Bookham Amateur Golf Society

Tribute to Gordon Phillips

This was the first BAGS event since the loss of Gordon Phillips. Many BAGS members attended his funeral the following day and the reception that followed at Kingswood Golf Club. Gordon's family had asked Terry Hulme to present a eulogy at the reception focussing on Gordon's golfing background.

We thought it fitting to capture Terry's words here as a permanent record in honour of Gordon.

Spoken by Terry Hulme:

Gordon’s family have asked me to say some words about the golfing side of his life and especially his time with BAGS which covered the best part of 30 years.

I say best part deliberately as a golf round or day with Gordon was always hugely enjoyable. He was such a lovable character and lit up every course at which we played. In the Clubhouse afterwards, however he had performed that day he was always the same Gordon, laughing, joking and above all extremely generous.

You can tell how popular Gordon was from the turnout of BAGS members past and present as there are no less than 35 of us here today. Of these we must especially thank past BAGS Captain Peter Robertson who introduced him to our Society in 1994. We had planned a golf tour to France in September of that year and had a last minute cancellation. Peter who had worked with Gordon over many years invited his friend to join us and the rest as they say is history. Gordon fitted in brilliantly and we realised that BAGS not only had a good golfer as a new member but more important someone who got on so well with everyone he met.

Gordon subsequently played 294 rounds of golf with us which exceeds every member’s total bar three. Remember also that Gordon and Gina moved to Devon in 1999 so for most of his time with BAGS he was making an 8 hour round trip of over 400 miles to get to our events. His greatest year was in the summer of 2014 when he won three events in a row, the only time in BAGS history anyone has done that.

Gordon really came into his own on our annual tours and only missed one, ironically given his love of Guinness, the one to Ireland. I can well remember when he told me he couldn’t make that one as he had the pressing engagement of Eleanor and Tom’s wedding though I assume he eventually forgave them for the clash of dates! On the tours he was always one of the last to go to bed, usually between two or three in the morning and even last year when he was seriously ill, he still had the stamina and will power to join us chatting into the early hours over a drink or three.

As we all know Gordon could fall asleep at the drop of a Guinness glass and I remember once at the end of a Golf Day when we were clearing up, the person who was due to drive him home asked where he was. An increasingly frantic search eventually discovered that he had fallen asleep on the toilet and much ingenuity had to be used to rouse him from his deep slumber and get him out of there.

We’ve all got our favourite story about Gordon and mine is when after a great Golf Day at Hindhead last July, he and I chatted for an hour after everyone had gone, sitting out on a warm summer’s evening overlooking that wonderful course chatting about BAGS past, present and future. It was clear to me at that time he knew how ill he was but it didn’t stop us having a great conversation the memory of which I will always treasure.

We all admired so much the way Gordon faced up to his illness and carried on playing right through to his last event at West Sussex in October last year. Each year the BAGS Captain presents a personal trophy to the member who, while not having won a competition that year has contributed much to the Society and it was so appropriate that last year’s Captain Kevin presented that to Gordon at our AGM in February. We knew of course that Gordon would not be able to attend but Ian Marshall recorded the presentation and we sent a copy to Gordon which we know he really appreciated.

We also have another trophy to present, this time in Gordon’s name. He was such an important and enjoyable presence on our tours that we have initiated a new Tour trophy which will be called the Gordon Phillips Tour Trophy. This will be played for on our forthcoming Yorkshire Tour in September and on subsequent BAGS tours and I’m delighted that Tom will present that to the winner on behalf of the family at our West Sussex event in early October.

I think you’ll agree that the choice of trophy was a no brainer and let’s in conclusion drink a toast to the memory of a wonderful man whose spirit and generosity we will always remember and though we are so sad to have lost him we give heartfelt thanks that we enjoyed his company for so many years.

Please raise your glasses to Gordon.

Farleigh Results from 13th July

Click on the heading below or simply scroll down the page.

