Beds Colts played Herts Colts at West Herts Golf Club on Saturday 24th July 2010.
Both counties lost four players to The English Amateur Championship practice rounds at Little Aston & Sutton Coldfield. Michael Conybeare (Tilsworth GC) and Simon Scully (Aspley Guise & Woburn Sands GC) from the U18s squad both made their debut for the Colts team. In the morning foursomes Niall Johnston & Darren Close played in the top game against Herts No 1 pairing of Tom Speyers & Nick Algate. Going 3 down early in the match the Beds pair fought back well, but eventually lost on the 18th hole 2 down. Match No 2 involving Matt Hill & Michael Conybeare who were also 3 down early in the match then staged a great fight back going into the 18th all square but unfortunately lost their ball from the tee shot & lost the hole & game 1 down. Game 3 paired Connor Boyle & Simon Scully against Stephen Payne & Sam Cutting. The Bedfordshire pairing, previously unbeaten in junior matches took control early in the game winning 3/2 & look very secure - well played. Match 4 saw another fight back only to end in disappointment for Beds with Alex Harris & Michael George standing on the 17th tee all square after being down for the whole game until that point. A wayward tee shot resulted in a bogey five to lose the hole & a halved 18th gave a 1 down loss for Beds. Morning foursomes result 3-1 to Hertfordshire.
Something needed to happen quickly in the afternoon singles games & Darren Close (South Beds) had the job of playing in the top game to bring home a point. Darren played very good golf winning 2/1 v Ollie Brown. Darren showed great composure when on hole 16, a blind Par 3 into a sunken green, his ball could not be found. Both players felt confident the ball had hit the green but a group of young children were seen running from the hole after the tee shots had been played. Following a ruling, it was decided Darren would have to go back to the tee now play 3! With his opponent safely on the green in one Darren lost the hole but took this in his stride & went on to halve the 17th & win his game. Credit must go to Hertfordshire''s Ollie Brown who would have been happy for Darren to play the shot again without penalty but rules are rules. Thank you Ollie for your sportsmanship!
Game no2 paired up Alex Harris (JOG) v Herts strong man Tom Speyer. In a closely fought encounter the game swung between 1 up to 1 down on several occasions. Standing on the 18th tee all square, Alex Harris showed great nerve in hitting a drive and a 9 iron onto the par 5 only to be a little unlucky for the ball to pitch in the middle of a steep tier in the green kicking the ball to the very back of the green some 35'' away from the pin. Tom Speyers eventually reached the green in 3 shots only to hole a 14'' birdie putt & when Alex''s 5'' birdie attempt agonizingly slipped past on the left side his game was lost 1 down. Well played Alex against a very tough competitor.
Michael Connybeare (Tilsworth) lost 3/2 against Herts hard man Nick Algate but looked to play some very good golf and will gain from the experience. I hope he will continue as an active squad member.
Connor Boyle continues to impress in match play. Connor had two eagles in three holes with the best coming at the 15th when he holed out from 105 yards for a two on a par 4 ! Very well done and maximum points on the day - keep it up.
Both Matt Hill (Leighton Buzzard) winning 4&3 & Michael George (Millbrook GC) winning 2&1 impressed. A special thanks must go to Matt Hill for his commitment to Bedfordshire. Matt delayed his practice rounds for the English Amateur by 24 hrs resulting in him having to play three days of consecutive 36 holes on Saturday, Sunday & the championship on Monday. I hope all players look at this & will give priority to BCGU whenever possible!
This left the last match on the course between Niall Johnston (Aspley Guise) & Sam Cutting. Niall was 1 up on the 18th tee & gaining a win would halve the match 6-6. Niall''s tee shot unluckily found long grass just off the right side of the fairway, and, in chipping out onto a sloping burnt fairway for his second shot he found rough & trees on the left had side. His third shot found him pin high right of the green but still in semi rough, with his opponent in a greenside bunker for two. Niall calmly played the most skilful lob shot landing along the steep tier only to run straight into the hole for an unlikely but magnificent birdie 4 & a win !
Well played team and a great fight back winning the single 5-3. We now move onto Essex away on 28th August at Colne Valley GC. This will prove a stern test but our team have gained massive confidence from this result. Team selection will be critical for this match.
I would like to thanks Stuart Goode - Secretary for his help in transporting players early in the morning & his support on the course - thanks again Stuart. Clive Allen - Vice President was superb staying all day ( following a couple of hours work in the morning !) and continues to give support with valuable knowledge and advice having watched Bedfordshire for many years & gone through all the emotional highs and lows! Great to see our President Chris Foster & his wife Christine attending for the opening tee shots in the afternoon, the players really do appreciate it.
Richard Harris - Colts Manager |
2010