Warwickshire Golf
Boys Team Defeated In Playoff Final
As a result of winning the West Midlands league, our Boys team played Cambridgeshire (East Midlands league winners) in the 2021 playoff at Shrewsbury Golf Club on Friday 8th April. This fixture was originally scheduled for September 2021 but was postponed due to the fuel crisis at that time. Unfortunately Simon Parsons (Boys Team Manager) was unable to attend the revised date for this fixture and so I was called in to manage the team. The 10 boys selected to represent Warwickshire were:
Alex Ford (Captain) – Robin Hood GC
Channon James - Coventry Hearsall GC
Charlie Faulkner - Coventry GC
Joe McInnes - Ladbrook Park GC
Lennon O’Neill Knibbs - Coventry Hearsall GC
Liam Scagell - Ladbrook Park GC
Niall Collins - Robin Hood GC
Ollie Clark - Ladbrook Park GC
Sam Knowles - Wishaw GC
Tom Poole - Coventry Hearsall GC
As the match was scheduled to start at 8.00am the Board had kindly approved a practice round on the day before the match and an overnight stopover for the team. So it was that all 10 players, Pete Clark (Match Secretary), Mark Reynolds (President) and I arrived at the Club from midday for the practice round. We were greeted by strong gusty winds and threats of showers, but the lads were keen to get out there as none of them had played the course before. Shrewsbury is a parkland course made up of 11 holes around the clubhouse on flat land and 7 holes of very undulating terrain. The green staff at Shrewsbury always try to present the course in excellent condition, with firm and fast greens – very much a change from the tined and dressed greens most of us are currently familiar with!
We sent the boys out in 3 groups and shuffled them around after 9 holes. All were pleased to play the course and to get familiar with the greens. Fortunately we only had a couple of short and light showers whilst on the course. The boys were therefore as best prepared for the match as we could get them.
We stayed in the Buckatree Hotel who were extremely accommodating to us. They even opened the restaurant from 6.00am on Friday morning so we could have breakfast prior to returning to the course.
Morning Foursomes
We arrived at the club in plenty of time and we were set for a fine day. It was a cloudless day which started with a chill in the air, but progressively warmed up. The lads were provided with range tokens and the team went to hit balls before the morning foursomes. The order for the morning foursomes was Alex & Liam, Ollie & Chan, Joe & Niall, Lennon & Tom and finally Charlie & Sam.
After watching the 5 groups tee off Pete and I positioned ourselves on the 5th fairway, a good vantage point to see the boys play the testing par four 5th, the par three 6th and tee off the par five 7th. As the boys came past me things were looking slightly in Warwickshire’s favour after the opening four holes – all square in matches 1 and 4, two up in match 2, three up in match 3 and 1 down in the bottom match.
How quickly things can change, and after 9 holes we were back level overall, up in matches 1 and 3, down in matches 2 and 4 and all square in match 5. All to play for and we caught up with match 1 which was on the 15th. We were glad to hear that Alex and Liam were 2 up coming off the 15th green and went on the win the 16th to win 3&2 to get us off the mark.
The pivotal match was match 2. Playing the 15th Ollie and Chan were all square, but a sublime eagle from their opponents meant they went 1 down. The match remained tight and it was back to all square on the 18thtee. A lovely controlled 3 iron tee shot from Ollie put the pressure onto the opposition who mishit his tee shot and barely made the fairway – leaving a long second which missed the green to the left. Channon played a superb wedge shot which was directly at the flag but came up half a club short on the front of the green. Cambridgeshire’s chip finished 10 feet short and Ollie calmly rolled his long approach putt to within inches of the hole. Cambridgeshire were unable to hole their putt and so we won the second match 1 up.
Joe and Niall maintained their dominance throughout in match 3 to record a comfortable 4&3 victory.