Full Results
Novelty Prizes
Detailed Handicap Changes

Full Results for 27 hole competition

Position after 27 holes	Name	Score after 27 holes		Notes	Score after 18 holes	Position after 18 holes
1	Lee DAVIS	60		BAGS Winnner	40	1
2	Kevin HAWKINS	56		BAGS 2nd	34	7
4	Tim AKERS	53	countback	BAGS 3rd	35	5
=	Keith MARSHALL	53			38	2
3	Lawrie ARNOLD	53			37	3
4	Tim Sayers	53		Guest Winner	37	3
7	Martin Howes	50		Guest	34	7
=	Keith GATFORD	50			32	13
=	Andy MARTIN	50			32	13
=	Andy SKILTON	50			32	13
=	Richard HOCKHAM	50			32	13
12	Andy Taylor	49		Guest	35	5
=	Andy HARPER	49			34	7
=	Dougie PAULL	49			34	7
=	Martin TERRY	49			29	19
16	Stuart HORREX	48			28	24
17	Alan LANGFORD	47			33	12
=	Matt HALL	47			29	19
19	Clive MURRELL	46			34	7
=	Stuart SMILLIE	46			27	25
21	Terry HULME	45			32	13
22	Graham WRIGHT	44			26	27
23	Ian MARSHALL	43			30	18
=	Harry MEDHURST	43			29	19
=	Mark LONGHURST	43			26	27
26	Robin SEWELL	42			27	25
27	Darren Reader	41		Guest	29	19
28	Niall NELSON	40			25	30
	Dave SHAW			18 holes only	29	19
	David JACKSON			18 holes only	26	27

18 hole prizes (not in top three over 27 holes)

1st Keith Marshall with 38 points
2nd Laurie Arnold - 37 points
3rd Clive Murrell - 34 points

Novelty Prizes

Description	Name	Note
Best nine	Stuart Horrex	20 pts
Nearest the pin ( 7th hole)	Lee Davis	297cm
Nearest the pin (4th hole)	Lee Davis	140cm
Nearest the pin in two (2nd Blue hole)	Darren Reader	118cm
Nearest the pin in two ( 2nd Red hole)	Robin Sewell	152cm
Par 3 Winner	Mark Longhurst	9 pts
Par 3 Winner	Dave Shaw	9 pts

Detailed Handicap Changes (calculated using morning 18 hole scores)

Par for the course = 69
After adjustment for the conditions the Competition Scratch Score (CSS) was 36 points.

The detailed handicap changes from the event are shown below. This only shows the members who played at the event. For a full list of handicaps please see the Handicaps page.

Member	Previous exact Hcap	Previous playing Hcap	Points from event	Difference from CSS	Revised exact Hcap	Revised Playing Hcap.
Tim AKERS	15.6	16	35	1	15.6	16
Lawrie ARNOLD	10.3	10	37	-1	10.1	10
Lee DAVIS	24.1	24	40	-4	22.5	23
Keith GATFORD	29.5	30	32	4	29.5	30
Matt HALL	12.1	12	29	7	12.2	12
Andy HARPER	19.2	19	34	2	19.2	19
Kevin HAWKINS	20.6	21	34	2	20.6	21
Richard HOCKHAM	3.2	3	32	4	3.3	3
Stuart HORREX	24.2	24	28	8	24.4	24
Terry HULME	29.2	29	32	4	29.2	29
David JACKSON	36.0	36	26	10	36.0	36
Alan LANGFORD	14.0	14	33	3	14.0	14
Mark LONGHURST	21.2	21	26	10	21.4	21
Ian MARSHALL	16.6	17	30	6	16.7	17
Keith MARSHALL	8.5	9	38	-2	8.1	8
Andy MARTIN	10.9	11	32	4	11.0	11
Harry MEDHURST	20.4	20	29	7	20.5	21
Clive MURRELL	9.8	10	34	2	9.8	10
Niall NELSON	27.6	28	25	11	27.7	28
Dougie PAULL	20.4	20	34	2	20.4	20
Robin SEWELL	22.1	22	27	9	22.2	22
Dave SHAW	24.6	25	29	7	24.7	25
Andy SKILTON	21.6	22	32	4	21.6	22
Stuart SMILLIE	29.8	30	27	9	29.9	30
Martin TERRY	14.7	15	29	7	14.8	15
Graham WRIGHT	10.8	11	26	10	11.0	11