I have a couple more Captain and Pro matches to report on. Firstly a mid-week match where I teamed up again with Ricky Pharo to take on challengers Roger Perry and Danny Gesua, playing in his second Captain and Pro match of the series! Following the works on the greens in the previous two days, the greens were running slower than usual and we all had a couple of those frustrating putts that stopped just short of dropping into the hole. The challengers were dove-tailing very well and halved 7 of the first 8 holes in a tight contest. But they had some misfortune over holes 9 to 11 which moved Ricky and I to 4 up, which rather flattered us. A stunning approach shot on 12 by Ricky almost produced an eagle 2, but Roger made a fine net birdie to halve the hole, followed by another on the 13th to win a hole back. A fine chip shot on 14 should have rewarded Roger with his 3rd consecutive net birdie but it wasn’t to be and Ricky’s birdie on 15 meant the match finished 4&3. Many thanks to Roger and Danny for a great afternoon’s golf. Also thanks to Ricky, a great golfer, and great company, who doesn’t seem to mind listening to my waffle about wedge bounce angles … !
Men’s Golf Report
Well, so much for looking forward to the Club Stableford on 3rd October. It was sadly cancelled due to heavy overnight rainfall of 32mm. This was such a shame considering that just two days previously it was fully subscribed with 102 players, plus 17 reserves. By Friday afternoon all reserves were either booked to play or had bailed out yet a number of Members did actually sign up later that afternoon such that there were still 88 players prepared to risk a very wet round of golf. The next Club Stableford is on 31st October, already fully subscribed, with a large reserve list I’m afraid.
To complete that weekend’s golfing misery, further heavy rainfall meant the cancellation of Sunday’s Captain and Pro match with the course again closed. Commiserations to the challengers, Chris Bray and Nigel Brown; we’ll make sure to play in 2021.
So, to my final match of this series with Richard Harrison, on Sunday last, challenged by Neil Anderson and Graham Terry. Based on previous matches I’ve learned that a lead of 2 up after 9 holes can evaporate very quickly, and for one of those two I’d holed a putt on 7 for a very unlikely win, so all to play for on the back 9! We traded holes 10 and 11, so still 2 up, then I managed a net birdie on 12 followed up by a real birdie on 13, to go 4 up. And just like that this very enjoyable match came to an end on the 14th, but we played all 18 holes anyway before adjourning to the bar for a post-match ale or two. Thanks to Neil and Graham for challenging us and I’m grateful to Richard for his coaching, actually from several months ago, which has definitely made me a better player.
The Fourball Betterball 2020 knockout continues to progress well with just 3 matches to be completed by the play-by date of Sunday 18th October.
Entry for the Men’s Winter Foursomes knockout is now closed, with an impressive 118 players entered, and we await the draw.
Enjoy your golf!