A sunny but breezy day greeted both teams when Somerset Golf Captains entertained Herefordshire and Shropshire Golf Captains at Weston-Super-Mare Golf Club on Friday, the 10th of June 2022.
In match one, Rob Ford and Barry Saunders played against Roger Thomas and Alan Jones to earn a dishonourable half. Putts from different postcodes were coming in from the Shropshire and Herefordshire pair – but a half was a fair result. Rob remembered to put the battery in his electric trolley AFTER he had tee’d off on the first! And Barry took the opportunity to wear the traditional old-fashioned maroon flat cap that previously belonged to this father-in-law Wally Hartree who passed away last year.
In match two, Brian Reeves and Glyn Sewell played against Colin Wall and Ron Pugh. Colin and Ron were great company. This was a close game all the way around until Somerset were undone by Ron’s one-handed putting and lost by the margin of 2&1!
In match three, Clive Stilwell and Adrian Pearce played against Bob Holloway and Tony Green. Bob blew Somerset away with some outstanding golf and, despite Somerset‘s best efforts, they could not extend the match past the 17th where Somerset lost by the margin of 2&1 which was no shame. Clive Stilwell particularly enjoyed receiving his one shot!
In match four, Nick Prince and Graham Hewlett played against Martin Statham and Ken Butler. Golf was excellent with some great company. It was even more amazing that no holes were halved until the 12th – but the wind started to blow and Somerset came out with a win by the margin of 2 up.
In match five, John Shakesby and Andy King played against Brian McManus and Joey Dutton. This was a very close game played with some very good company. Only three of the holes were halved, but Somerset secured a victory by being 1 up at the end.
In match six, Colin Davis and Keri Allchurch played against Paul Millington and Wref Digings. What a day! Still breeze all day and Wref played the front none really well. Thanks to Keri, Somerset hung on to be all square at the turn! Paul played superb golf on the back nine and Somerset were two down with three to play but managed a half! Super company on and off the course.
In match seven, John Beer and David Morgan played against Amrit Singh and a guest player from Somerset – Paul Chesney! In his youth, Paul had been the inaugural junior captain of Church Stretton Golf Club. This was a great game on a superb course with the inaugural Captain of Church Stretton Golf Club making his debut for the Herefordshire and Shropshire Golf Captains, alongside the 2021 Captain of Captains Amrit Singh. Hereford and Shropshire were one up until Paul picked up Amrit’s ball on the fourth – even though he had a shot!! Then Somerset won four holes in a row from 9 to 12; and a 315 yard drive from David on the 15th sealed the result for a win by the margin of 4&3.
In match eight, Mike Usher-Clark and David Andow played against Graham Palmer and Chris Griffiths. This game was all square at the turn, and Chris took over from Graham and a burst of pars; and an eagle on the 13th settled the result! Somerset could not recover – a great game with great opponents but Herefordshire and Shropshire won by the margin of 3&2.
And so, on completion of all eight games, the overall result was Somerset 4 Herefordshire and Shropshire 4! And so Somerset retained the trophy which they won last year at the Herefordshire Golf Club. Both teams enjoyed a delicious two course meal and some excellent banter in the dining room.
Overall, a very successful day and our particular thanks go to Weston-Super-Mare Golf Club who looked after us so well – as they always do.
We would like to thank our match manager Mike Usher-Clark for his efforts in organising the teams.
