Jonathan Lean presents Nathan Church with the TSB Trophy
Seniors Captain Jonathan Lean reports on the annual match between the Seniors and Juniors
On a decidedly cool, damp and grey morning, 10 intrepid seniors presented themselves for potential humiliation at the hands of the Junior section. Thankfully, our Competitions Secretary had pity on us and moved the start time back 20 minutes so we could start in full daylight and enjoy an extra few minutes in bed!
The tone was set when, on arrival, some seniors
were enjoying the likes of bacon baps and coffee whereas the juniors were
limbering up in the nets!
Captain Jonathan Lean was paired with Algy Grimes against the
current Junior captain, Nathan Church (HI 5.3) and Charlie Cunningham (HI
19). Charlie informed us, having creamed his 3 wood a good 200 yards down
the middle of the first, that he had only taken up the game 4 months
previously! This was slightly softened by his admission later that he
used to play when he was 7 years old but gave up as he did not think he was
good enough.
Algy and I thought that we would start with a win
on the first as Nathan managed to find the trees on the right with his
drive. Algy unfortunately found Nathan’s ball after about 2 minutes 59
seconds and then Nathan chipped out and got up and down for a par to halve the
hole.
Nathan managed to birdie the 3rd to go 1
up but then Algy and I entered that ever-narrowing window of opportunity
between being warmed up and worn out whereby we managed to win 3 holes in a row
to go 2 up after 7. This was short lived bliss as we then lost 3 holes in
a row. Nathan and Charlie managed to hold onto this lead until the 17th
where Nathan birdied for a 2 and 1 win. A thoroughly enjoyable game.
Second out were John Church and Andy Brown
against William Gilbert and Chloe Church. Spot the surnames?!!
There was a rumour, strongly denied, that John Church had a foot in both
camps! Two grandchildren playing for the Juniors must have given him
divided loyalties.
My words of instruction to Andy Brown ‘show them no
mercy’ fell on deaf ears though as Andy got par on the first 4 holes but the
team was still 4 down at this stage. They lost the 5th also so
it is some sort of credit to the seniors that, being 5 down after 5 holes they
eventually only managed to lose 6 and 5. Chloe Church sealed the win on
the 13th with a 3 net 1!
Celia and Greg Whitecross challenged marital
harmony by agreeing to play together against Lucy Edwards and Ryan
Brister. There was a suggestion that Celia was perhaps ineligible to play
for the seniors because of age but a quick check of her birth certificate
cleared her.
There was little detail given about this match
except Lucy obviously played very well and complained of ‘sore shoulders’
having carried Ryan to a 4 and 3 win.
3 down after 3 matches. This could get
embarrassing!
David Crosby and Bill Walker played against Georgia
Gordon and Harry Smead. Despite Bill having a bit of a senior moment
picking his ball up thinking that the hole was halved but actually he had to
sink the putt to halve the hole, David and Bill managed a win, triumphing 3 and
2.
Bringing up the rear were Michael Newstead and
Graham Gadsden against Ixie Akpan (HI 1.4!) and Albert Watts. Little
detail was forthcoming about this match. Perhaps Graham’s normally loud
trousers put their opponents off but some pride was restored with the Seniors
winning 4 and 3.
So, the overall score was Juniors 3 – Seniors
2. Not a whitewash. Just a thoroughly enjoyable morning’s golf.
The TSB Trophy was duly presented to the Junior
Captain, Nathan Church. I noted that the last time that the Seniors won
was 2018! I look forward to trying again next year.
Hot on the heels of the match was a final match in one of the Ladies’ singles competitions. Lorna Jerome has asked me to thank all the seniors and juniors who allowed this match to play through.
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