Somerset were victorious in the Four Counties event against Dorset, Wiltshire and hosts, Berkshire.
It was played at Caversham, the new home of Reading Golf Club, a somewhat short course with wide fairways that will be remembered for the long walks from green to next tee and the many red kites which swooped above the course.
The day got off to a smashing start. Caversham’s Club Captain had uttered only the first words of his welcome speech when he was upstaged by the crashing sound of a barmaid dropping a tray of glasses, much to the delight of the assembled throng.
Aiming to win back the trophy they won in 2024, in what proved to be a master stroke, the match manager had called up Supersub, Kevin Blakeley, from the subs’ bench. Kevin was partnered with Matt Baker and their score of 43 points took the prize for the best pair, closely followed by David Bate and Keri Allchurch with 42.
Meantime, 3 of the Somerset pairs returned 38 points and despite Andrew Balcombe and David Bedford getting off to a flying start with 21 points on the front 9, they ran out of steam but, still returned a creditable score.
And so to the final tally (5 scores from 6 to count)
Berkshire 183
Dorset 184
Wiltshire 192
Somerset 198
So Somerset were home and hosed and their Captain of Captains, Marcus Woodward, had a tear in his eye as he delivered his acceptance speech. They will defend their title on home soil next year at Enmore Park.
Report from Rob Fear
