Warwickshire Golf
Hard Time for the Men's 1st Team at Harborne
On a gloriously sunny day at Harborne Golf club the 1st team welcomed Shropshire & Herefordshire for their 2nd league match of the season looking to build on their excellent away win at Worcestershire
The team for this fixture was:-
Rob Bardsley (Moor Hall)
Warren Bladon (Kenilworth)
Tom Cleaton (Rugby)
Alex Ford (Robin Hood)
Sam Gill (Stratford)
Darryl Gwilliam (Coventry)
Gareth Jenkins (Stratford)
Mike Pell (Olton)
Gary Skipp (Robin Hood)
Ian Smith (The Warwickshire)
First out in the foursomes were Rob Bardsley & Alex Ford who after being 1 down thru 10 turned this to 1 up thru 14 and despite being 1 up on the 17th tee the notoriously difficult final 2 holes at Harborne would see them lose both for a 1 down loss.
Second out were Tom Cleaton & Gareth Jenkins who could not quite find the rhythm necessary for foursomes golf finding themselves 3 down thru 5 before winning both 6 & 7 to claw back to 1 down. This was a short lived revival however and they quickly lost successive holes before losing 7 & 5.
Third pair on the golf course were Warren Bladon & Ian Smith with everything seemingly going to plan when they were 2 up thru the turn and extended this to 4 up thru 12. Then the wheels fell off and remarkably they lost all of the last 6 holes for a 2 down loss.
Fourth pair to enter the fray were Gary Skipp & Darryl Gwilliam and like Tom & Gareth before them they too couldn't find the consistency required for foursomes. Regular holes lost saw them 6 down at the turn and with no way back they too lost 6 & 5.
Last pair onto the golf course were Mike Pell & Sam Gill and despite being either 1 or 2 down for most of the match they would fight back to all square after 16 holes and with the last 2 holes being shared we finally troubled the scorer with a half point.
Lunch although deliciously prepared by Harborne's excellent catering team was difficult to swallow with the half time score being Warwickshire 0.5 v 4.5 Shropshire & Herefordshire.
Words were not required as you could see in the eyes of the players that it hurt and that they were determined right the morning's wrong's.
First out in the singles was Rob Bardsley who unfortunately repeated his exploits of the morning by arriving on the 17th tee 1 up to only lose both 17 & 18 again.
Alex Ford went out second and in a tight nip & tuck battle would arrive on the 17th tee 1 up before going to win 2 & 1.
Tom Cleaton eventually ground down his stubborn opponent with a late flurry of holes to record a fine 3 & 1 victory
Darryl Gwilliam took an early 2 up lead thru 5 and extended this run out a comfortable 4 & 3 winner.
Warren Bladon was also 2 up early on before extending this 4 up before settling for a 3 & 1 victory.
At this stage of the match the score was Warwickshire 4.5 v 5.5 Shropshire & Herefordshire and all to play for.
Next up was Gareth Jenkins, who couldn't quite get his nose in front of his opponent and would grind out a hard fought half point.
Ian Smith would bounce between 1 up/all square/1 down and back to all square before losing 1 down at the death.
Match score now Warwickshire 5.0 v 7.0 Shropshire & Herefordshire and a Captain's innings required to keep us in the hunt, ‘cometh the hour' Mike Pell came home 2 & 1 to close the match score to within a point and an unlikely victory still feasible.
Gary Skipp would valiantly battle back from 3 down thru 11 to post a valuable half point and still give hope that the match could be drawn.
The match result therefore rested in the hands of Sam Gill on his return from the pro ranks and called up only the day before due to late injuries. Agonisingly Sam couldn't quite get the better of his opponent and would fall to the mercy of holes 17 & 18 to lose 2 down.
The overall match score therefore became Warwickshire 6.5 v 8.5 Shropshire & Herefordshire.
Congratulations to Captain Craig Simmons and his S&H team for their excellent golf and the spirit in which the match was played through-out the day.
I'd like to thank all of the Warwickshire players for their efforts on what was a tough day at the office and look forward to renewing golfing hostilities with S&H at the England Golf Midlands County Qualifying event at Belton Park in July.
My thanks to Harborne Golf Club for the use and presentation of their golf course and to their catering team for keeping us all excellently fed and watered.
As always the presence and support of our President Mark Reynolds, S&H President Charles Sievewright, as well as Pete Clarke & John Stubbings is much appreciated.
We now move on to our 3rd league match at Olton Golf Club on Sunday 2nd July v Staffordshire where we will look to get back to winning ways to keep us in touch with the leaders.
Mike Pell
County Team Captain
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