Warwickshire Golf
Seniors avoid Notts tie-up with narrow win
Warwickshire Seniors won their final county match of 2019 against Nottinghamshire at Sutton Coldfield Golf Club yesterday by the narrowest of margins when winning by 9.5 points to 8.5 points. The visitors who always provide such a strong challenge fielded a team comprising of many players who have played a part in Nottinghamshire winning through to the England Golf National Finals three times in the last eight years as the Midlands representatives.
The day began with both teams arriving to sunshine and a brisk breeze to contemplate the challenge of Sutton Coldfield's fast running fairways and greens. With eight of the twelve visitors playing out of the Notts Golf Club at Hollinwell, any home advantage for Warwickshire you may feel would have been lost with so many of our opponents being perhaps more familiar to the course conditions.
The morning foursomes saw Warwickshire half and lose the opening two matches respectively, however strong performances from the home side's pairings in matches three, five and six saw them with a slender lead at lunchtime by three and a half points to two and a half.
The afternoon fourball matches were very uniform with Warwickshire winning two, losing two and halving two thus maintaining their one point advantage from lunchtime to secure victory. Laurence Greatley and Mark Reynolds along with Adrian Cashmore and Rob Llewellyn recorded wins in both the morning and afternoon and with Tim Cooley and Martin Fell in the top pairing remaining unbeaten on the day with two valuable halves Warwickshire were home.
To Sutton Coldfield Golf Club my thanks to their staff for their warm welcome and caterers for looking after us all so well on the day and for the presentation of their fine course which both sets of players commented on more than once.
Thank you to Adrian Cashmore and Graham Taylor for answering the last minute call to arms.
To Alastair McLachlan and his Nottinghamshire team mates, my thanks to them as always for their good humour and friendly banter. Nottinghamshire have always been a tough nut to crack and this year was no different to what we have come to expect from a team that has raised the bar for Midlands Seniors golf in recent years. They provide a yardstick to measure yourself against and we can take great heart from this victory moving forward.
My thanks to my Warwickshire team mates for their commitment yesterday in battling hard to secure a win over an opponent who never knows when they are beaten and to all the players who have played for the team during my tenure as Captain, I have enjoyed every minute of being in the role and it was a huge thrill yesterday to win in my final county match in charge.
I would like to congratulate Mark Ashton and his Staffordshire team on winning the West Midlands Senior League title after beating Worcestershire at South Staffs Golf Club on Monday. Staffordshire take the crown on the number of games won through the season ahead of both ourselves and Worcestershire, like goal difference in football, after all three teams finished level on match points with three wins each from their four county leage matches. We wish them well in the league play-off match against Cambridgeshire at Kirby Muxloe Golf Club next week.
Our final match of the year is against the Warwickshire Lady Vet's Team at Walmley Golf Club in a little over two weeks time.
Mark Reynolds
Seniors Captain
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