Reinforcements were needed following the 12 player Shropshire and Herefordshire match the previous day across in the Marches, so four more Captains headed up the M5 towards Leamington and County Golf Club to take on Warwickshire Golf Captains. Despite some travel problems causing some provisional rearrangements of tee times to be made, everyone arrived in time for the original schedule on another very hot and sunny day.
Leamington and County Golf Club is over 100 years old, but origins go back to the 1890s when two Clubs, The Royal Leamington Spa Golf Club and The Royal Leamington Spa Ladies Golf Club played golf in the town. Eventually, the new Leamington and County Golf Club name was selected and in around 1909 the Men and Ladies were using the same course.
The course was in great condition and every Somerset pair commented on how much they enjoyed it. A parkland course in nature, there are plenty of trees to tighten it up and a variety of holes to enjoy all presented in fine condition.
Captain David Bate and partner Mark Tidcombe were first out against Warwickshire Captain Keith Guild and Adrian Hawley. A very close and enjoyable match and excellent company saw Somerset grab the first point on the 18th hole.
Second out were Rob Hirons and Colin Davies taking on Nigel Metcalfe and Keith Lindsay. Nigel’s putting and Keith’s chipping threatened to turn a close game the way of the home team but Somerset eventually prevailed, shaking hands on the 17th with the score 3&1.
Up third were Ian Suttle and Vice-Captain Mike Rossiter taking on Warwickshire’s Ian Phipps and Rob Yewer. The match saw the home pair fly out of the blocks winning the first four holes and going six up after seven holes! Nothing Mike and Ian could do to turn around the deficit as the home pair reached the 14th hole only three over gross and a 6&4 loss for Somerset was the outcome.
Geoff Rooke paired up with Jim Scott in match four, playing against Rod Williams and Dave Chamley for the home team. Jim kept his record for the tour going with another tight win with Geoff, shaking hands on the 18th hole, one up, to put Somerset 3-1 ahead.
Match five saw Tour Manager Rob Ford team up with Maddie Casson to take on Warwickshire’s Graham Barker and Martin Wyatt. A close game followed and another match went all the way to the 18th hole. The company was great as was the golf course and another 1 up win for Somerset increased the overall lead to 4-1 with three matches left. A win on the road was sure to follow – wasn’t it?
Match 6 pitted SGC’s Nick Prince and Phil Barrett against John Grant and John Savage for the home team. Nick and Phil were up against it most of the way round and despite a recovery on the back 9 they lost 2&1. They really enjoyed the course and the company though.
Tony Taylor and Glyn Sewell were out in match seven against Pat Murphy and Ron Saywell for the home team. The putting turned out to be the difference between the two teams, Somerset describing the home team’s as “hot” rather than their own “frozen” attempts!
So with one match to come in, the score was 4-3 to the visiting tourists – surely Ian Gover and Steve Butterfield would bring home the half point needed against Tony Ranger and Allan Moore in match eight? Well, a closely fought match saw the home team level up the overall team scores at 4-4 for a halved match and Warwickshire therefore retained the trophy.
Overall, Somerset enjoyed the course and the Warwickshire hospitality very much and would head back down the M5 in good heart.
