BUNNY (W)ON(E)

Simon Wright

I picture the Bunny Cup champion adding her name to the plinth, now 14 tiers high, in 3022.

She’ll look at the 3021 and 3020 champions, perhaps distant relations of hers, and then her eyes will wander up the tiers, through the years, and settle on the name that begins it all. My name.

What can I tell you about how it feels to be the inaugural winner of the eternal trophy? Pride? Clearly. A sense of history? Definitely. A chance to laud it over all Bashams and Wrights and subsequent families? Forever? Oh yes!

How did I earn such a privilege? Can you picture an English summers day, a provincial golf club and the Basham-Wright clan in fevered competition? The first two may not be obvious to those succeeding me in future centuries, but the third, the beating heart of the Bunny Cup, certainly will be.

I recall Mark, Josh, Matty and Lizzie pushing hard on the course – as I write, their names are yet to be added to the plinth, so I mention them here for posterity (😄). Bill, Sammy and Georgia were all showing the talent and class that marked them out as future champions. (Judy, Mel and Nikki weren’t competing that day).

It was a tight contest as we ran through each of golf’s disciplines, earning points for each. Driving….. putting….. and then onto chipping. I realised that if I chipped the ball straight into the hole I would take an unassailable lead, but it was the briefest of thoughts because ‘chipping in’ is very, very rare.

So, I took my stance, aimed and swung the club. The connection immediately felt good, the ball cleared the bunker and bounced on the green, it was pleasingly on line, the pace was good, it was rolling towards the hole…..

The rest, as they say, is history.