Warwickshire Golf
SENIORS SURVIVE SCARE AT MAXSTOKE PARK
Warwickshire Seniors won their final league match of 2019 against Derbyshire at Maxstoke Park Golf Club yesterday by the narrowest of margins, reminiscent of the words of the Duke of Wellington after his victory at Waterloo in 1815 that "it was a very close run thing". The day did not start well when a text message received at 6.24 am informed the Captain that one of his players was unwell and not able to play. A suitable replacement was found in the form of Adrian Cashmore from The Warwickshire Golf Club and I am grateful for him in answering the last minute cry for help.
The home team set out to win handsomely to put pressure on the two teams at the top of the West Midlands League, namely Worcestershire and Staffordshire, who meet in the final league match of the season next month. A sizeable victory would have seen Warwickshire potentially spoiling these other Countys' celebration party, however it was not to be and Staffordshire will now host Worcester at South Staffs Golf Club in a winner take all match.
On a bright blustery morning the two sides arrived at the golf course, on the one day of the week with predicted fine weather. An early squall quickly blew through and the day was set fair for the players. With County Chairman Bob Harrison encouraging from the 1st tee he would not have been impressed to see the home Captain strike his opening shot in the foursomes out of bounds !! This rather set the tone for this particular home pairing who were quickly three holes down. After battling back to just one down with two to play they were undone by a three putt par on the par five 8th hole having reached the green in two and with their opponents making a birdie four after a trip down the wrong fairway the match was over. However strong performances from Warwickshire's opening pair and their pairings in matches three and six saw the home side with a narrow lead at lunchtime by three and a half points to two and a half.
The afternoon fourball matches were very uniform with Warwickshire winning matches one, three and five and Derbyshire winning matches two, four and six. With the score in all matches being relatively close,in fact the biggest win of the day being 4 and 3 to the home side in Match 5, the overall match result was in doubt right to the very end. It was the home side that prevailed chiefly thanks to Dave Mason and Rob Soen who played perhaps the best golf during the day in being several shots under par in the opening match and Nev Gardner and Peter Gordon in match 3 who recorded two wins from their two matches. Mention also to Laurence Greatley and Graham Taylor playing in his first match of the year who were also unbeaten on the day and Warwickshire were home. The result means that Warwickshire finish the league season with three wins from their four matches and will finish as runners up in the league if Worcestershire beat Staffordshire. However if Staffordshire beat Worcestershire, the former will win the league on hole difference from both Worcestershire and Warwickshire, although all three counties will finish on the same number of points.
To Maxstoke Park Golf Club my thanks to the staff for their hospitality and presentation of their golf course which like many across the country has had the green staff working overtime with the recent wet and warm conditions.
Mention must also be made to the caterers for looking after us all so well on the day.
Thank you to Bob Harrison for his support on and off the course.
To Keith Brown and his Derbyshire team mates, my thanks to them as always for their good humour and friendly banter.This fixture by where it sits in the calendar signals the beginning of the end of the County season and the Derbyshire match has always been a pleasure to play in. This year see's the end of my tenure as Captain and it was thrilling that the team were able to win in my final league match in the role.
My thanks to my Warwickshire team mates for their commitment yesterday in battling hard to secure a win over an opponent who made it very difficult throughout the day.
Our next match is the non-league match against Nottinghamshire at Sutton Coldfield Golf Club next month.
Mark Reynolds
Seniors Captain
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