The aim was to raise as much money as possible to provide funds for the enhancement of sports facilities at the school.
It is relevant to note that BVGS is a state school and sometimes its sports teams find themselves at a disadvantage against the public schools, they come across in various competitions, as a result of more limited budgets.
Early arrivals saw numerous school staff busily laying out putting competitions and carrying out the multitude of tasks necessary for the smooth running of a day such as the one foreseen by Brian and his team. They all looked very smart in their Under Armour BVGS logoed black shirts!
The first tee time was scheduled for nine o'clock although I did notice an earlier start of a notable twosome of Russell Bowen and Julian Whiting!

Some 116 players had pledged to enter the overall competition and were ably sent on their way by Starter Dave Goodwin who released them at ten minute intervals down the tricky first hole at Walmley. In spite of advice to stay on the left side of the fairway to enable a shot to the green, it was noticeable that many players erred to the right hand side!
In addition to the entrance fee to play, many of the school suppliers had sponsored holes and Brian and his team must have worked extremely hard to successfully get every hole sponsored. Your association sponsored the third hole, a 337 yard par 4 with a slight dog leg left. Attain Travel, who provide the coaches that transport the school sports teams to away venues and sponsor BVGS Sports generally, also sponsored the nineteenth hole!!

The day went extremely smoothly until about 4.30 p.m. when all players were mandated to leave the course as the siren was sounded for thunder and lightning. The group I was with had just struck our tee shots to the eighteenth green and we marked our ball positions and scurried for cover.
It seemed an opportune time to avail ourselves of the excellent meal on offer by the Walmley Golf Club catering team and having been fed and watered and discovered how non-competitive our scores were, our enthusiasm for re-entering the fray waned and we handed in our incomplete cards!
Hats off to the stalwarts who resumed their rounds once the all clear was sounded. There were some ten groups behind our group, although I know of one or two of them that gave in as we did!

Our group comprised three Old Veseyans plus a delightful player called Graham and whose surname escapes me. He was by far the better player on the day of our four. The other three were Roger Impett, Dave Ellis and myself. Dave had also sponsored the ninth hole. Dave assists students with their Duke of Edinburgh Awards expeditions. Roger had driven down from Seaton Carew , near Hartlepool, and dove back again that evening. A noble effort despite taking  my 5 iron with him! I did offer him a bed but he declined!

The whole event was sponsored by X2 Furniture and many prizes were on offer from Under Armour sportswear, Walmley Golf Club and Johnsons Volkswagen.

Each entrant was provided with a "goody bag" on registration a bacon roll and tea or coffee were available before play and a most delightful meal afterwards.

In terms of the prizes, the five winning pairs in the main competition were: -
 1^st Prize – Nigel Walmsley & Andy Mitchell - 43 points
2^nd Prize – James Hemphill & Ben Maughan - 42 points
3^rd Prize – Adrian Carey & Nick Baker – 41 points (ranked ahead in tie due to superior back 9)
4^th Prize – Matthew Southall and Steve Quance – 41 points
5^th Prize – Tom Jones & Gary Jones – 39 points (ranked ahead in tie due to superior back 9)

David Bannister won the putting competition before the heavens opened, with a 27-foot putt.
Tom Jones won the £100 Golf Shop voucher for being drawn out of the hat for 'Beating the Pro' on the 5th.

All auction and raffle prize winners have also been contacted.
Sadly we weren't among them!
A highly successful day, enhanced by the brilliant weather and the organisational skills of the Brian Davies the organiser.

Here's to next year!

Taken from the December 2016 Edition of the OVA News and written by Nick Hammond.

The 2017 event will once again be held on Friday 9th June and further details can be found in the Events section. Please e-mail Brian Davies at b.davies@bishopveseys.bham.sch.uk if you are interested in playing.