Warwickshire Golf
CREED CAPTURES THE COUNTY MATCHPLAY
(L to R: Steve Creed, Steve Creed with Trophy, Graham Barton, Steve Creed and Runner-up Ben Goodison, Ben Goodison: For more photos click link at bottom of article)
The Warwickshire Matchplay Championship was played at Harborne Golf Club where the players were treated to a continuation of hot weather and quality greens.
With a few changes to the draw our qualifiers were Amateur Championship runner-up Rob Copperthwaite (Stratford upon Avon) v Ben Goodison (Coventry). Then fellow Olton members Joe Macilwraith v Liam Phipps, followed by Alex Summers (Kenilworth) v Rob Tovey (Olton) and finally Steve Creed (Maxstoke Park) v Jamie Melton (Nuneaton).
Setting off bright and early for round one, all four matches remained tight with a couple looking very much like they could be going onto extra holes. Never to forget that the last 9 holes at Harborne are great matchplay holes with a bit of risk and reward or positional play needed to take real advantage over your opponent.
Winning holes swapped regularly between the players but eventually only one match went down the 18th(Creed v Melton) with 2 finishing on the 17thgreen and the other on the 16th.
Ben Goodison beat Rob Copperthwaite 3&1
Liam Phipps beat Joe Macilwraith 3&2
Alex Summers beat Rob Tovey 3&1
Steve Creed beat Jamie Melton by 1 hole
After quick turnaround at lunch after afternoon matches teed off with Ben Goodison facing Liam Phipps and Alex Summers against Steve Creed.
Again the matches were closely fought on a day where ball flight and control was everything. Ben Goodison looked in complete control of this with some great approaches to tricky pins late in the game and Steve Creed in his match seeming to have a remote controlled golf ball with some of his shots threaded through undulating terrain and finishing close to the pin.
The match result for the Semi-finals were;
Ben Goodison beat Liam Phipps 3&2
Steve Creed beat Alex Summers 3&2
So onto the final!...
Yet another glorious day and starting at 8am in the already present heat our 36 final was Steve Creed v Ben Goodison with Ben winning the honour on the first tee.
It was a steady start by both players paring the first 2 holes but a birdie on the par three 3rdhole gave Ben first blood and the advantage. Another birdie and par was enough to take Ben to 2up after Steve found some greenside bunker trouble on the 5thhole.
Steve then hit back with a par and birdie of his own to take it back to all square after 7 then both halving the 8thwith a par.
It always strikes me (in the majority) when referring or observing these matches what great spirit the games are played in. Golf is one of very few sports where you constantly congratulate your opponent by uttering the words “good shot” (whether you mean it or not!) and this was no different when Bens iron off the tee on the short par four 9thhole took an unfortunate bounce left and into the sole gorse bush on the right-hand side of the fairway. This led to Steve looking more keen on finding the ball than Ben was with Steve on all fours, club in hand, scouring the area where we would have expected it to have finished.
Some great sportsman ship but one that ended up in a lost ball and Steve taking the lead for the first time in the match heading to the 10th.
Steve hit his tee shot just through the green but making a birdie and Ben having some trouble in the trees but managing to save his par. Steve 2up
Then the pair shared the next few holes and a great birdie on the 13thfrom Ben meaning he was only one behind.
The 14thhole, a tricky downhill par 3 of 184 yards, can often be a card breaker or be the site of a game changer. This nearly proved to epitomise this as playing second Steve’s tee shot rolled right over the hole (much to the delight of the 4 fourball who had called us through) missing out on a hole in one by what must have been millimetres! That said, after the hole was finished both players walked off with a par.
A birdie on the next took Steve back to 2up but on 17 a great par save by Ben against Steves bogey got it back to 1. The last hole of the morning round proved that the course was still coping admirably with the hot and dry conditions as Steve’s 230 yard tee shot found the front edge of the green and stopped dead after one bounce. Bens got a bounce right and left himself a tricky up and down from which he was unable to match Steves par.
So, Steve was 2up at lunch but with 7 birdies between the pair of them it was all to play for. Over the opening holes Ben showed great determination and grit by converting some excellent par saves from shots that weren’t quite finishing where he would have liked, until the 5thhole which was the first hole throughout the match that had been won with a score more than par. This went to Steve and took him to 3up.
Holes were halved until the 8thwhere a drawing tee shot from Ben ran out of room and ended up in the trees where it lay pretty much unplayable. So much so the hole was conceded to Steve taking him to 4up.
What followed was 2 great par saves again from Ben, the best one being a par from the deep undergrowth on the left side of the 10thgreen which he managed to somehow get down in 4 shots. Steve rarely makes a mistake, even more so regarding his shortgame, but here he missed his short birdie putt and halved what looked certain to be his hole.
The 11thwas halved but a bogey from Ben on the 12thand 13thgave Steve a lead of five holes with five to play.
A hole in one on the 14thremained elusive to the pair, but after a calm couple of putts from both players the hole was halved and Steve Creed was crowned 2018 Warwickshire Matchplay Champion.
In the speeches, President Graham Barton, thanked Harborne Golf Club again for all their help, service and flexibility that they have shown all of us over the last few weeks and for hosting the Championships so well.
The trophy connected to this Championship is rather large and also a little different, where the name of the runner-up also gets engraved alongside the winner. With this in mind aswell as offering his thanks to the County and the Club, Steve also thanked his opponent for the tough challenge he gave him and made reference to the trophy by stating in time he was sure Bens name will be on the trophy again in the future but next time in the winners space.
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