Seniors Captain Tony Lloyd and organiser Jonathan Lean relax with their Millbrook opponents after the match
Organiser Jonathan Lean reports
The day dawned bright with a false promise of good weather for our match on the challenging Millbrook course.
Having met for the usual tea, coffee and biscuits with the introductions, the senior captain and I stood on the first tee full of hope and expectation. It was Tony’s first time at Millbrook and so the course navigation had to be explained to him, particularly on the challenging first hole, par 5, with a valley of sin and a cardiac hill.
Thanks to our opponents missing a short putt on the first (Tony looked at me with raised eyebrows questioning if we should give this 2 footer!) our decision not to was justified as it slipped past the hole for us to remain all square.
There was a repeat scenario on the second, also a par 5, where Tony missed a short(ish) putt – still all square.
A fortuitous long putt by yours truly on the third for a gross par on the Stroke Index 1 third salvaged a half there also.
Both of us made a mess of the 4th to go one down but this was quickly recovered on the 5th and then a long putt by Tony on the 6th saw us go 1 up.
A half on the 7th but we lost the 8th and 9th to get to the turn one down.
I mentioned the false promise of good weather. The forecast proved to be accurate as precipitation started about now and it was waterproofs on and off for the rest of the round.
The 10th was the JOG nearest the pin hole. Modesty almost forbids me from reporting that my tee shot hit the pin and finished about 10ft from the hole. I didn’t need to go for the birdie 2 though as Tony cosied his second up to 6 inches and with a stroke his nett 2 was good enough to win the hole. All square again.
Good enough to win the NTP though.
Millbrook won the 11th with an outrageous chip-in for a birdie and managed to hold on to their 1 up advantage all the way to the 16th where yet again, Tony managed a well judged putt from just off the green for a net birdie. All square again.
It was about time that I contributed so my par on the extremely tough 17th was good enough to win the hole so we got to the 18th tee 1 up with 1 to play.
It all came down to Tony having to sink a tricky 3 footer on the last green to win the match. Why was I worried? I was just pleased that it was not me that had to do it. No problems for ice-in-the-veins Tony. An excellent match won by JOG 1 up.
Full of confidence we repaired to the bar for the rest of the team’s scores. Our confidence was soon dashed.
Algy Grimes and Gerry Degaute lost 8 & 7. Started slowly and never recovered.
Chris Dennis and David Price lost 5 & 3. David injured his back after 7 holes and had to withdraw leaving Chris on his own. Despite winning the next hole, Chris eventually succumbed to the pressure of 2 against 1.
Gavin Little and Paul Dobson won 2 & 1. Gavin’s 3 birdies helping to overcome stiff opposition.
Trevor Darrington and Paul Hammond lost 3 & 1. 4 birdies from Paul but couldn’t quite manage the win.
Dick Cobb and Oz Osman lost 4 & 3. Oz reported that he walked up the very steep 11th twice as his ball refused to stay where it landed. Not as bad as the very steep 1st where his ball came back to him 3 times!
Steve Mathers and Alban Macdonald won 1 up. Alban reported that they got their noses in front but were eventually caught on the 15th (their next to last hole having started on the 17th). However, Steve sank a 20 footer on the last hole for a par to win the hole and the match.
The match score now stood at 4-3 to Millbrook. We needed a win from the last match in for the draw. However, it was not to be.
Warren Churms and Michael Newstead lost 2 down. Warren reported that it was a game of 2 halves. They played badly on the first 9 holes and even worse on the second 9!
Overall match score 5-3 to Millbrook.
Excellent hospitality and a lovely meal of Ham salad with new potatoes followed by chocolate fudge cake and ice cream.
This is a memorable golf course. It is quite long with a couple of steep hills to climb but many of the holes stick in the memory and I look forward to renewing the challenge next year.
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