“What came first, the chicken or the egg?”

The very same conundrum could be posed regarding the Birdie Plate – “what came first, the Birdie Plate or the competition”?

Well it was the Birdie Plate.
 

 

Donated by Mr. Nicholas Ingle, a finer piece of crockery you will not meet, no matter how many times you visit Sotheby’s, Christies or Tring Auction! It was originally awarded to the player who could amass the greatest number of birdies from all holes played as an individual on The Tour.

However, when the Society amended its constitution and moved to a 'team basis' so came about the invention of Birdie Bingo! The Society would award itself the Plate if it could make 10 or more birdies on a tour. This system was tried for two years (2012 and 2013) and was proving somewhat difficult with respective scores of just 7 and 4, so goalposts were uprooted and replanted in slightly different places... from 2014, any birdies made by either individuals or Texas pairings will count towards the Birdie Bingo total. The new award targets are now:

6+ birdies = bronze medal

8+ birdies = silver medal

10+ birdies = gold medal

 

n.b no goalposts were actually moved in the making of these rules - we're not vandals.