Warwickshire Golf
Warwickshire U16 Boys win the MGU West Midlands League Title
WUGC MATCH REPORT
Sunday 11th September 2022
Away: SHIRLAND GC
DERBYSHIRE
Warwickshire Team Player
Club
Ryan Gavin (c)
COVENTRY
Josh Gardner
COVENTRY
Lennon O’Neill-Knibbs
HEARSALL
Spencer Tanner
COVENTRY
Alfie Mitchell
NUNEATON
Louis Taylor
LADBROOK PARK
Callum Lee
MOOR HALL
Freddy Montgomery
MOOR HALL
Ben Storer
MOOR HALL
Joey Williams
MOOR HALL
A respectful minute’s silence on the first tee began proceedings for Team Warwickshire’s u16’s team, in their final league match of the season. Away to Derbyshire, at the very well-presented Shirland GC, the team needed not to lose this match by more than one point in order to take this year’s league title. Of course, losing or drawing was not what the team came for, and they set out to complete a clean sweep of 4 wins out of 4 league matches this season.
For the first time in my 3 years with this county team, all players were available, and so we headed into this fixture at full strength.
Morning foursomes was a tight affair, with our first pair of Ryan Gavin and Josh Gardner grinding out an extremely valuable half point from their drawn game. In match 2, Lennon O’Neill-Knibbs and Spencer Tanner were an unstoppable force, winning 5&4 and heading for an early lunch.
Match 3 saw Alfie Mitchell and Louis Taylor start poorly but recover their form to take the halfway lead. Unfortunately, they could not maintain the quality, going down to a 2&1 defeat. Match 4 was won by Callum Lee and Freddy Montgomery, with consistently good golf taking them to a 3&1 win. Match 5 ensured that honours were even after the morning session, with Derbyshire taking the match 5&3 against an out of sorts Joey Williams and Ben Storer. (Foursomes session score - 2½ points each)
After lunch, the singles line-up was shuffled, with our usual openers Ryan and Josh moving to the middle of the pack. First out was Spencer, who fought hard but was defeated 4&2 by an in-form opponent.
A stunning 8&7 win followed for Lennon, who produced an eagle at the par 4 11th to close out a shell-shocked opponent.
Alfie was unable to call upon his A-game, and lost 2&1, with Louis then bringing home a point in a comfortable 6&5 win to bringing the singles score to 2-all. The results sheet from then on made great reading for Team Warwickshire. A barrage of heavy wins bringing point after point: Ryan 6&5, Josh 4&3, Callum 5&4, Freddy 7&6, and Ben 7&5, and the league title was secure. The quality of this team really shining through in the afternoon session. Joey was last out on the course, but fell to a 5&4 defeat, meaning (very unusually!) dinner being brought forward by an hour due to all matches finishing early. This was certainly good news for the travelling supporters and parents!
With the singles score of 7-3, the overall match result was 9½ - 5½ to Team Warwickshire.
As we celebrated an unbeaten league season, everyone involved was acutely aware that this was not only down to the 10 players on the day. Over the season, we have used a squad of players, all of whom have come in when requested and given their all for the team. This league title belongs to each one of them, watched over by a very proud team manager, supporters and parents…WELL DONE ALL!
Thank you to our gracious opponents, Derbyshire (who’s captain, Adam Gentles, gave an excellent speech), and to Shirland GC for great food, a friendly welcome and extremely playable course.
Graham Barton (ex-WUGC president), Nev Gardner (TMPD Chairman), and Richard Clark (Head of Boys’ Golf) were all in attendance for this match, and we thank you for your ongoing and valuable support.
Finally, as always, thanks to our excellent parents and families…all of whom contributed massively to our success this season. We simply couldn’t do it without you!
The curtain comes down on our year with a visit to Norwood Park on Sunday 2nd October, for the u16’s County Cup. We have a few of our boys unavailable for this fixture, but the 6 who are selected to represent their county will be doing their utmost to win once again.
Simon Taylor
Warks u16 Team Manager
/uploads/warwickshire/File/WARKS Match Sheet vs DERBYSHIRE AWAY 11.09.22 (1).xlsx
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