News wasn’t so healthy in matches 4 and 5. Lennon and Tom battled to try and reduce the 3 down deficit at the turn but to no avail and they lost 4&2. Charlie and Sam were 1 down playing the 15th and another Cambridgeshire eagle meant they were then 2 down. Halves on the 16th and 17th meant a 2&1 loss – unlucky lads.
After the ebbs and flows of the foursomes we held a slim 3-2 lead, but we knew things could have gone the other way and that the Cambridgeshire lads would come out fighting in the afternoon singles.
Afternoon Singles
After a fairly relaxed lunch it was time for the lads to get their game heads on.
Captain Alex lead the team out and was Captain Fantastic. He was in control of the game being 2 up at the turn and carried on his control to win 4&3.
Tom was promoted up the order to match 2 and fought hard on the front 9 to be 1 down. Unfortunately things then slipped on the undulating back 9, resulting in a 5&4 loss.
Liam admitted that he was struggling with his iron play. Fortunately the way the holes went in the foursomes, he didn’t need to hit many irons – but that obviously wouldn’t be the case in the singles. Combined with some strong play by his opponent Liam was never in the game and lost 6&5.
In match 4 Ollie was also not quite on his game and was 2 down at the turn. Sadly this turned into 4 down after 14 and Ollie lost 4&3.
In one of the matches of the afternoon Niall was up against the Cambridgeshire Captain (who clearly didn’t feel the cold as he wore shorts all day!) Niall started off in sublime form and was 3 up early in the match with three birdies. A dropped shot on the difficult 9th meant he went into the back 9 a couple under par to be 1 up. Niall continued some solid golf but his opponent took 2 holes on the back 9 resulting in Niall losing 1 down.
In match 6 Joe felt he played some of his best golf, but his opponent was just on fire! Cambridgeshire birdies on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd meant Joe was immediately behind the 8-ball. More Cambridgeshire birdies on the front 9 saw Joe 6 down at the turn despite being 1 over par! Joe battled and chipped away at the deficit on the back 9 but it was too tall a mountain to climb and ended up losing 5&3.
Channon was also down early in his match and was 2 down at the turn. Holes were exchanged and Chan was still 2 down on the 15th tee. Chan battled but could not win any more holes and in the end lost 3&2.
At last, Charlie gave us some good news at the turn as he was 1 up. This match remained tight all the way through and was back to all square after 14 holes. Charlie stood on the 18th tee 1 down and an errant tee shot meant he was unable to hit the green with his second shot. The match finished 2 down.
Lennon was in the penultimate match and showed his fighting spirit. After being 2 down at the turn he managed to turn things around to be 1 up on the 15th tee. A dropped shot on the tricky par three 17th meant it was all square on the 18th, which was halved in pars. A half was probably a fair result in this match, but “Len Dog” will tell you otherwise!
Sam was in the final match on the basis he would bring home the result if it came down to him. He didn’t let us down as he played some superb golf and dominated his match. 5 up at the turn and a 5&4 win – great play Sam.
Sadly we lost the singles 7.5 – 2.5 meaning Cambridgeshire had won the overall match by 9.5 – 5.5. On the day they truly deserved their victory as their all round play by the team was top quality. My congratulations to Cambridgeshire and their Team Manager Dave.
Finally, my list of thanks.
Firstly, to Pete Clarke, Mark Reynolds and John Duncombe for assisting me and supporting the Boys.
Secondly, to Shrewsbury Golf Club for letting us use their facilities and their hospitality – both top class.
Thirdly, to Neil Harris and the MGU for organising the match and running it.
Fourthly, to the Warwickshire Board for their ongoing support of all our teams, especially our Boys at this match.
Next, to the parents of the boys for their never-ending commitment.
Lastly, I’d like to thank Simon Parsons who couldn’t be with us at the match but was there in spirit. It is solely down to Simon how the team has bonded over the years and performed under his management. We wanted to win it for you Simon but sadly just came up short.
Neville Gardner
Director and Chairman TMPD
CLICK TO READ MGU MATCH REPORT
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