Seniors at home to Millbrook May 26 2026

 

Captain David Barlow, organiser Steve Mathers and their Millbrook opponents on  the 1st tee

Captain David tees off on the Carthagena 13th

 Organiser Steve Mathers reports

So, here we go with my first attempt at writing a match report ... which may be a challenge as I generally have to ask my partner what hole I’m on, let alone make a conscious note of who played where and how. I guess we’re all increasingly entitled to a few “senior” moments.

 Well, the weather was “scorchio”, with temperatures more suited to southern Spain with a cold beer in your hand, than an English golf course in May. Thankfully everyone remembered to lather themselves up with suncream and bring plenty of water. Based on the handicaps, we were closely matched, only conceding 18 shots across the combined team, so it was set to be good match to win.

 As for the matches;

Match 1 (Captain David Barlow / Steve Mathers v VC Derek Tilley/Ian Milloy)

Our opponents Derek and Ian got the game underway with Derek hitting a good drive down the fairway, followed by Ian who hit a long ball just short of the trees on the right. Captain David then led the way with a fine drive off the 1^st, leaving a respectable opportunity into the green. I followed with a somewhat wild “thwak” just short of the trees on the right too, leaving just about enough space to get a (hit and hope) shot into the green if I breathed in.  David went first but caught an unfortunate bounce into the bunker on the left side of the green. Derek hit his ball short of the green, and Ian caught the trees, leaving a difficult chip out, and then onto the green. I stepped up, closed my eyes, and with an uncontrolled 8 iron somehow managed to get it to run through the back, leaving an awkward little wedge back to the hole. Fortunately, I managed to chip on, leaving a short putt for the point. At this point I’d like to highlight that for the remainder of the game David played some majestic golf, despite carrying a 15 stone casualty on his back, though I did at least complete the scorecard correctly. We led at the turn 3 up, adding a further point on the par 3 11^th (not sure how, but according to the scorecard that 3 was down to me).

From the 12^th onwards, Millbrook came back at us, gradually chipping away, so by the time we played the 15^th we only held a 1 point lead. We halved the 16^th (I found a tree followed by a hole –  not the one where the flag goes), but thankfully David managed to muster a 5. On the 17^th both of us managed to get good drives away, whilst Ian pulled his shot left, never to be found again, and Derek leaving his tee shot short. With both of us then getting onto the green and below the hole for 2, we managed to secure the par, and the match 2/1.

 Match 2 (Kevin Barbour / Richard Westergreen-Thorne v Steve Redhead/Paul Curley)

I gather a closely fought contest, but Millbrook managed to squeeze ahead early on and managed to maintain the lead until the end, despite Kevin and Richard’s best endeavours

 Match 3 (David Tamsitt/Michael Newstead v Mike Riches/Alan Ross)

Quite an impressive performance here by David and Michel, who dovetailed throughout the match, to close an early, and admirable 4&3 result against an evenly matched opposition.

 Match 4 (Mehmet Osman “Oz”/Tony Walters v Chris Freeman/Kevin Jones)

A tough match with Millbrook taking and retaining an early lead right up until the 18^th, with Tony pulling a par out of the bar to halve the match. An important addition to the overall score.

 Match 5 (Chris Saunders/Paul Dobson v Neil Hebron/Simon Hodgson)

Millbrook were coming into the match with a 10-stroke advantage, and got off to a strong start, taking a 3-point lead by the 6^th. Unfortunately, Chris had to retire with back pain (Chris, we all hope you’re ok, and back to fighting fitness soon), so Paul bravely carried on the fight alone. Given the challenges faced, despite a loss, it was an impressive performance.

 Match 6 (Steve Luckman/Peter Imray v Ian Potter/Harmit Bahara)

This match was always set to be close based on the evenly allocated shots. Steve and Peter led the way, but the match tightened up at the halfway stage, though 2 birdies from Peter (another impressive performance) helped the JOG team pull away, and close out a 3&2 win.

 Match 7 (Paul Life/Tony Thurgood v Alan Carter/Ian Stuart)

The second match to lead off the 17^th hole, Paul and Tony conceded the first, levelled up on the 2^nd (18^th), and then went down 2 on the following 2 holes. Then the grit appeared, and over the next 7 holes fought to turn it around to a 1-point lead, after which they jumped on the pedal, and by the 14^th had secured another 3&2 win for the team.

 Match 8 (Paul Hammond/Gerry Degaute v Pete Fitz Gibbon/John Quinn

This was the final match, and potentially one that the overall result resting on. Up steps the new JOG Seniors “dream team”. It’s great to see an intrepid pair made up of a pensions actuary and a window cleaner go into battle (together), and pull out a tremendous 7&5 win, with Paul netting 3 birdies and Gerry 2 net birdies to seal the victory in style. Excellent performance.

 Overall match result: JOG 5 ½ to The Millbrook 2 ½

 Well done to everyone who played in the matches, and most importantly, the day was played in exactly the right spirit: competitive, good-humoured, and full of the usual banter that makes these matches such an enjoyable fixture in golfing the calendar.

 Best of luck to JOG Seniors team as they take on St Neots on Thursday.