CGL verses Halwood GS Matchplay Comp

County Golf League Vs Halewood Golf Society Matchplay April 2010

After the success of last Novembers Inaugural Matchplay game between the two societies at Mottram Hall in Cheshire, Bondhay in Worksop saw the home leg for CGL in the 2010 double header, with the second leg due to be played at Frodsham Golf club on the 11th September.

18 from Halewood travelled across fro the Liverpool area for the match, with the teams far better balanced with regards to handicaps than last Novembers match at Mottram Hall, where CGL fielded the stronger team.

With the away team (Halewood) Captained by Ged Keeley, CGL captain (Al Bostock) gave Ged the option leading up to the match of either playing off yellow tees and ¾ handicap, or White tees and full handicaps. Thankfully, Halewood chose White tees and full handicaps, as we got to see the course at its supreme best.

CGL have played the venue a couple of times in the winter league series, always off the yellow tees, but yesterdays match off the whites, saw the course in a different light. With perfect weather for golf (sunny and little wind) the 6,900 yard course was in superb condition, all bar a lack of sand in some of the bunkers. With the fairways firm, making tees shots run, but the greens receptive and in excellent condition, everyone got to see the course at its best and how it was designed to be played - from the white tees. The difference this made on some holes was anything up to an extra 60 or 70 yards from the tees usually played during the winter period. Many CGL players went to where they usually teed off from during the winter league, only to find they had a hike to the white tees, sited a lot further back. The difference can be shown by the fact the SSS for the yellow tees is 72, but the SSS from the white tees is 74, although both play to a par of 72.

With everyone arriving for coffee and bacon rolls to start with, it was down to the draw as to who would play who in the matchplay and in what order they matches would be played. This as usual brought same cheers when the names were pulled out of the hat, with the draw being as follows;

No CGL Handicap Halewood Handicap Shots 1 John Williams 23 Ged Keeley 21 CGL 2 2 Al Bostock 8 Mario Mandak 21 H/wood 13 3 Tim Buffham 23 Ian Darnell 25 H/wood 2 4 Paul Hughes 28 John Sheppard 18 CGL 10 5 Malcolm Fell 19 David Sheppard 22 H/wood 3 6 John Spencer 20 David Holding 26 H/wood 6 7 Richard Cockerham 23 Paul Taylor 13 CGL 10 8 Tim Hawkins 18 Robbie Gregory 15 CGL 3 9 Rich Garner 21 Wayne McMullen 10 CGL 11 10 Paul Sherwin 17 Adam Sherwood 5 CGL 12 11 Michael Hopkins 23 Mike Hood 21 CGL 2 12 Eddie Pape 25 John Granite 22 CGL 3 13 Darren Millichip 11 Alex Gill 15 H/wood 4 14 Steve Martin 23 Gary Spears 15 CGL 8 15 Peter Wilson 25 Wayne Arands 20 CGL 4 16 Stuart Laws 9 Chris Woodward 20 H/wood 11 17 Andy Adams 20 Michael Scotland 13 CGL 7 18 James Illsley 19 Craig Gregory 12 CGL 7
So for most it was off to the putting green (apart from some of the Halewood players, who decided to use the 18th green for some putting practice whilst members were playing up the hole!) for the charity putting competition whilst they waited to tee off, with a box of titleist Golf balls as the prize for the winner. This resulted in 5 people going round in 1 under par, with them being joined by myself (miracles do happen), as those that did not take part before the main game, had a go once they had come back in.

This resulted in a longest put play off, which was won by Robbie Gregory, who got to within about 3 feet of the hole. Thanks to all those that took part, which raised a further £72 towards our charity of the year, Cancer Research.

Going off in the first group, it was soon apparent, that the match was going to follow the same trend as last years, with both myself and Ged taking an early lead. I was fortunate to face Mario after he had been at the premier darts night (so slightly off his game), with John struggling in the early holes and Ged playing superb golf and would have been a match for anyone on the day. In fact, Ged went round in net level par, on a course he had never played before!

With both myself and Ged nipping across to other groups to see how the games were going, it seemed that in each 4 ball, CGL were up by a few in one pairing, but Halewood were up by a few in the other, making for a very tight game.

The first team bonus point and individual prize was up for grabs on the par 4 8th hole, for the longest drive, as the fairway sloped left to right, with more danger awaiting the further you went down the fairway, it meant that the winner might not be that long, as long as they stayed in the fairway, how wrong i was!

Robbie Gregory Smashed a drive down the fairway that was measured by GPS at around 360 yards in length! Although Stuart Laws hit one further, for some reason, Stuart forgot to put his name down and move the marker! So the first bonus point went to Halewood, for what must have been a truly stunning driving.

The second bonus point was on the short par 3 11th, which has water in front and bunkers behind. With the pin in an awkward position, Al Bostock set the early lead, but was beaten by Adam Sherwood in the 5th group, getting to 15 ½ feet of the pin. So second bonus point went to Halewood.

The third bonus and individual prize was on the 170 yard par 3 15th, with only one person out of 36 players making the green! Well played Paul Hughes (playing off 28 handicap), for showing the rest of us supposedly better golfers how to do it!

That meant that the bonus scores were 2 to Halewood and 1 to CGL.

With the first group coming off the 9th green with big leads for Ged and Al, it was time to get the beer in for Al and Mario, but as usual, Mario still gave the rest of the group a chuckle. With us deciding when walking up the 9th, that whoever lost the hole first, would run back to the pro shop to get some drinks in (it was a hot day), that duty fell to Mario, who set off at pace whilst the rest of us putted out. No sooner had he gone, than the drinks and food wagon turned up at the 9th green, with chilled drinks and hot and cold snacks. So as we stood and delved in to bacon rolls and sausage rolls with a cool drink, back came Mario with the drinks from the pro shop! Still Mario, at least the beer was nice and cold, although it did seem to ruin the game for you after that (so the tactics worked).

