Warwickshire Golf
Men's 1st Team v Leicestershire - Match Report
After an extremely wet winter the 1st team finally managed to get onto a golf course for some much needed competitive match practice against L&R at Lutterworth Golf Club on Sunday 24th March.
The team assembled for this fixture was:-
Darryl Gwilliam (The Warwickshire)
Harris Long (Moor Hall)
Stephen Creed (Stratford on Avon)
Warren Bladon (Kenilworth)
Rob Tovey (Olton)
Joel Smith (Stratford on Avon)
Finlay Stokes (Maxstoke Park)
Richard Bush (Coventry)
Rob Holland (Moor Hall)
Gary Skipp (Robin Hood)
First out in the foursomes were Darryl Gwilliam & Harrison Long and after a nip & tuck match the L&R pair eventually ran out 2&1 winners.
Second out were Warren Bladon & Rob Tovey, early season rust saw a few holes change hands cheaply in a 4&3 loss.
Making his 1st team debut in the third pairing was Joel Smith partnered by Fin Stokes, they both settled into a nice rhythm in running out 3&2 victors.
Richard Bush was another debutant and he was partnered with Rob Holland, a tight match with their L&R opponents would the 4th match go Warwickshire's way with a hard fought 1 up win.
Last pair onto the course were Gary Skipp & Stephen Creed who after taking an early lead were pegged back a little before holding off their opponents for a 2 up win.
Lunch was taken with a narrow 3 v 2 lead.
Darryl Gwilliam led the team out in the singles and whilst battling hard against a very good opponent he would lose 3&2.
Harrison Long was 2nd out and he also was up against an opponent who was impressive with his early season form and as a result succumbed to a 3&2 loss.
Rob Tovey stopped the top order rot with a battling half before Joel Smith's debut saw him lose valiantly 3&2 against a very good opponent (welcome to 1st team golf Joel).
A struggling Warren Bladon had a day to forget in going down 8&6 before Fin Stokes recorded a very impressive and much needed 4&3 win.
With the match still somewhat in the balance, could the Warwickshire tail wag and pull off an unlikely victory ?
Unfortunately, not on this occasion.
Both Gary Skipp & Richard Bush would lose valiantly 2&1 and 3&2 respectively before Stephen Creed came home with a 3&1 win.
The overall match score therefore was L&R 8.5 v 6.5 Warwickshire
Congratulations to Captain John Fairbrother and his L&R team for their excellent golf and the spirit in which the match was played through-out the day.
I wish all of the the players both individually and collectively good golf for the coming season and look forward to renewing golfing hostilities with L&R at the England Golf Midlands County Qualifying event at Trentham Park in July.
My thanks to Lutterworth Golf Club for the use 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 Stu Bloxham alongside Chairman Mark Reynolds and his wife Debs is much appreciated.
We now move on to the start of the league season with a very tough opening fixture away at Kedleston Park against the reigning champions Derbyshire.
Pete Clarke
Acting 1st Team Captain
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