Seniors at home to Gog Magog Sept 8 2026

Organiser Neil Pinnington reports 

This blog nearly did not get written. Following the meal I had to run after their captain. He had left his nearest pin prize on the table. When I got home, I found that, in that rush, I had left my folder containing all the results and match details in the Burgoyne Suite. Luckily, they were waiting for me on the bar when I returned. Anyway…

Having checked the weather forecast on Monday afternoon I was hopeful we would get away with a few light showers. By the time we arrived at the club in the morning the forecast had taken a significant turn for the worse. In the event we did have to play through quite a bit of rain. Worse than the Monday forecast but not quite as bad as the morning doom and gloom.

In the away fixture in July, we had been trounced 7.5 to 0.5. I had arranged the teams to give as many people as possible a chance to avenge their defeats on that day.

In fact, the heaviest defeat had been suffered by the Captain and me. So, when David won the first hole (with a shot) our hopes were raised. He tenaciously held on to that lead (without much help from me, as in July) for the next four holes. The arrival at their nearest-the-pin hole inspired Allan (their captain). He struck his tee shot to a few feet from the pin. We both failed to capitalise on him missing the putt. All Square, and the pressure was on.

 Cometh the hour, David rolled in a huge putt on 7 to re-establish our lead. I made my first contribution on the 12^th winning it with a birdie two. David chipped stone dead on 13 to further extend our lead.  Dodged a bullet on 14 when Allan missed a short putt. Starting to feel confident, we then lost 14. However, I managed a nett 4 on both 15 and 16 to close out the match. Revenge.

We awaited the other results.

Not a good start as Kevin Barbour (this time partnered by Gerry Degaute) failed to avenge his defeat. Obviously, this was not helped by him winning the competition on Sunday, getting cut 1.7 shots, thus giving his opponents 2 and 3 more shots than in the first match.

Gavin Little also failed to exact revenge despite being partnered by Andy Brown.

Our hopes were raised when Keith Howlett came in to report that he had helped Warren Churms to get his revenge,

Ian Maddison was unable to inspire Jed Isbell to follow suit. In a match of fourteen halved holes (mostly by Ian!) they lost on the 17^th hole. As if to rub it in, Jed then parred the 18^th.

Paul Life and Paul Conibear had been the only scorers back in July having halved their match. As a reward I had given them new partners.

Paul Life and Stephen Mathers failed to improve on that half losing on the 17^th.

Paul Conibear and Nigel Underwood were in danger of repeating that half. Paul saved the day by winning the 18^th.

That put JOG down 4-3 Barry Donovan and Martyn Graham had played together in the first match. They, like David and I, were doubly incentivised to get their revenge. This they did.

The overall result: JOG 4 The Gog Magog 4.

The detailed results are:

David Barlow and Neil Pinnington Won 4&2

Gavin Little and Andy Brown Lost 2&1

Gerry Degaute and Kevin Barbour Lost 5&4

Ian Maddison and Jed Isbell Lost 2&1

Keith Howlett and Warren Churms Won 3&2

Nigel Underwood and Paul Conibear Won 1 Up

Paul Life and Steve Mathers lost 3&1

Barry Donovan and Martyn Graham Won 2 Up

As in the away fixture, not many names were written on the nearest pin sheets. Allan’s shot on the 6^th was never bettered. This repeated his nearest-the-pin win in the first match. Not to be outdone, David put his shot on to the middle of the eighth green. Also, a shot that was never bettered.

Despite some pointed comments about the state of the fairways on the day (ploughed fields and turnips were mentioned), the match was played in the best of spirits. We look forward to continuing the rivalry next year.