Bagot Arms Golf Society est 2009

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The Unlikely Ascent: Steve Willetts, Champion Golfer of the Year

Forget textbook swings and controlled fades. This year, the crown at Walsall Golf Club belongs to Steve Willetts, a man whose approach to golf is less a strategic game and more a course-wide expedition. In a victory that has shocked the golfing world, Steve—the man whose handicap is so stratospheric he needs a parachute—was crowned Champion Golfer of the Year 2025 after a truly dominant display on the final day, securing the title with a remarkable 37 Stableford points.

For those keeping score at home, Steve’s final round was a masterpiece of controlled chaos. He came from the chasing pack with a truly mixed bag of scores: only four pars, eight bogeys, two double bogeys, and four treble bogeys. While most golfers would be weeping softly into their sand wedges after such a card, Steve Willets sees the world differently. As he will readily tell you, he used his shots wisely, celebrating each and every bogey as though it were a tournament-winning birdie putt. Fist pumps were not just optional; they were mandatory on every hole as he closed in on victory, bringing a level of celebratory theatre usually reserved for major championships.

This victory is particularly sweet for Steve, who has spent the year enduring the kind of vicious cat-calling that would make a seasoned tour pro wilt. Whispers about his game are legendary. Some say he has more shots than a bartender on Christmas Eve. Others note that if golf were solely about finding new, unexplored parts of the course, he'd be an undisputed professional. He is the man who needs Google Maps just to locate the fairway and who spends more time in the rough than Big Foot.

Indeed, Steve is known among the membership as "The Magician," because every golf ball he hits disappears. His lost balls are more travelled than Jim Harris's passport, leading one society member to suggest that Steve doesn't need a coach; he needs a priest. He turns most holes into a sightseeing tour of the entire course, exploring every corner, seemingly allergic to the neatly manicured fairways. His game is "Army Golf"—left, right, left, right—finding parts of the course even the groundkeepers are unaware of.

The true impressiveness of Steve’s achievement is his consistent inconsistency. It takes a certain talent to be so reliably unreliable. Through the mystical art of his high handicap, he managed to accumulate 37 points—a score built on maximum allocation and pure, unadulterated grit.

There's golf, and then there's whatever Steve Willetts has been doing. Yet, at Walsall Golf Club the latter earned him the title of Champion Golfer of the Year. The victory proves one thing: in handicap golf, it's not about how pretty the shot is, but how effectively you utilize the generous allowance bestowed upon you. Steve Willets utilized his like an artist, splashing strokes of triple bogey brilliance across the course and painting his name onto the trophy. Congratulations to Walsall’s most unconventional champion.

Walsall Golf Club

Special mentions:

1st Steve Willetts 37pts

2nd Paddy O'Reilly 36pts

3rd Simoin gardiner 34pts

KO Cup Games

Ryan Welburn bt Tony Roche 2&1

Betting Winners:

Jimmy Harris, Darren Storer

Wooden Spoon:

Terry Dowling 22pts

Nearest The Pin Winners:

Jim Harris, Darren Storer, Steve Binns, DJ Franklin, Steve Willetts

Longest Drive: Ryan Welburn

Congratulations to all prize winners.

Evening meal 5/10

Pro-shop /6/10

Practise facilities 10/10

Friendliness 9/10

Difficulty 7/10

Greens Condition 8/10

Value for money 8/10

Would we return? YES

* For the first time in the BAGS 13 year history the final wasn't played on the final day

* When your playing partner asks if he can jump in your buggy with you and then says after the golf "i didn't think I had to pay half!"

Rye Hill Golf ClubUR RATING: 6/10Alan Maidment Crowned European Trophy Winner 2022he Bagot Arms Golf Society European Trophy is contested each year by its members since 2009. This year debutant Alan Maidment lifted the trophy at the first time of asking at the amazing Los Naranjos Golf Club in Marbella. 20 players battled it out over three competitive rounds of golf at La Cala Resort (Campo America), Calanova and Los Naranjos.