Warwickshire Golf
Men's 1st & 2nd team v Derbyshire 7th August 2022
Another Midland League victory for the 1st away against Derbyshire, unfortunately the 2nd team lost at home.
1st team report below
Men’s 1st Team v Derbyshire at Chesterfield GC
The 4th League match of the season was another away fixture on Sunday 7th August against Derbyshire, the newly crowned Midlands 6’s winners at Chesterfield golf club.
Team selected was:
Louis Sanders (Copt Heath)
Warren Bladon (Kenilworth)
Alex Ford (Copt Heath)
Rob Bardsley (Moor Hall)
Tom Cleaton (Rugby)
Mike Pell (Olton)
Paul Walker (Maxstoke)
Steve Creed (Stratford)
Ian Smith (The Warwickshire)
Gary Skipp (Robin Hood)
Match 1 featured Louis Sanders & Alex Ford both from Copt Heath. An extremely tight match with the Warwickshire duo being 1 down after 5, A/S after 13 and 1up after 16. They would win the tricky Par 4 17th and record a 2&1 victory.
Rob Bardsley and Tom Cleaton paired up in Match 2 and were always in control being 1up after 9 and then 3up after the 13th. They would keep pressing and win comfortably 4&3. Mike Pell & Paul Walker got off to a flyer being 2up after 5 but got pegged back to A/S at the turn. They found themselves 1 down with 5 to play but fought hard to halve their match.
Regular partners Steve Creed & Gary Skipp played a Derbyshire pairing that holed everything for the front nine and created a 2up lead. Their wizardry on the greens couldn’t last and the lead was only 1 hole after 13. An excellent next four holes from Gary and Steve saw them win three of four and win the match by 2&1. Well done fellas.
Last foursomes match was Warren Bladon together with Ian Smith. A real up and down match saw Warren and Ian 1up after 5, 1 down after 9 and still after 13 but then 2 crucial wins in the last 5 holes gave Warwickshire a 1up victory.
Morning Foursomes – Derbyshire 1/2 Warwickshire 4 1/2
Louis Sanders led the Warwickshire singles attack and battled very hard in a multiple birdie match to gain a valuable half point in the top match. Alex Ford romped to 3up after 5 and the kept foot down to be 4up after 12. He would win comfortably by 5&3, well played!!
Rob Bardsley showed his class and experience by calmly keeping in his match being 2 down after 5 and 12 to have a winning spell and be 1up after 17. He would hold that lead and win a very important match by the tightest of margins. Tom Cleaton playing his last County match of the season before returning to his US scholarship was 1up after 5 and then A/S after 12. His Derbyshire opponent would have the better of the final 6 holes and win Derbyshire’s first full point of the day. Thanks Tom for all your commitment and positive energy (and points) for Warwickshire this year, hopefully the hair will get a cut soon!!!
Mike Pell featured in Match 5 and found himself 3 down after 7 against the very experienced Derbyshire Captain Nick Newbold. Mike battled hard and reduced the lead to 2 after 12 but the match closed on the 17th giving Derbyshire another point.
Match score at this point – Derbyshire 3 Warwickshire 7
Paul Walker is a very solid golfer and was in control early being 3up after 4 and 2up after 12up but his Derbyshire opponent carried on pressuring and got the match back to A/S after 17. Paul wouldn’t be beaten and a halved match was the result. Gary Skipp was 2up through the first few holes and kept that lead until being A/S after 10. Putts eluded Gary on the back nine and unfortunately a 3&1 loss. Warren Bladon was at No.8 and never gives much away, A/S after 4 and 7 and then 1up after 10 and 13. He would see the match out on the 17th by 2&1 to give Warwickshire that all important winning point for the match. (Derbyshire 4 ½ Warwickshire 8 ½ )
With two matches left Ian Smith could not add to his season’s tally and lost 3&2 and Steve Creed had a very tight ‘last man’ battle against Tommy Kemp to bravely win the last hole with a birdie and win another important half point.
All the matches completed Warwickshire had beaten Derbyshire by a score of 9 – 6.
Well done to all the players for another fantastic away victory (3rd of the year)!
The usual personal thanks to Warwickshire President Mark Reynolds, his wife Deb and Pete Clarke for their support and assistance throughout the day. Thank you!!
The final League match of the season is against Worcestershire at Harborne GC on Sunday 4th September and could see Warwickshire win the Midland League and go undefeated for the complete 2022 season. Nottinghamshire are joint top with Warwickshire but have an away game against Staffordshire on the same day. Let’s hope for a winning day for Warwickshire and Staffordshire!!
All support at Harborne for the final league match and mine as Captain would be very much appreciated.
Karl Smith
County Captain
Click here for 1st team match scorecard
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