Organiser Neil Pinnington reports
It is always
a pleasure to play at Wellingborough. The course and clubhouse are spectacular.
The welcome is warm. The food is good. The halfway house is well manned and
well stocked (even without the legendary Eccles Cakes of previous years). Their captain claimed it was their secret
weapon to lure visiting opponents into overindulging and then paying the price
on the back nine
Again, we
were travelling to defend our victory at JOG, while Wellingborough was keen to
avenge it. They have been singularly
successful in the past, winning 6½-1½ two years ago and 6-2 last year. I did
mention in last year’s report that, at that rate of improvement, it will be
many years before we can register an away win.
The captain
and I fought a very enjoyable and tense match.
We started well and were two up after 6 holes, only to give the lead
back on the following two holes. Next
six holes were halved, dodging a few bullets when our opponents missed a couple
of very short putts. Things were not looking good on 15th when we
lost to a par even though we both had shots. Time for the captain to step up.
Despite clattering into the tree on his next tee shot, Richard hit a
magnificent second onto the apron of the green and proceeded to drain the putt for a birdie and a win. Yet again on the 17th Richard holed a
sizeable putt to keep the match all square. Neil, the Wellingborough captain,
suffered an agonising déjà vu when I secured a net birdie on the final hole to
win the match, just as I had in our home match.
It should be
noted that this win was achieved in the most trying of circumstances. Towards the end of the front nine, Richard’s
trolley began to fall apart. The wheels literally began to fall off, or at
least the wheel drive shafts. This resulted in the motor hanging down below the
trolley and dragging on the ground. Running repairs were undertaken at the
halfway house. However, the attempt to secure the motor with a sticking plaster
had failed by the time we got to the 10th green. On the 11th
tee, the resourceful Wellingborough Captain produced a boot lace from his golf
bag and used his naval skills to lash the motor back up in the trolley. This
allowed Richard to push the trolley for the rest of the round with the
occasional kick at the wheels to keep them in place.
I have very
little detail on how the other matches unfolded, but it was bit of a
rollercoaster hearing the results as each came in. In match 2, Gerry and Ian
lost on the final green. Jonathan and Algy halved match 3. Apparently match 4
were not ready on 1st tee when their slot became available. So,
Match 5 took over and were the next to report. Unfortunately, Chris and Ian
lost. At this point Wellingborough were feeling quietly confident, leading 2½ – 1½. However, the delayed match 4 and match 6, the first to start on 17th
tee, saw the team of Michael and Peter and that of Keith and Richard record two
impressive wins. With the score now standing at 3½ – 2½ in our favour, the
Captain and I dared to dream that this might be JOG’s day. Our dreams were
dashed when the final two matches reported losses. Commiserations to Alban and
Bob and to Steve and David.
Even so, the
final result of a 4½ – 3½ win for Wellingborough was a significant
improvement on our previous two outings.
Maybe next
year??
The full
results were:
Richard Westergreen-Thorne & Neil Pinnington Won
1up
Gerry Degaute and Ian Maddison Lost 1up
Jonathan Lean and Algy Grimes Halved
Michael Newstead and Peter Imray Won 3&2
Chris Saunders and David Lincoln Lost 2&1
Keith Howlett and Richard Cobb Won
2&1
Alban Macdonald and Bob Isaacson Lost 4&3
Steve Luckman and David Tamsitt Lost 2&1
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