On Saturday 7th May, the Balin team & friends embarked on a team building event which took them to Bunsey down gold course in Woodham Walter. A place with a reputation for being one of the highest quality golf courses in the South East of England. Formerly a red deer park across acres of plush grounds on a historical estate.
So the scene was set and the pressure was on . Could they play golf? ... well ... they managed a whopping 27 holes of what some would refer to as golf. Others might have thought 'don't give up your day job any time soon'. That aside though, there were some records for a small section of the team and first up with the longest drive was Ben Sullivan. Brute force and a determined swing gained him this award ahead of the rest so a congratulations on his achievement there.
Further achievements were attained later on in the day and this time it was for Balin founder Mark Betts and Mike Guyatt. The pair had managed to get nearest to the pin over the course of play although you could have still driven a lorry between their balls and the hole but a good effort and as mentioned, closer than any other team member.
Now, golf can be played either as a single participant OR as a team (often referred to as doubles or foreball). The idea was to beat your opponents team with the team you were playing in - quite straight forward right?........nope! Not if you're on Tony Gregory's team. The poor guy had no chance. With his back turned and eyeing up a shot, his very own team mate (who at that stage may well have been paid off by an opposing team member), run him over in HIS golf buggy. Fortunately, the great services of Essex air ambulance were not needed on this occasion. It was just a bruised ego and a look of disbelief as the round seemed to slip away from them.
This tension filled part of the day soon passed and Tony's team did actually run out clear winners overall but you do wonder what this has done psychologically. Will he recover? Can the friendship be fixed? All I can say is tune in to the next event for more on this situation!
Well there was one member on the day that held it together and was totally unaffected by the back stabbing goings on of Tony's team and this was Rob Stebbings. This guy could play (for an amateur that is). His efforts catapulted him to the top of the pile as overall winner. He celebrated like he'd just won the masters at Augusta but everyone gave him his moment and admired his unique ability to be OK at golf AND drive a lorry. Not bad sir .... not bad!
So the events of the day were wrapped up with an enjoyable 3 course meal and the handing out of the awards. That's another fun filled Balin adventure over. A big thank you to everyone who attended and a special thank you to William Banks for arranging the event (although Tony might beg to differ).
Until next time - thanks for reading!