WONDERFUL WIN IN SENIORS CHANNEL LEAGUE

Match Commentary

The match took place in warm sunny weather with, as ever, a sea breeze in evidence. It blew strongly enough for all players to have to factor it into their shot making strategy throughout the day.

Minehead & West Somerset GC was presented in truly marvellous condition with fresh holes cut just before the am foursomes commenced. Both sides expressed their appreciation of the nine holes allocated. At some additional intrusion into club members’ play, we were able to play Holes 1 – 5, then Holes 15 - 18

Once again, the morning foursomes did not start well but all our pairings fought hard. Special mention must go to the two matches which were halved:

 In the top match, we were one down on the 18th tee where an excellent tee shot by James Ward finished within 25 ft of the pin. With the Devon pair bunkered, it looked as though we would secure a half. Not one bit of it. Devon played out of the bunker to finish close enough for their putt to be conceded thus leaving us with one final throw of the dice. Matt Lazenby duly obliged by holing for a birdie to win the hole and secure a halved match. A great result which was immediately backed up in Match 2 where Simon Rudd and Frank Ward won on the last green

 In the penult match, Paddy Maclennan and George Ceely closed out their match with a fine 2&1 victory then stood back and watched, along with a gathering crowd of supporters of both sides, the desperate battle going on in the anchor match. Steve Thomas and Jeremy Parrott arrived on the 18th tee, one down. So as Martin Cashnella and Kelvin Green had just been edged out on the last hole, it looked as though we’d go into lunch with the overall match tied at 2.5 points each. However, Steve Thomas played a fine tee shot onto the green which the Devon pair failed to match. But, we still needed to two putt from some distance away. Jeremy Parrott’s approach putt was excellent but it still left Steve with a 2.5 ft side hill “knee knocker” to secure the halved match – which he duly holed

 So, we finished 3 – 2 ahead at lunch. Just how vital that single point, secured by those two halved matches, would prove to be became obvious as the pm singles matches progressed to their final stages

In the singles, our top order surpassed themselves. We won the first four singles to get within a point of overall victory – but, where would the point come from as our middle order struggled to cope with a determined fight back by their strong opponents? Having lost Matches 5 – 8 (inclusive), once again, we were looking at our tail which needed to wag

Playing in Match 9, Paddy Maclennan was in imperious form and won convincingly on the 15th green to get us the eighth point needed for victory. Finally, in Match 10, Martin Cashnella, having been 4 down arrived on the 17th two down with two to play. He promptly won the last two holes to halve his match

Note 1: Throughout the day, we were well supported by the SGU President, Geoff Ogden (and his wife). Geoff acted as honorary starter for all matches

Note 2: The team was well supported by Barry Simpson (who was the “appointed person” as provided in the Rules, for providing information and advice to all Somerset players – and sharing feedback from players with those playing behind. In addition, Jerry Hodge, as our “communications hub” provided regular match progress updates via judicious use of our short wave radios.

Alex Kidd

Captain, SGU Seniors                                                                                      23/05/19

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