Warwickshire Golf
"KEEP IT IN PLAY" at PERTON
Team Selected
Rhys Lawrence – Coventry GC
Tom Ibbertson – Hearsall GC
Mike Pell – Olton GC
Steve Keay – Harborne GC
Stuart Bloxham – Hearsall GC
Lewis Phillips – Coventry GC
Chris Laird – The Warwickshire GC
Ben Bernamont – The Warwickshire GC
Steve Creed – Maxstoke Park GC
Paul Walker – Maxstoke Park GC
The second league match of the season took the Warwickshire 1st team away to Perton Park Golf club in Wolverhampton for the annual tussle with Staffordshire.
With none of the Warwickshire team familiar with the course, an early course walk and a late practice round, together with the usual course planners gave the players some reasonable course information. My thanks to Steve Creed for providing invaluable course notes, really appreciated!! With no course irrigation Perton was hard and bouncy coupled with a gusty wind and helpings of rain throughout the day, this was going to test everyone's game and patience! Pete Clarke's message to all players throughout the day was “Keep it in play off the tee and you will reap the rewards”. They all tried but it was horrendously difficult.
Fuelled with breakfast Rhys Lawrence and Tom Ibbertson began the matches. All square after 4 was a steady start, progressing to 1up after 6. With par golf winning lots of holes the score had reversed by the 10th and Staffs held a 1up lead. That lead would remain until the Par 5 18th where a fantastic win from Tom & Rhys squared the opening match.
The big hitting duo of Mike Pell & Steve Keay quickly took control of match two going 2up after 4, 4up after 6 & 6up after 10. A rare Staffs win on the eleventh did nothing to halt the Warwickshire men as they romped home 6&5 winners. Third pairing of Stuart Bloxham and recent Finham Bowl winner Lewis Phillips took a while to get to grips with the hard bouncy conditions finding themselves down through the front nine and arrived on the 12th tee two down. Knowing they were running out of holes wins on 12 and 13 levelled the match and then a winning Par on 17 gave Stuart and Lewis a lead for the first time. After an errant drive on 18 into very deep rough they recovered brilliantly to pitch and putt for a winning par and a 2up victory.
Next pairing was Ben Bernamont and Chris Laird. Two down after 6 would become 3 down following a great Birdie 2 on the semi-blind Par 3 7th. A hole was recovered around the turn to be 2 down after 11 and further success a couple of holes later meant a one hole advantage for Staffs with four to play. They hung onto that lead and gave Staffs their first full point of the day. Maxstoke team mates Steve Creed and Paul Walker teamed up again in match 5 having a very tight match being all square for most of the front nine. Staffs went ahead after the 14th but were back to All square after 16. The 17th was halved but the 18th went Staffs way with a gutsy par 5 taking the honours.
Lunchtime score line was Staffordshire 2 ½ – Warwickshire 2 ½
Following a rapid lunch the singles began with Tom Ibbertson promptly at 2pm. Tom has vast County experience and was coping very well in the testing conditions. 1Up after the 7th was a good start, but a loss on the 8th squared the match. Staffordshire won another hole around the turn and would not relinquish that lead right through to the 18th tee. Tom had to push on 18 to get something from his match but the Staffs man stood firm and won the last to win 2up. Bad luck Tom. Mike Pell followed at No.2 against the determined Staffordshire Captain Chris Crane. His local knowledge and solid golf was to big an advantage on a day like this and a 3&2 win for Staffs gave them an early singles advantage.
Harborne's Steve Keay was down early against his equally big hitting opponent but squared the match after 11 holes. Steve took the lead mid way through the back nine and held on to that 1up lead to the 18th tee. A great birdie 4 from the Staffordshire man meant a halved match. Rhys Lawrence was struggling through the front nine controlling his ball in the blustery conditions and was a couple down after 8. He found something round the turn and won a few holes to be 1up after 15. A great birdie on 17 would close his match 2&1. Lewis Phillips was another player struggling to get ahead in the very difficult conditions, being all square after the 7th. A 2 down deficit after 11th was never recovered and a 2&1 win for Staffordshire would give a score of Staffordshire 6 – Warwickshire 4 with five matches left on the course.
Ben Bernamont played nicely to go 3up after 6, but a birdie 2 on the 7th reduced the lead. The Warwickshire man remained in control through the back nine and made a great up and down on 17 to win 2&1. Gutsy win Ben, well played.
Chris Laird was 3up after 7 and 4 up after the 11th. A mini Staffordshire fightback got two holes back but a win on the Par 5 16th gave Chris the point by a 3&2 margin. Anchor match Steve Creed was 1 down for most of the front nine until a mistake on 13 made is 2 down with 5 to play. Another loss on fifteen was too much for Creedy to pull back and he would lose 3&2. This gave Staffordshire a 7-6 lead with two matches on the course.
My buggy was frantically going up and down holes 16, 17 & 18 trying to see how these two tight matches were going. Stuart Bloxham was battling well in the conditions to be 2up after 7 but he would be pegged back to all square after 15. A win on 16 gave Warks an advantage and a crucial up and down on 17 holing from 4ft would give Stuart a 1up lead playing 18. A pushed drive, chip out and long third got Stuart to a side hill lie beside the green. With his opponent playing the hole text book he would have a 10ft look for birdie. With all eyes watching Stuart nervelessly chipped to 4ft from the hole! The Staffs man just missed leaving Stuart a putt for the win and a crucial Warwickshire point..... He put it straight to back of the hole to the relief of all the Warks men watching, well done Stuart, great 1up win to level the match 7-7.
Paul Walker at No.9 was playing tidy golf being all square after 7, pushing to 1up after the 11th. He would maintain that slender 1up lead onto the 17th tee. A three putt bogey from Staffordshire on the 17th green would mean Paul hung on to that lead to have the honour of the par 5 18th. Knowing the overall match was tight Paul calmly positioned his iron short of major trouble on this tricky driving hole. The Staffs man hit a great drive in to perfect position probably just in range for the green in two. Paul positioned another iron to about the 100 yard mark whilst the Staffs man missed the green pin high right. Paul wedged to about 8 feet and the Staffs man chipped over a bunker but ran just off the back about 12 feet from the hole. Paul wanted to know the position and watched as the Staffs putt came up a couple of inches short, right in the middle of the hole. Two putts from 8 feet for his match and a Warwickshire win was taken by Paul. He had played the hole fantastic considering his slender one hole advantage, Well done Paul !!
Another 8-7 away victory, the same as the previous league match puts Warwickshire top of the Midland League with maximum points and in excellent position for the rest of the 2019 season.
As usual, thanks to Pete Clarke for the Match day assistance and Graham Barton (Warwickshire President) for your support on the course all day. My appreciation to Chris Crane (Captain) and his Staffordshire team for a match fought in good spirit all day in testing weather conditions and even harder course conditions. We are grateful for Perton Park hosting the fixture and appreciate their hospitality throughout the day.
Our next match is Sunday 7th July at Coventry Hearsall GC, all support appreciated.
Karl Smith
County Captain
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