Warwickshire Golf
Under 14 Boys away at Worcestershire
With the season now well underway the U14's played their second match of the season against a strong Worcestershire team at Halesowen Golf club. The match was played under fantastic sunny conditions and it was very clear that Halesowen had prepared a great course for some fantastic match play.
At the request of Worcestershire, the match was restricted to 10 boys from each side, playing 5 matches of 4 ball better ball. The Captains from both sides lead off the teams with the remaining matches played with a mixture of handicaps, matching the team handicaps to create a level playing field for both sides.
The teams headed to the first tee in their pairs, with supporting parents and with County President Mark Reynolds in attendance. Once again we had agreed for the watching parents to keep each other updated with match scores via the U14 WhatsAp feed, keeping everyone up to speed with events on the course. Warwickshire were once again led away by the young but experienced partnership of Captain Callum Lee and Joshua Gardner, who were taking on Worcestershire's top pair of George Stephens and Haydon Sarfo, all boys being single figure handicappers. With almost all of the early holes being won with birdies, the lead changed hands throughout the front 9. In a high quality match, it was clear that Warks duo would have to continue making birdies to get anything from the match. As the boys reached the 17th tee, the match was all square with two to play. Having halved the 17th in birdies, the boys knew that there was no room for error. Following some impressive approach play and the Worcestershire boys missing their birdie efforts, Callum Lee showed nerves of steel to slot his 5-foot birdie putt to take the match 1up.
Next out for Team Warwickshire was Miles Pegg and Armaan Singh Basra who were both coming off a convincing win in their first U14 match. Miles and Armaan once again showed no nerves and the bond and teamwork between the boys was clear as they managed to take an early lead in the match. By the turn, the boys found themselves 3 up and the pressure was staring to show on the Worcestershire pairing. The golf from the Warks boys continued to be played at a high standard and it was no surprise when the match was closed out giving the boys their second convincing victory - 5&3
Up next in Match 3, we had another new pairing with Alfie Mitchell from Nuneaton supporting young debutant Monty Fincher, making his Warwickshire debut. The boys, were up against the strong pairing of Teddy Fee and Ewan Choi, who managed to race into an early lead against the Warwickshire pair. Despite being down, the boys continued to battle throughout the front 9 with both boys winning holes against the relentless Worcestershire duo. Despite that and having just won the 14th, the boys headed to the par 3 - 15th, 3 down. With yet another solid par from the Worcestershire boys, they ended up winning the match 4&3.
Onto Match 4, and we had another new pairing, with the Moor Hall duo of Joseph Williams and Freddy Montgomery, taking on the Worcestershire pair of Harry Evans and Alex Perry. All four boys were equally matched in handicaps, but it was the Worcester pairing that took the early exchanges racing into an early lead - 2 up after 6. The Warwickshire boys rallied though and managed to win 8 and 9 to get to the turn all square. With the match (and the tie) in the balance, it was the Worcestershire boys that turned the screw with some good consistent golf, allowing them to reach the 15th tee 3 up. Despite some good approach shots, the Warks boys couldn't match Harry Evans par and the match was concluded 4&3 win for Worcestershire.
In the fifth and final match, Warks Vice Captain Sam Price and Ethan Gall were taking on the spritely pairing of Callum Jones and Jake Jeff Johnson. Following the same trend seen in the earlier matches, the Warks boys found themselves 2 down after 5. After Ethan had rolled in a 6 footer on the 6th and a 25 footer on the 7th, and Sam had parred the 8th, the boys had managed to completely turn the match around to head to the 9th 1up. Unfortunately, that was as good as it got for the Warks boys and a combination of good play, using the shots at their disposal, the Worcestershire boys hit a run of wins on the back 9, taking the game and the overall match on the 14th green - 5&4. This also gave the Worcestershire team a hard fought 3-2 victory.
Although, the result was one the boys were not looking for, there were once again many positives to take and lots of learning points for the boys to take in their continued development. The bond amongst the group is growing and in every game it was clear that the boys were working well together, supporting each other as a team. That bond was further demonstrated by Charlie England, Sam Storer and Jake Frearson, who despite not being selected for the match squad, played 9 holes behind the matches and then supported the boys as their matches reached their conclusion. Top effort! The golf on display in the first match was exceptional and Callum, Josh, George and Hayden can be very proud about the way they played. Not forgetting also, the strong partnership of Miles and Armaan, who will surely find themselves partners again in the next match.
Thanks go to the Worcestershire management team and Halesowen Golf Club for their hospitality and being such good hosts and thanks to all parents and officials for your support and making these matches such a success. A final thanks to WUGC Mark Reynolds and Graham Barton for your attendance and fantastic support on the day.
Next fixture:"‹vs Staffordshire at Calderfields GC (A) on Saturday 3rd July
Richard Storer
Warks U14 Boys Team Manager
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