OK, why ‘The Bears’? As Robbo (history teacher and intellectual) would be keen to explain, historical fact is often lost in the unclear and unchecked rambles of the historian. And I am he, so here is my version.
While it is tempting to think that The Bears name derives from some amusing anecdote (e.g. the propensity for Tommo to hit balls into the wood, Dunc’s fondness for honey, my own long driving prowess; viz. “he hits it like a bear!” I wish!) the most accepted version is that it was an attempt by four impressionable young men to liken themselves to the great Man himself in the hope that just a little of His magic would rub off. It didn’t.
Tired Bears
Quite soon after the first Bears’ contest, any idea that we may have any similarity to the man we call Jack disappeared into the rough, much like Tommo’s Pinnacles, and, while we did later adopt golfing heroes, these were usually fallible, even tragic figures: Barnes and his beer, Rocca and his valley of sin, Allez Jean and his upturned trousers, etc.
It’s so long ago now when it began, that, for those of us who participate, ‘The Bears” is just The Bears. And so it will continue to be. We are and always will be The Bears to each other and to our families and friends. Our annual sojourn is also The Bears; in fact for a week each year, everything is The Bears.
And when we meet, we always know just how Bears are, how they act and what they do. Few changes (apart from those brought about by age) and few excitements trouble us. For four would-be golfers, it is a fixture, an obligation, a delight.
Of course we are four Bears; Robbo of the historical fact, Tommo of the erratic drives, Dunc of the steady hand, and me, me of the past glories. I am Dave; not my real name actually. My Bears name. Nowhere else do I have a special name, not that I am aware of, at any rate.
Bears website, by Tommo at www.thebears.biz
Bears 2008 photos, by DB at http://fortypacesbackwards.com/photo-gallery/