Posted on behalf of Wayne
Saturday saw us taking on our sister club who were struggling at the foot of the league table, so a win was more than expected, even though they didn’t role over and give us an easy time of it.
The greens were certainly a lot slower, which made the breaks and lines much harder to read and with the extremely hot conditions, most of us were wanting the clubhouse to come sooner, rather than later for cold beverages.
Match 1 Wayne & Tom v Leigh & Tom
I started with a lovely topped ball, which didn’t even make the fairway, but surprise, surprise it won the hole with a nett 4! I then stuck my tee shot to 15 feet on the second hole, thinking that was going to either win or halve the hole at worst, but Leigh had a very different idea and stuck his to 2 feet, which resulted in the match going back to all square very quickly.
The next six holes saw the Woldingham boys play them three under par, with birdie putts being made for fun by their Thomas, who had recently been cut from two very impressive wins. The ninth hole saw our Tom birdie the hole, which meant we were only one down on the turn. I went on to win the 10th hole, so we were hoping their defences had been knocked over.
However, Silly mistakes were made by both of us on 12th, 15th & 16th which meant we were three down and looking truly beaten, but Tom made an excellent up and down on 17th to halve the hole, because it was very much looking like we were going four down. The Woldingham boys gifted us the 18th, so in the end a reasonably respectable away result, said with a slight cough!
FINAL SCORE 2 DOWN
Match 2 Andy & Kevin v James & Gareth
Match 2 was a battle to say the least! Myself and Andy played well. 2 down back too all square and so on Gareth played out of his skin knocking in birdies and a chip in to go 1 up on 16 we thought hard to get it back but the match ended 1 down for us! A great match played in good spirits between all
FINAL SCORE 1 DOWN
Match 3 Simon & Rob v Darren & Stuart
Rob (11 hcap) and I (10 hcap) were up against Darren (6 hcap) and Stuart (22 hcap). Standard of play was slightly ropey, I was finding the heat tough going and greens surprisingly slow. Holes 1 and 2 halved, Rob doing the biz with a great long 2 putt uphill on the 2nd. 3rd we won with me getting a scrappy 5. 4 was halved with Darren and I getting pars. Rob and I had a disappointing run losing 5th and 6th. The next 3 holes were won with chip ins! I chipped in on 7, Rob chipped in on 8 and then Stuart did the same on 9. All square through 9. Rob played well on 10 and 11 earning a win and half. We lost the 12 (shambolic golf), Darren hit a great pitch to gimmie distance for a birdie and win on 13. 1 down! I woke up at that stage and parred 14 for the win and we parred 15 for a win too. 1 up. 16th was halved and we lost 17. All square going down the last. I had a chip flirting with a greenside bunker which I played well and sunk the 4 ft putt for par 5 which was good enough for the win, 1 up. Tough match, but we gritted it out!
FINAL SCORE 1 UP
Match 4 Hew & Ross v Kev & Bill
Ross and I were out second-to-last playing Kev and Bill. Both very quick players, you seriously will be hard pressed to see anyone quicker than Kev from taking a club out to hitting a ball. Neither he and Bill were long hitters (much less penal at Woldingham), but both were straight and very steady and dovetailed well on the front nine. I was steady on the front parring most holes until a double out of nowhere on the 9th.
Ross took a little while to warm up and had a cracking run of par’s from the 12 I think (with a couple of shots) to put some distance between our opponents and we managed a 6hole win.
FINAL SCORE 6 UP
Match 5 Jack & Ben v Aydin & Keith (sorry Ben was very excited about playing for the club for the first time, so he has written a novel for us!)
Jack and I went up against Aydin and Keith who were playing off of 9 and 11 respectively. Aydin, being an ex-footballer with Galatasary, was a very strong opponent and with Jack not receiving any shots (as he is the golfer out of the two of us) the pressure was on to make sure I made use of the shots I was receiving and for Jack to pull in a few of the birdie putts he would no doubt be presented with.
We started well, with me picking up a Par to win the first however the next 4 holes were halved making it tough going in the scorching heat.
We managed to take the 6th with a Par and then our opponents heads went down slightly on the 7th after I made a net birdie by draining a putt from the fringe which, had it been either side if the hole it would have probably have ended in the fringe on the opposite side of the green.
We walked off the 9th 3 up at the turn after a nice Par from Jack.
Whilst we were momentarily pulled back on the 12th and 14th, we bullied our way straight back on the following holes to remain 3 up with a net birdie on 13 from me and then a delightful showing from Jack on the Par 3, 15th. Inspired by the barmaid watching on, he shaped an incredible iron over the right hand bunker and then drained his putt for the birdie.
Winning 2 of the last 3 holes meant we could enjoy the ice cold beers we had been craving (since probably the 4th hole) having brought home 5 points, Jack earning that 5th point with another impressive birdie on 18. Tough going in that heat today but real solid golf from Jack and I brought it home!
Hole of the Day: Jack’s birdie on 15 – Perfection
Shot of the Day: My power fade stinger 4 hybrid from the rough around several trees……..AIR SHOT!
FINAL SCORE 5 UP
A great all round effort saw the team winning the match 49.5 to 40.5 points (I say that with a little mile after losing 2 down!), so we now have a 40 point lead on Reigate Hill who now await their final match against the Farleigh boys. Farleigh still need to play the Woldingham lads themselves, so I’m hopeful that the Woldingham lads will give the Farley boys a good win, so they go to Reigate fighting for every point, which will hopefully keep the gap between us and second as wide as possible!
Our next match is against Surrey Downs on Sunday 29th September, which is the very last game of the season, so please come and see me, if your game is in good check or you know the course, because we still may need a win, if we are going to win the title for a second time! I’m hopeful that we will still have a handy lead going into the very last match of the season, but you never know!!
Again, please put 11 October 2019 at Farley for finals day in your diaries.
League standings @29th August
Leave a Reply