Seniors at home to Leighton Buzzard Tuesday June 11 2024

 

Seniors Captain Richard Westergreen-Thorne and organiser Trevor Darrington with their Leighton Buzzard opponents on the JOG first tee

Organiser Trevor Darrington reports

On a mild and sunny day interspersed with a little rain, JOG entertained a team from Leighton Buzzard. The Captain, Richard and I were matched with their Captain, John and his partner Richard L. With only 5 shots between us, the match was always going to be very close.

 We went one up on the second, but were pulled back on the fourth. Having taken the lead again on the fifth, we remained one shot ahead until the 11th when two pars from the Organiser shot us three points ahead. John chipped in from well off the back of the 13th green for a par and it was left to Richard (I had lost my ball in the water with my second shot) to come up trumps with a remarkable five, with a shot, to halve the hole.

 On the 15th both I and Richard L hit fine tee shots. Richard L hit his second to about 50 yards from the pin. I hit mine 5 yards from the green, but was impeded by the bank on the bunker, so couldn’t putt. Richard L promptly chipped to within 2 inches of the pin for a 4. Anybody who has seen me with a wedge in my hand would have been worried at this stage, but I managed to chip within 15 inches of the hole. I was made to putt out for a 4 with a shot to end the match winning 4 & 3.

The 15th green was also the scene of much celebration and “Dad dancing” by Nick Schumann who managed to hole a 40 foot putt to “win” the hole and take the lead in their very tight match. Unfortunately, Nick had putted Steve Luckman’s ball which meant they had actually gone one down rather than one up. Their final result was a 3&2 loss.

Well done to everybody, and especially those who stepped in at the very last minute and those with some remarkable “dog licences”. *

The scores were:-

Richard Westergreen-Thorne and Trevor Darrington – won 4&3

Fred Williams and Paul Life – lost 2 down

Michael Bonwick and Graham Gadsden – half

Gavin Little and Jed Isbell – won 7&6

Ian Maddison and Rafe Bateson – won 7&6

Nick Schumann and Steve Luckman – lost 3&2

Bill Walker and David Tamsitt – won 2&1

Algy Grimes and Terry Sweeney – half

Overall, a 5&3 win for John O’Gaunt.

* Editor's note: For those of you, like me, who didn't get the "dog licences" reference, a dog licence used to cost seven and six! Thankyou to Trevor for the joke.