Our men’s team travelled to the Oaks Golf Club, York on the back of four straight league wins and needing a draw or better against Yorkshire to secure the league title for the first time in 12 years.
The day, unfortunately, did not start well. Jon Beesley, in his final year as captain and desperate to see his team secure the league title, was injured and had to pull out of the team. Young star Cole Self (Ringway) was therefore put into action and partnered Chris Chilton in the foursomes.
On a very hot day, the foursomes proved to be a tough task against a team that included 3 England players, one of them being Ben Brown, the new English Amateur Champion. To illustrate the quality of golf on display, Josh Sims and Jack Nicholson were one down against youngsters Josh Berry and Dylan Shaw-Radford. Josh and Jack then reeled off 5 birdies in 6 holes….but the match was only all square! Then, on the 16th, Jack holed out from 130 yards for a dramatic eagle, but despite being 6 under par, they lost the match to a birdie on the 18th. Fraser MacLeod and James McCormick also lost on the 18th, but Lucas Kuiper and Ryan Owen had a 4&3 win, and the Chris Chilton / Cole Self pair secured a half.
Josh Sims drives from 10th….through a water fountain!
Some of our foursomes pairs were under par and still lost, such was the standard of play.
Behind 4.5 to 1.5 at lunch, we faced a mammoth task to recover on an increasingly hot day when the mercury rose to 33 degrees.
Yorkshire did not relax, and won the first four afternoon singles matches to all but secure victory.
Lucas Kuiper was several under par and had a comprehensive 6&5 win – he has a 100% record after two matches for the men’s team. Jack Nicholson had a fine win over the highly-rated England youngster Josh Berry, Ryan Owen won and Cole Self secured a half to be unbeaten on his full county debut.
Yorkshire ran out winners by 12.5 to 5.5 to take the league once more.
The team, coaches and managers can be proud of the progress we’ve made this year. Close matches we had been losing in recent years turned into wins, and a really strong team spirit has developed under Jon’s captaincy. With youngsters such as Lucas Kuiper, Dan Hayes (unavailable for this match) and Cole Self coming into the team, and looking very much at home, the future looks very bright indeed.
