Two weeks of intermittent rain had worked wonders at Long Sutton Golf Course turning the brown land to a beautiful green vista.
The pairings were announced following a light lunch & Long Sutton’s Club Captain, Peter Clarke teed off with Captain of Captains Marcus Woodward. Their playing partners were SGU’s President Jim Skinner & the ‘man who has done every job’ Steve Butterfield. Peter & Marcus flew out of the trap going five up but their opponents battled on, eventually conceding defeat on the 17th.
The balance was reset in the next match with SGC’s Ben Gliddon & Chris Reed simply stating that Stuart Hodder & Symon Clifford were too good! SGU won on the 16th. Chris was left rueing a lost ball after an ‘amazing’ straight drive on the only hole he had a shot. Such is golf!
Out third were Tony Charalambous & Mike Robinson with Norman Banfield & Dave Josham. The front 9 were very close but Norman’s local knowledge proved too much for the Captains, & they admitted defeat on the 16th, 4&2. The Captains actually won the last two holes but that was obviously too little, too late.
Keith Wiggins & Andrew Cardus-Hall were paired with Martin Pugh & Gordon Phillips. Gordon had a charmed game ‘enjoying’ many shots in & out of the trees. The result of a draw was viewed differently by the teams with Martin & Gordon feeling it was the right result whilst Keith & Andrew were less sure!
With the SGU leading on the scoreboard the next team in were Kevin Blakely & David Bedford with John Parker & Tony Mason. It was a ‘cracking’ game, very close throughout but Kevin’s birdie on the 17th put the Captains one up. Dave halved the final hole giving us the much needed 1 up win.
So, with the result at a draw, it was all to play for in the last group. John Gray & Maddie Casson were pitched against plus 2 golfer Curtis Edwards & Andy Fisher. Unlike the handicaps the game was pretty close. The SGU pair played incredible golf with many superb birdies but the Captains used their shots wisely to keep the game alive. John pulled some fantastic shots out of his golf bag on the last few holes to bring the score back to all square on the 17th. Two stunning second shots onto the green – one for each pair – meant the hole, the game & the SGC v SGU match was drawn. What a fitting result!
Huge thanks to all the players & to everyone at Long Sutton Golf Course.
