A warm dry and sunny day greeted the past captains from Somerset and their friends from Devon when they renewed their friendly rivalry at Cricket St Thomas Golf Club on Thursday, the 25th of August 2022.
Match one
Captain of Captains Rob Ford and Club Captain Mark Ward played against Graham Heaman and David Taylor. This was a very enjoyable game and Somerset even had the wasps on their side! The home Captain held the upper hand and Somerset were 1 up at the end.
Match two
Rob Darvell and John Chillington played against Mike Badcock and Val Richards. An enjoyable match and Somerset were three up after three; which put Mike and Val under a bit of pressure. Mike‘s net eagle on six helped get it back to one. Then the game fluctuated between 2 up and 1 up until John chipped in on 17 to win by 2&1.
Match three
Murray Parsons and Jeff Saunders played against Brian Rice and Roger Bandon, who were very good company. Murray and Jeff got off to a good start but the result was immaterial. Both Roger and Brian were very good company and another win for Somerset by the margin of 6&5.
Match four
Keri Allchurch and Glyn Sewell played against Roger Monson and Dave Smith. To look at the Somerset pairing, the word “greyhounds” would not instantly spring to mind! But Keri and Glyn shot out of the traps and kept going at full speed. Five birdies; one over gross; and 50 Stableford points was always going to be hard to live with! Another victory for Somerset by the margin of 6&5.
Match Five
Clive Stilwell and Nigel Phillips played against Lew Easter (President) and Malcolm Jordain. Somerset took an early lead with two birdies and held on despite a fight back on the back nine. Wonderful company and new friendships were formed with Somerset winning by 4&2.
Match six
Steve Taylor and Andy Towens played against Steve Spicer and Richard Pascoe. Somerset were never up! A great game but it felt like we were forever pushing Devon uphill! Good greens – just a tad slower than Burnham! Both Devon players played off six ; so a half was a good result or Somerset when the match finished all square.
Match seven
Phil Slater and Andy King playing against John Smith and Ray Gunston. The company was great and Somerset played well to win 3&1 which was a fair result on the day
Match eight
Match manager and President Bob Acland played with Mike Wilkes against Phil Webb and Jeff Pascoe. The Devon boys had hot putters from the start and Somerset were 5 down after 12. Then fought back and some good putting by Somerset pulled it back but it was not enough. A competitive game a fair result and great company produced a victory for Devon by the margin of 2&1.
And so the overall result was Somerset 6.5 Devon 1.5.
And Somerset regained the trophy which Devon have held in recent years.
We would like to thank Cricket St Thomas Golf Club for their superb hospitality and we look froward to our next visit there in the future.
Thanks also to the match manager Bob Acland who successfully managed to turn our a full team despite several late withdrawals!
