Report from Mens 1st Team Player/Manager Laurie Owen:Â
Finally the first game of the league season had come round for the first team with an away day at the beautiful Frilford Heath Golf Club, taking on BB&O over the Blue course on Sunday 7th June.
The day started with the morning foursomes with leading the team out was Adam Berg Capin who was making his debut, along with the experienced Luke Colgate. A tough start for the duo losing 4&3 against a strong BBO pairing.
Match 2 saw first team Captain Connor O’Brien partner up with Welwyn’s finest Harry Cox who both battled well, but just fell short coming down the last to lose 1 down.
Match 3 saw the young talented duo of Finlay Rennie and Will Lyons, both who managed to fire and take down their opponents 4&3 to gain the first point for Herts in the morning.
Match 4 was another closely battled match with old timers Tony Wilkins and Laurie Owen going out last. A ding dong battle with not many halved holes saw the pair narrowly lose 2&1 in a game that could have gone either way.
Not quite the start the team was hoping for after the morning session, but still not a disaster. The team regrouped and got ready for the afternoon singles.
The first of 4 games all went down the last hole with some stellar golf played.
Match 1 was led out by Harry Cox who played some super golf to take his opponent down the last and take him out with a lovely win on the last hole to make it 1up.
Match 2 saw Will Lyons take his game down the last also, but some bad luck saw Will just miss his par putt to lose 18 and the game 1 down.
Match 3 was then led by Laurie Owen whose match wasn’t of the finest quality golf you’ll ever see, but he managed to win the 18th with two very solid shots to win 1 up. Match 4 was Finlay Rennie and a close battle again with Finn getting a bad break with his second shot into 18, leaving a tricky chip shot that needed to go in to halve the match, but narrowly missed to lose 1 down.
Match 5 saw the finely tuned Rolls Royce Tony Wilkins out play his opponent to a solid 2&1 victory with plenty of birdies made by both, but Tony just having the upper hand. Match 6 was led by Captain Connor who out powered the course and his opponent with some long hitting drives to again get another point for the team with a 2&1 win. Match 7 was played out by another experienced member of the team Luke Colgate who put his experience into good practice with a 5&4 victory to gain another crucial point for the team. Match 8 led by Adam Berg Capin was unfortunately an early bath with Adam not quite at the races with a 6&5 defeat, but with still plenty of positives to take from his first game.
A great afternoon performance meant the match finished 6-6, which is a solid start to the season against a very good BB&O side who put up a good challenge.
A mention must go to George Copley who was in attendance all weekend with the squad keeping us hydrated and updated throughout the day, so a big thanks to him for giving up his time and helping the team.
Big thanks also to BB&O for being a great host on a top venue and we now look forward to our next match in July at home at Moor Park, where we will look to push on for a first win of the season.
Click here to view the full scores for the day on the BB&O website
