Shaken Not Stirred” was the members reply…..The rest is history.
Hole #8: Balzhiser’s Bunkers
The 2005 Member/Guest Championship was not good for Bob Balzhiser. In each of the four rounds he ended up in one of the fairway bunkers off the tee and couldn’t make par missing out on the victory by only two shots. “Maybe he just didn’t have What It Takes, while Livin’ On The Edge of the bunker, but there was plenty of Cryin’ and going Crazy. Hopefully he may Dream On again and get Back In The Saddle for next years event as he displayed plenty of Sweet Emotion” was the write up in the local paper of Bob’s exploits.
Hole #9: Garcia’s Alley
The 2011 Club Match play championship was something of a grudge match between Bradley Garcia and his fiercest rival who would try and take down his course records by always going back to the first tee if he could only make par instead of birdie. Garcia was playing out of his skin much to the bemoaning of his unkempt opponent and was 8 up through 8 holes. Looking to go dormie, Garcia decided to put pressure on and hit a wonderful tee shot up the narrower right hand side of the fairway much to the displeasure of his opponent. Being fed up with the constant complaining and foul language Garcia wanted to end it then so outrageously opened the face of his 3 iron and hit it to two feet of the pin leaving a tap in eagle. Not impressed with what he had just witnessed Bradley’s disheveled opponent let out another barrage of insults and walked off the course never to be seen of again. The small landing strip is now known as “Garcia’s Alley”.
Hole #10: Russell’s Ravine
In the Millennium Challenge in the first week of 2000 Tim Russell was looking for victory over his opponent to propel himself into the playoffs that would take place the following week. Standing on the 10th tee Tim had the choice of playing the safe route to the fairway or going for glory and driving the green in one. Bravado over brains ensued and Tim went for it. There was a sudden gust of wind which took the ball off course and ended up in the Ravine. Trying to salvage the hole Tim went looking for his ball and ended up falling over and spraining his ankle. Unable to carry on he missed out on the playoffs and hasn’t had a sniff of them since just like his Buffalo Bills. One of the fellow members commented that Tim’s “Gone for a Burton”.
Hole #11: Unknown Soldier
Behind the 11th green is the grave and memorial of the Unknown Soldier where the Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday ceremonies takes place. There is a local legend that claims if you play the course in early November when its foggy out and there is dew on the green then a trail can be seen as if a putt has been taken even before the first group out has even got to the green.
Hole #12: McGettigan's Magic Moment
2007 saw the reintroduction of the Celtic Cup between Scotland and Ireland. Tony McGettigan had been having an up and down season until this point, but with an unexpected heatwave baking the Scottish coast Tony saw his form come back to life. He won his first three pairs matches and knew his singles result would determine the outcome, however Tony's caddy had forgotten to pack his sun cream. With his face starting to blister from the scorching sun Tony put his foot down and was six up on the 12th hole. Knowing he could end the match right there he hit a superb 5 Iron pin high to seven feet and holed the putt to win the cup for Ireland. As soon as the ball went in the hole Tony made a dash for the water surrounding the green and cannon balled in to cool down. The Scottish media still refer to him today as Tony the Red Devil.
Hole #13: Acid's Flashback
The 1993 Invitational saw the popular return to the Scottish shores of Steve "Acidman" McFlinn. Steve was paired up on the first two days with his good friend Andi Smith and on the 13th tee of the 2nd round Andi dared Steve to climb the now defunct tee box that sits high above the regular tee to take his shot from there. Never known to duck out of a challenge Steve climbed to the top , but upon arriving at the top the view he got gave him a flashback of when he had been out drinking while on a rugby tour to Chile earlier in the year and had somehow been talked into climbing inside a barrel and being pushed over the Salto Grande Waterfall, because according to Steve it sounded like a fun thing to do at the time. Remembering he was now a bit skittish about heights and the fact that his white trousers may show how nervous he was at that moment he closed his eyes and whacked his tee shot as quick as possible before climbing down as fast as he could. To let everyone else experience the same shot the club now opens up the upper tiered tee box for one round of each Championship.
Hole #14: Simpson's Success
The 1981 Hemisphere Challenge saw Australia's Rod Simpson needing to win the final match for the Southerners to win the cup for the first time in thirty two years. Going in all square to the 14th Rod hit a monster drive, but pushed it slightly into the gorse bushes. With nothing else on his mind but securing the cup, Rod climbed into the bushes and after finding his ball somehow advance it 80 yards up the fairway. An exquisite pitching wedge followed by a nine foot par saving putt demoralized his opponent who ended up three putting to lose the hole. Rod went on to win the match 1 up and gave the Southern Hemisphere the glory they had been longing. Being his biggest accomplishment up to that point in his career the media back home dubbed him "Rod81Simo".
Hole #15: Karlsson's Collapse
The 2004 Club Championship saw Robert Karlsson off to a flier and was three shots clear in the last round coming to the par 3 15th when nerves got the better of him. He under clubbed his tee shot and the ball landed in the water, after reloading his next shot was too long and rolled into the bunker. Then Robert did his best impersonation of Tommy Nakajima and took four shots to get out of the sand. After missing his first putt Karlsson finally made the putt for a nine which took him out of contention. Locals now refer to a six over par for a hole as a "McBogga". Robert's last known whereabouts were in Japan trying to seek out Tommy to swap stories of bad bunker play over some Nori.
Hole #16: Sweeney's Sweepstake
Going into the 2005 Match Play Championship little was known of Ian Sweeney, so much so that in town bookmakers William Ladbrokes had him as a rank outsider. Knowing that his game was as good as anyone else he went and put a bet on himself. Ian breezed through to the final and was two up on the 16th tee, feeling confident he went with driver instead of the easier 3 wood lay up. It was a perfect shot up the right hand side of the narrower fairway putting pressure on his opponent to make the same shot. It ended in disaster as the drive was hooked into the face of one of the fairway bunkers. Ian made birdie and won the match 3 and 1. Next day he went and collected his £1543 winnings from the bookie and the ijs1543 legend was born.
Hole #17: Duel In The Currant Bun
During the blistering hot summer of 1977 a couple of Cockney Rhyming Geezers got the urge to sample golf on the West coast of Scotland after watching Watson hold off Nicklaus to win The Open at Turnberry. However they took a wrong turn is Ayeshire and ended up at Remembrance Sunday Golf Club. After going on a bender at the local pub they decided what the heck and started playing. Still half cocked on the 17th green, one of the lads felt as though chipping on the green with his sand wedge was a better option than putting and holed the chip. His buddy was not amused and a fist fight occurred. Luckily a roaming ranger was near by to break it up and they were both escorted off the property and told to never return again.
Hole #18: Humphries Howler
This last summer saw Tom Humphries returning to his best play just in time for the Club Championship. All was going well and Tom was in contention just a shot behind after round 2. Returning to the course on Saturday he was ready to make a push for the lead, but on arriving at the first tee he was informed that he had forgotten to sign his scorecard after the 2nd round and was disqualified. Tom vowed never to make that mistake again and is determined to win next years event.