Gloucestershire Golf Union
U18's just miss a win in their Channel League Match against Gwent
It was a glorious sunny August morning as the boys arrived at Tredegar Park for their Channel League fixture against Gwent and it was a new look U18 side because none of the players involved in the England Finals this week played in the match as they earned some much needed rest. As a consequence, we were able to give 4 U16's their U18 debuts (Ben Warwicker, Charlie Ford, Tom Chapman & Sam Ellicott) and one under 14 as well (Jack Lockwood) so a very young side keen to play well.
A quick conversation with Captain Reggie Phelps confirmed the pairings for the morning foursomes and he and Charlie Jenkins led the way. Unfortunately they came up against some stiff opposition and lost 6&4. The 2nd pairing of Riley Wood and Charlie Ford suffered the same fate losing 2 & 1 but James Sayce and Tom Chapman in the 3rd pairing, steadied the ship with an excellent half having won the last 5 holes to secure that half point! Two of the new U16s, Sam Ellicott & Ben Warwicker, played some great golf to win 3&2 before the final pairing of Zak Armstrong and Jack Lockwood just missed out losing on the last with a 3 putt. So the team went into lunch trailing Gwent by 3.5 v 1.5, so plenty to do in the afternoon singles if the match was to be turned around.
After Sandwich & Chips for lunch it was back out into the sunshine for the afternoon singles. Reggie was off first and he had a really good match with the lead changing hands on numerous occasions during the round before ending in a well-deserved half. Riley was next up and he made short work of his match winning 7&5 and James also won his match 2&1 so all of a sudden we were level on points with 7 matches still out on the course.
Charlie Jenkins played well in his match and was a couple of holes up early in the round but unfortunately just came up short losing on the last. Both Ben & Charlie Ford halved their matches but then Tom Chapman lost his match 6&5 so the 2 point gap was back in tact for Gwent with only 3 matches still on the course. Zak was in the 8th match and he was 1 up with 5 to play but his opponent finished strongly and he eventually lost 2 down meaning that we could no longer win. Then came our new U14 debutant, Jack Lockwood, who found himself 5 down at the turn with his opponent 3 under par for the first nine holes. This score included a concede on the first hole when he couldn't find his ball over the green and it transpired that the Gwent player in the game in front had picked it up thinking it was his playing opponents ball and handed it back to Jack on the 4th tee so not the best of starts for Jack! Needless to say, the Gwent player was suitably admonished after the games had finished. Anyway, the back 9 was a very different story for Jack who made a fantastic comeback against a much more experienced player winning 1 up on the last. Sam Ellicott was in the final game and he also won on the 18th to secure the final point. The overall score was 8 v 7 in favour of Gwent but it was great to see that all 5 debutants contributed to the scoreboard.
As ever, Graham was running the Gwent team and our thanks go to him for his organisation on the day. Thanks also go to Tredegar Park GC for hosting the game, presenting the course in good condition and keeping us fed & watered throughout the day.
On a personal note, I would like to thank Richard Salter (our GGU Vice President) for all his support on the day and making it round a fairly mountainous course in one piece!
Finally, many thanks as always to all the parents who brought and picked up their boys on the day as without this level of support we just wouldn't have a team.
Our next match is a Channel league match against Glamorgan on the 29th Sept at Filton GC and spectators are more than welcome to join us to support the boys.
Ian James - U18's Match Manager
Created by intelligentgolf version 10.1.2.
