Warwickshire Golf
Warwickshire Boys U16 v Shropshire & Herefordshire Boys U16
The U16 Boys beat Shropshire & Herefordshire by 8.5-6.5 last Sunday 21st August in a match played at Stonebridge GC.
WUGC MATCH REPORT
Team
Date
Venue
Opposition
U16
Sunday 21st August 2022
Home: STONEBRIDGE GC
SHROPSHIRE & HEREFORDSHIRE
Warwickshire Team Player
Club
Louis Taylor (c)
LADBROOK PARK
Alfie Mitchell
NUNEATON
Spencer Tanner
COVENTRY
Ben Hopkins
HEARSALL
Freddy Montgomery
MOOR HALL
Alfie Smith
HEARSALL
Ben Storer
MOOR HALL
Monty Fincher
STRATFORD on AVON
Armaan Basra
OLTON
Anthony Bridgeman
HEARSALL
The 21st of August. Usain Bolt’s birthday; Latvian Independence Day; and seemingly the most difficult day on which to get a county under 16’s team together. With 3 regular starters on holiday, and another 3 already committed to a Faldo Series event elsewhere, Team Warwickshire once again dug deep into its talent pool, which is fortunately pretty deep!
So, with a team containing 4 players who are still eligible for u14 selection, including one debutant at 12 years old (Monty Fincher), Louis Taylor stepped up from Vice Captain to full captain and led us out. Maintaining our 100% start to the league season looked like a challenging task, but we asked the lads to find a way to get it done.
The morning foursomes saw Louis Taylor and Alfie Mitchell partnered, and they were never really troubled, cruising to a 6&5 win. Spencer Tanner and Ben Hopkins didn’t have things their own way in match 2 though, going down 3&2.
Freddy Montgomery has become something of a points machine for Team Warwickshire, and this time supported very ably by Alfie Smith in match 3, the u14’s pairing delivered a 2-up win. Another point was to come our way, with Ben Storer providing the experience and guidance to partner Monty Fincher to an excellent debut win, 2&1. The final foursomes match saw Armaan Basra and Anthony Bridgeman go 5 down at one point, before an astonishing fightback had them all square down the last. An agonising 3-putt robbed the pair of a scarcely believable half, but Team Warwickshire took a well-deserved 3-2 lead away from the morning session.
Afternoon singles got underway, with both teams keeping the same player order; meaning that opponents from the morning foursomes met again in the afternoon. Five points out of ten were needed for the home side to secure the match win.
Louis Taylor suffered some tough breaks early in his match, resulting in his falling to a 2-hole deficit after 10. Having been “let off” on the 11th, he produced back-to-back birdies and later two excellent par saves to stand all square on the 18th, a 321-yard par 4. Knowing the importance of securing a point at the head of the field, Louis struck an imperious drive to within 15 feet of the pin. His eagle putt lipped out, but the birdie was enough to win a hard-fought point, 1-up.
The front-end of the team continued to deliver, with Alfie Mitchell winning in style 5&3, and Spencer Tanner coming through brilliantly to take his match 2&1.
Ben Hopkins, was unfortunately on the wrong end of another tough match, losing 3&2 to his opponent, and Alfie Smith gave everything as usual but fell to a 5&4 defeat.
Just when things had started to look a little shaky in terms of an overall result, up stepped Freddy Montgomery once again. I commiserated with Freddy’s opponent (S&H’s Edward Muttit-Jones) at the end of the match, and he replied: “it’s fine, Freddy played absolutely brilliantly, there was nothing I could have done”. And so, in the presence of admirable sportsmanship from Edward, the 5&4 victory gave us the 4th point out of 5 needed.
The match was won with Ben Storer taking full command of his game, winning 5&4 having never been behind. Towards the back of the field, young Monty battled well into the late stages of his contest, before eventually losing 3&2 but being better for his first taste of u16’s golf. He is sure to be a fixture of county teams for many years to come.
Armaan Basra also kept himself in the game until the 17th green, eventually losing out 2&1, leaving Anthony Bridgeman the only man left out on the course.
After his heroics last time he represented the county, Anthony this time did not have the pressure of a match win on his shoulders. Nevertheless, personal pride was at stake, and also the fact that every point won or lost could determine the destiny of the league title in the event of a tie at the top.
Gutsy as ever, a 30-foot birdie putt on 17 brought Anthony level on the 18th tee, before a solid par gave him, and the team, another half point.
The final match score was 8½ to 6½ in Team Warwickshire’s favour, and the unlikely lads had done it. They found a way. Grinding out a fantastic team win, and taking us to 3 wins from 3, with one match remaining (versus Derbyshire away on Sunday 11th September). Not much motivational input required from me for this one…A win would secure a 100% league record for the season, and guarantee the league title for Team Warwickshire’s u16’s.
Thanks again to Stonebridge GC, a happy hunting ground for us this season. Thanks also to the ever-present boys’ golf ambassador and ex-WUGC President Graham Barton, together with Team Management & Player Development Committee Chairman Nev Gardner, for their attendance and encouragement. As always, a final huge thanks from me personally, and on behalf of the county and the boys, to all of the parents and families for their unwavering patience and support.
Confirmation of results as per the attached match sheet:
Simon Taylor
Warks u16 Team Manager
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