Warwickshire Golf
Warwickshire 1st & 2nd teams v Worcestershire 4th September
The 1st team won their last Midlands League match against Worcestershire by 10-5. Sadly they lost the Midlands League title to Nottinghamshire who had a better aggregate of matches won across the whole season.
The 2nd team lost their last Midlands League match against Worcestershire by 9-6, and finished the season in 4th place.
Full reports and scorecards to follow.
Men’s 1st Team – Happiness or Heartache at Harborne ??
The 5th and final League match of the season saw Warwickshire play Worcestershire at Harborne GC on Sunday 4th September.
Warwickshire had to win by a healthy margin and ask the question of Nottinghamshire who took on Staffordshire at Little Aston. Notts are also unbeaten for the 2022 season but had a slightly better ‘games won’ advantage over Warks, if they won it would make it very difficult for Warwickshire to take the title but we did have a slim chance with a big points win.
Team selected was:
Louis Sanders (Copt Heath)
Alex Ford (Copt Heath)
Mike Pell (Olton)
Paul Walker (Maxstoke)
Ian Smith (The Warwickshire)
Gary Skipp (Robin Hood)
Nick Brooker (Olton)
Steve Keay (Harborne)
Matthew Cryer (Coventry)
Lee Podmore (Harborne)
Match 1 featured regular partners Louis Sanders & Alex Ford both from Copt Heath. Losses at the 1st, 2nd and 3rd was slightly helped by winning the 4th but a further loss on 5 meant lots of work to do. Warks won the 6th but then lost the 7th to remain three down with 11 holes to play. A top quality match was seeing birdies on most holes but Worcestershire still held a 3 up advantage after 14 when Louis and Alex made further birdies on 15 & 16 to be one down with the difficult 17th and 18th holes to play. Mistakes from Worcs on both holes and solid pars from the Warwickshire meant a fantastic recovery and a 1up victory. Great battling performance from Alex and Louis, well done!
Olton pairing of Mike Pell and County debutant Nick Brooker made quick work of Match 2 being 3up after the 5th and 4up after 14. Lots of pars and a few birdies meant Nick got his County career off to a winning start with a comfortable 4&3 win. Match 3 had Gary Skipp paired with Harborne member Steve Keay. One down after the 7th but a fantastic eagle on the par 5 8th levelled the match. A three hole winning streak on 13, 14 & 15 meant a 2up advantage but that quickly disappeared with losses on 16 & 17 to stand A/S on the 18th tee. Neither player hit it close on the long par 3 18th but Worcestershire made an all-important 3 and took the match 1up.
Match 4 saw the return to County golf of Matthew Cryer partnering Ian Smith. Matt is a decorated County player and past Warwickshire Amateur & Matchplay champion together with numerous 1st team games and 6’s appearances. Great to see Matt back representing Warwickshire again. A 2up lead was took into the back nine but they would be A/S after 15. A birdie on the 16th gave Warks the lead but a Worcs birdie on 17 levelled the match again. Warwickshire made up for the Warks loss in match 3 and made a solid par 3 to win 1up. Well played Matt & Ian.
Paul Walker & Lee Podmore teamed up in Match 5. They would get to the 9th tee 1up and then with further birdies would be three up after 14. Solid par golf resulted in a convincing 4&3 victory.
Morning Foursomes – Warwickshire 4 Worcestershire 1
(The BIG win was still on – great morning start)
Louis Sanders once again spearheaded the Warks singles attack in the afternoon. Heavy rain made for tough conditions, but Louis made light work of the downpours and his England Boys opponent (Hugh Adams) to be 2up after 9. Further wins on the back nine gave Louis a comfortable 4&3 win. County Captain elect Mike Pell was match 2 having a tight battle with Tom Wakeman. The Worcs man was ahead after the 8th and never relented to win 2&1. Alex Ford featured in Match 3 and raced to a 3up lead after 7, he kept the foot on the gas and cruised to a 4&3 win. Nick Brooker was A/S after 7 but wins on the 8th & 9th meant 2up. A Worcs back nine fight back resulted in a hard-fought halved match, unbeaten on your County 1st team debut Nick, well played !!
Gary Skipp had a tough day being 2 down after the 7th and 4 down after 12, he could not recover and Adam Norman from Worcs won by 4&3.
Match score at this point – Warwickshire 6 ½ Worcestershire 3 ½
Matt Cryer was in Match 6 and played solid golf to be 1up after 7 and 10 holes, however his opponent had other ideas and turned the match around being 1up after 15. He would hold on to that advantage and win 2&1, unlucky Matthew but great to see you back in a Warwickshire shirt!!
Match 7 saw home club player Steve Keay dominate the early holes being 3up after 5 and 2up after 14. His lead was reduced to one with 3 to play but Steve held firm with solid golf to record a valuable 1up win. Ian Smith had a very tight game, 1 down after 5 but then 1 up after 14. A crucial win on 15 saw Ian go 2up and a gutsy 2nd putt on 17 gave Warwickshire another point with a 2&1 win and an overall team total of 8 ½ points giving Warwickshire the victory. It was now a matter of getting as many points as possible.
Matches 9 & 10 were Paul Walker & Lee Podmore respectively. Paul had an up and down match and was 2 down after 11 but battled well to halve his match. Lee was never behind being 1up after 5 and 2up after 12 against Worcs stalwart Steve Lane. The match was A/S on the 17th tee but Lee crucially won the hole and kept that advantage on the 18th and won 1up, well played Lee.
So Warwickshire had won the match 10 – 5 but was it enough to take the League title, had Staffs beaten Notts at Little Aston ??
News came through that Congratulations were for Nottinghamshire as they had beaten Staffordshire by 9 ½ to 5 ½ and therefore gone through the 2022 season unbeaten (4 win & and Half) and with a superior ‘games won’ total over Warwickshire they take the League title.
Congratulation and well done Nottinghamshire !!!
It was fantastic to go through the complete 2022 season (5 League matches & 2 Friendlies) unbeaten (5 wins and 2 halves) and l guess the winning the League was ‘just not meant to be’.
My three-year Captaincy has now finished (4 with Covid) and it has been a pleasure and honour to Captain the elite of Warwickshire men’s golf. The team behind the scenes is fantastic and my personal thanks go to Pete Clarke for all your advice and support, it is invaluable and appreciated. Warwickshire President Mark Reynolds and his wife Deb have been with me and the first team for the past two seasons and l personally thank them both for their assistance, support, ball spotting, starting duties and everything they do for Warwickshire County. We have some good memories to look back on, thank you.
Karl Smith
County Captain
CLICK BELOW FOR MATCH SCORECARD
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