U18’s make it a clean sweep in league opener
The U18s kicked off their season in emphatic style with the first of 3 triangular matches at Hadley Wood GC. The visitors on this occasion were near neighbours Middlesex and BB&O, who were the overall winners of last year’s SE Group final.
With many of last year’s team who qualified for the Boys County Finals now not eligible for junior golf, it was the chance for the new wave of talent coming through the ranks to show what they are capable of, ably assisted by one or two familiar faces. And that is exactly what they did, finishing the day with two wins. They whitewashed both visiting teams by 8 wins to 0. Scorelines that are usually unheard of!
Recently crowned Scottish Boys champion Antoni Hawkins got the team off to a flying start with two comfortable 6&4 wins and that set the tone for the afternoon on a course where the greens were scarily quick and finding the correct areas of the green were of key importance.
In match 2, 13-year-old home club favourite Freddie Buck, recorded two further wins without really getting out of 2nd gear. An impressive feat for someone making his debut at this level. There then followed more wins for Brickendon Grange’s Alfie Akers, Porter’s Parks’ sibling duo River and Jaego Gardiner and West Herts’ Lewis Salthouse, all of whom were made to work a little harder for their points, with a number being taken as far as the 17th hole.
Matches 7 and 8 also proved to be tighter affairs, with Sandy Lodge’s Nick Curran and Ronnie Seagroatt of Hanbury Manor both having to overturn considerable early deficits to get the better of both opponents. Ronnie found the going tough early on but through the middle part of his round found his form and brought home his points. Nick was involved in the only game involving a Hertfordshire player to go as far as the 18th green and made a great up and down after short siding himself with his approach. A really gritty performance despite not having his best stuff on the day.
These wins set the team up nicely for the rest of the season, but we know that there will be tougher challenges to overcome with two ‘away’ matches still to come. We’d like to thank Hadley Wood for their hospitality on the day and everyone who came to support the team.
Match Report from Team Manager Gerald Duddy
