Report from Boys Under 18 Team Manager Gerald Duddy;Â
The Boys’ County finals is the pinnacle of county team golf and it was to Elsham Golf Club in Lincolnshire at the end of August that the Herts U18s travelled to in order to compete with the other regional winners Cheshire, Wiltshire and Cambridgeshire. Hertfordshire had qualified with an emphatic win at the South East section qualifying event in July.
After travelling up in the early hours of the Bank Holiday Monday for the scheduled practice round the players and management team found the course to their liking and a game plan was formulated ahead of a day one match against the South West region winners Wiltshire. With the line up for the first morning’s 3 foursomes submitted, the squad retired to their hotel for some much-needed rest, a hearty dinner and a motivational video with words of encouragement and support from 2010 winning captain Tomaz Anderson and tour players Jamie Rutherford and Tom Lewis.
Day 1 v Wiltshire
Foursomes
On arrival at the course the sun was breaking through for what proved to be a very successful opening day. Hertfordshire, were led off by the experienced pairing of Antoni Hawkins and Ben Sessions and it was Antoni who had the honour of hitting the opening tee shot of the event. Going against Wiltshire’s strongest pairing didn’t daunt our guys and they were soon in their stride and established an early lead which they wouldn’t relinquish eventually winning 2&1. Likewise in match 3, Hanbury Manor pairing of Will Lyons and Harrison Preston, got their point with an assured 3&1 victory. In match 2 however the nuances of match play golf were being played out in real life, and without doing anything wrong and encountering two opponents with very hot putters our team of Louie Bloxham and captain Finlay Rennie found themselves on the wrong side of a 5&4 defeat.
Singles
Following the completion of the first session the management team had to consider the line for the 6 afternoon singles matches. It was decided that the 7th player in the squad, Eddie Cook of Bishop Stortford GC, would come in to the team so that everyone would taste action on the first day of competition. The first match of the afternoon would go Wiltshire’s way with a narrow defeat for Finlay but he was ably backed up by his team mates when Ben (7&6), Louie (2&1), Antoni (7&5) and Will (6&4) provided the wins to give us enough match points to win the overall match 6pts to 3.
 A great marker had been set but the threat of inclement weather on the Wednesday afternoon soon put a new twist on how Day 2 may play out. It was decided that due to the threat of thunderstorms on Wednesday afternoon that the 6 singles matches would be played in the morning session with the foursomes in the afternoon, weather permitting, so deciding the line up because of upmost importance in case the afternoon session didn’t go ahead.
Day 2 v Cambridgeshire
Singles
On arrival at the golf course the morning session there was no sign of any impending forecasted weather and the 6 players selected to represent Hertfordshire soon took to the course against near neighbours Cambridgeshire who has lost the previous day Cheshire. Ben staged a stirring comeback having been 2 down through 13 holes to win 2&1, Antoni won by the same margin in match 1. Louie 4&2 and Will (9&8) had easier wins but Harrison was taken all the way to the 18th green by a dogged opponent who fought back from 4 down at one stage and a 5-1 morning session ensured the overall match result was confirmed before lunch.
Foursomes
The change in format in a way did us a great favour as with the overall match win secured in the singles and the foursomes matches going ahead, we were able to give players a rest and experiment with our foursomes pairings ahead of a potential title showdown Day 3. Leading out the team in the afternoon were Antoni and Will who recorded a comfortable 4&3 win. Likewise, Louie and Ben were on top form running away with their match by a margin of 6&5. A clean sweep of the session was completed when Harrison and Eddie secured a 1up victory and the overall match result of 9-1 meant we went into the final day with two match wins and a narrow half point lead in the league table over Cheshire who had also started with two wins.
Day 3 v Cheshire
Foursomes
The third and final day started with a chill in the air but the players arrived at the club determined to complete the task at hand. Antoni and Finlay were tasked with putting the first point on the board and they didn’t let us down going one up on the first hole with a chip in eagle! The lead soon increased to 4 up through 6 holes with the Herts pair an incredible 6 under par!! Although Cheshire staged a comeback and getting within 1 hole, our boys finally saw them off with a birdie on 16 ensuring at least half a point and the win secured on the 17th green. Match 3 saw a comfortable win for Harrison and Will and despite losing match 2 we entered the all-important afternoon singles in the driving seat with a 2-1 lead.
Singles
We knew that getting 2.5pts from the 6 singles games would be enough to secure the title and it was decided that we would keep the line up the same from the morning foursomes to try and capitalise on that momentum. Alas, Cheshire had other ideas and came out firing on all cylinders, earning early leads in many of the matches that they would unfortunately not relent. The first four matches were shared 2 a piece with the overall match score still showing Hertfordshire leading 4-3. Ben and Louie were the winners for Hertfordshire. The match was tied when Harrison lost to his opponent and this left us needing Will to overturn a 4 hole deficit over the closing holes. Despite playing an incredible role in the anchor matches all week, this would prove a step too far and he would eventually lose his first match of the season and the title was Cheshire’s.
Despite the obvious disappointment of the players and officials who had travelled to Lincolnshire for the 4 days, we left with our heads held high, safe in the knowledge that each and every member of the squad and contributed to the team total and overall result and proud to me members of this Hertfordshire squad. For many it was their final involvement in junior golf and we wish them well in their future endeavours and for a few there is always next year to try and regain a title that we last won in 2010!
