Saturday 11th August was the date for the second year of the Donk Download and Mindtwist. Some were calling it the longest day on the tour calendar, but speaking to Pres he was sure the Presidents event still holds that title. The venue for the dual event was the impressive Breadshall Priory in Derbyshire.
The prep for the event didn’t get off to the best start thanks to the former KOTS Gregs and Nozza. My 2 car shares managed to injure themselves before the event and left me to drive to Derby when I could have had a board meeting with Pres and Donk. Thankfully the start to the day didn’t put me off my game, the swing was in good shape after a round at Royal Copts the week before. Due to injuries and holidays the event was slight low on numbers with 6 boys turning up. The attendees were PK, Donk, Pres, Tom, Boyce and Millers.
An early start meant a full English before the first tee. The Donk Download was the first event of the day and the pairings drawn out were PK, Donk, Pres in group one and Tom, Boyice and Millers in the group two. I got off to a good start, with a drive up the middle landing 50 yards short of the green. Myself and Pres managed to open with a par, Donk was unlucky with a horrible bunker shot left him with bogey start. The good form didn’t last, with a blob for me and Donk on the third, only Pres managed to score on the hole with a tidy 2 points. Pres was starting to score well, reminding us he was the current holder of the Presidents belt which he was proudly wear. It was a very warm day and the decision of Pres and Donk to wear trousers was fast becoming a bad idea, not that Pres could come to say he was wrong but I could see he was full of regret! The 6th hole was the shark hole, sadly none or the group managed to hit the green. Me and Donk just coming up short at the front. While standing on the 7th tee, the second group had a go at the shark. Needless to say no one managed to hit the green either so the shark was rolled over to the 14th hole. The front 9 was over and the scores showed Pres was continuing his fine form with 19 points, Donk was having an unlucky day, not playing bad shots but somehow only posting 11 points, I managed 21 points thanks mostly to good driving off the tee. The second group finished the front 9 a lot more level with Boyce and Millers both scoring 14 points and the Tom on his long awaited return to a WHV event scoring 17 points.
Donk started the back 9 well with back to back pars, was this the charge from Donk? The 11th was the dog hole, a lovely tee position high up on the hill giving a view down to the fairway below. Donk was first up and hit a massive drive down the middle. Next was me, the pressure was on after Donks drive but I also hit a big one and just passed Donk by a yard or two. I was confident that drive would be enough to win the dog until Boyce the power house stepped up and managed to roll past my drive by 2 yards!! Well done Boyce.
The back 9 continue to give me points, with 13 points scored in the first 6 holes . Pres has slight fell off the pace and was dropping points all over the place, but Donk was on hand to pick them up with some much better golf on the back 9, He was scoring well with 10 points on the first 6 holes. The 14 was the shark roll over hole, but none of the 6 golfers managed to hit the green AGAIN! It was another rollover to the 17th hole, surely someone could hit a par 3 today. I lost my ball on the 15th so blobbed the hole. The 3rd shark hole was here, Donk was first to go and just went long, I also missed to the right and Pres who was over heating in his trousers by this point was short. Thankfully Boyce managed to hit the green and won the Shark!!
The 18th was a par 5 with a massive sloping fairway, Pres lost his ball off the tee so not a great start. On our approach shots to the green we had the Leeds United team sitting next to the 18th green. They took particular interest in Pres and Donks shots with several members running to see where Pres had landed on the green. That was it the round was over. Donk played much better and scored 17 points on the back with a total of 27, Pres got 11 points on the back with a total 30 points , I managed another 17 points on the back 9 totalling 38 points for my round.
The second group returned with Boyce posting 29, Miller an impressive 32 and Tom 26 points. That gave me the win and my third victory on this tour. Millers called me a cheat and the C bomb!
After lunch the teams for the Mindtwist had been drawn. I had been drawn with the dream team of Tom and Boyce. The other team was Miller, Pres and Donk. The format was better ball and each team having to use at least 5 tee shots of each player in the team. The first hole didn’t get off to the best start, the dream team only managing a 4 on a par 3! This didn’t continue with par after par coming over the front 9. The back 9 was continuing to hand pout more pars and a few birdies as well. The 16th was where the match was won, it was like a scene straight out of the Ryder Cup. I managed to hit a massive drive into the wind, Tom followed it up with a chip in from 70 yards out for an EAGLE 3!!! Unfortunately the other team was standing on the next tee and had to witness the celebrations first hand. Pres couldn’t handle it and hit his ball straight over the wall next to the par 3!
The scores were counted in the club house and the dream team went around in 7 under par to take the Mindtwist from Donk, Pres and Millers with a respectable 4 under par. Great day to be a winner twice!
