Warwickshire Golf

Warwickshire Cup Final 2023 - Last Putt on the Final Hole

Warwickshire Cup Final 2023 - Coventry GC versus Kenilworth GC

14th May – The Warwickshire Earls Course

Match 1

Match 2

Match 3

The Warwickshire Cup final this year would see neighboring Coventry and Kenilworth golf clubs battle it out to see who could lift the trophy.  A friendly local rivalry going back many decades and with both sides bringing strong line ups the scene was set for a great final.

That was until on the morning of the final, where we were greeted by thick fog (as pictured) meaning both teams had significantly more time to warm up than expected.

After a 2 hour delay the fog finally began to clear and the matches could get underway.

In Match 1 – Warren and Ian are a tried and tested pairing (Bainbridge Shield finalists in 2022) and were finding fairways and keeping mistakes to an absolute minimum as they would reach the turn 3 up in their match against Darryl and Phil.

Match 2 – Matt C and Rich were finishing the front 9 well, with two great shots up the 9th hole to leave them a close range birdie putt and give them a 1up lead.

Match 3 – Adam and Marcel were 3 up early on but Jacob and Matt finished well winning two late holes on the front 9 to reduce the deficit to just the 1 down.

It was all very close going into the back 9.

In Match 1 Darryl and Phil were fighting back for Coventry, reducing the deficit to just the 1 down with 3 holes left to play.  With the 16th hole halved both teams had birdie chances on 17, but both would catch the lip and not drop. The Par 5 18th hole has seen plenty of drama previously in these finals, both teams would hit great drives into the middle of the fairway and following good seconds it was down to the approaches.  Warren hit a great wedge directly over the flag to about 10 feet and when Phil’s pitch ran just through the back of the green it would be the Coventry pair to play first.  Darryl hit a great chip but it just missed leaving the Kenilworth team 2 putts for the win.  Ian duly ran the putt to inside 12 inches and the first match had gone to Kenilworth 1 up.

In Match 2 the Coventry pair of Matt and Rich were keeping the ball on the short grass and their regulation golf throughout the tough back 9 would see them take a lead they would not relinquish, finishing their match off with a 4 and 3 win for Coventry.

With the match tied it would all come down to the final game.  Following a lost ball on 12 the Coventry pair of Jacob and Matt would fall further behind and leaving the 14th green they were 3 down with just 4 holes remaining.  The Coventry pair would however win the 15th and the 16th (which was playing very long on the day).  Remarkably Coventry would also win the 17th and so the match was all square with just the final hole left to play.

Both teams played the last well, Andy and Marcel would make a solid par, which after a good approach from Jacob would mean that Matt and Coventry would have about a 10 foot birdie putt for the victory having seemed virtually out of it 4 holes before.  Matt hit a great putt and the comeback was complete.

In the closest of finals Coventry would be Warwickshire Cup champions with a 2 – 1 victory in the final..

Congratulations to both teams for a great run to the 2023 final and the quality of golf displayed on the day.

My thanks to The Warwickshire for hosting the final – the Earls course was looking in fine condition and is sure to be equally as good when they host the Warwickshire Amateur for us in a few weeks time.

Coventry GC - 2023 Warwickshire Cup Champions

Pictured (L to R) Jacob Parsons, Matt Moore, Richard Bush, Matthew Cryer, Darryl Gwilliam, Phil Ash

Chris Brown

Warwickshire County Secretary

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