On the 10th, Mario went out of bounds twice with his second shot, with John also going out of bounds once, followed by a poor second attempt at his second shot, it meant that Ged and Al had won the hole before they even got near the water in front of the green!

On the 11th, Mario put his tee shot in the water in front of the green and then proceeded to hit his second tee shot to the right of the green, leaving Al a par to win the hole.

We were all given a surprise on the 12th tee, when we were greeted with a snake sunning itself on the tee, before being chased by Ged (in David Bailey mode with his camera) and disappearing round the base of the tree to the side of the tee box.

With good tee shots by Ged, John and Mario, with Al in the bunker up on the right, it seemed a possible fight back was on the cards for Mario. With his second shot landing on the edge of the green and Al’s second shot from the fairway bunker finding the greenside bunker! But after a good bunker shot, and Mario’s putting falling by the wayside, it meant both matches finished on the green, with Al winning the hole for a 8 & 6 victory, and Ged and John halving the hole for a 7 & 6 victory for Ged. This was a repeat of the last match, as we both one our games on the same hole at Mottram!

With the pressure off, both Mario and John started to play some better golf, with Ged starting to hit a few poor shots. This was highlighted by Mario’s birdie on the par 4 16th hole.

So after completing the 18th which looked truly stunning in the sunlight, we stood behind the green with a drink and watched the groups come in, to see how tight the match was going to be. The next group up shared the points, but then the game started to slip away from Halewood, with the next 7 points going to CGL, to take a 10 – 4 lead, counting the bonus points. With Eddie pulling out halfway round the course (understand he was in a car accident in the week), it meant with 6 points up for grabs, CGL were winning by 10 -5, with Halewood understood to be up in the remaining matches, meaning a win for Halewood was still possible.

The next two pairings up, saw Darren Millichip win his for CGL with a 7 & 5 result and Gary Spears winning his for Halewood by 3 & 2, giving the running totals of 11 -6, with 4 points left to play for.

Although the match was over, the best was still to come (although it took chuffing ages for them to appear in the far distance on the 18th tee!) with the next set of pairings setting off from the 18th tee with both matches in the balance.

With Stuart Laws three putting from 12 feet to lose the hole and his match in front of a large gallery round the 18th green, it left Peter Wilson to show how to give everyone a lesson in matchplay, by sinking his putt to win his game on the last hole. Where was the lesson you ask?

Peter was 4 down, with 5 to play and proceeded to win all the last 5 holes to win the match. A magnificent effort Peter.

The last two pairings out on the course saw the Derbyshire pairing of Andy and James taking on Michael and Craig. With James having already won his match 4 & 3, it was down to Andy to win the last hole and his match by two holes, to give a final leader board of CGL 14 points, Halewood 7 points.

So it was back to the clubhouse for a very nice two course meal and the presentations, with CGL retaining the plate for another 6 months, before Halewood disappearing quickish, to go for a night out in Sheffield, whilst  the CGL team packed away the prizes and reflected on another good team effort.
Who were the winners on the day?

Well, there were a few.

Honesty - Having checked the handicaps on Golfshake before leaving home, it was refreshing when firstly Steve Martin came up and said his Golfshake handicap was wrong as he was playing off 23 not 24, so giving Halewood an extra shot on the day, followed by Jon Williams, who also altered his handicap down from 23.5 to 23, so also losing a shot on the day. Hats off to both of you for being so honest and showing that the game of golf is still played in the manner it should be.

Bondhay GC – We were given a service by the club, second to none. From arrival to final food, Bondhay showed how to cater for a society, in the same fashion as Willow Valley did for us in the Winter League.  The course was in stunning condition (apart from some bunkers), I would highly recommend anyone who wants a challenge, to come and play the course off the white tees in the summer, you will not be disappointed.

Everyone taking part – All matches were played in a great spirit, although there seemed to be less banter than the league matches, but that was understandable, with this being matchplay!

Robbie Gregory  (15 Handicap)– For smashing a 360 yard drive, something a lot of golfers will no doubt be hearing about for months to come!
Paul Hughes (28 handicap) – for showing the rest of us supposedly better golfers how to win a nearest the pin on a 170 yard par 3 challenge!

Peter Wilson (25 Handicap) – 4 down with 5 to play and did not throw the towel in, but showed determination to win the remaining holes and his match.

Final Paring Results
No    CGL    Result    Halewood    Result   
No CGL Result Halewood Result Score 1 John Williams   Ged Keeley 7 & 6 0-1 2 Al Bostock 8 & 6 Mario Mandak   1-1 3 Tim Buffham

3 & 2 

Ian Darnell 3 & 2 2-1 4 Paul Hughes   John Sheppard

 3 & 2

2-2 5 Malcolm Fell 1 Hole David Sheppard   3-2 6 John Spencer 4 & 3 David Holding   4-2 7 Richard Cockerham 7 & 5 Paul Taylor   5-2 8 Tim Hawkins 2 Holes Robbie Gregory   6-2 9 Rich Garner 1 Hole Wayne McMullen   7-2 10 Paul Sherwin 1 Hole Adam Sherwood   8-2 11 Michael Hopkins 5 & 4 Mike Hood   9-2 12 Eddie Pape Retired John Granite   9-3 13 Darren Millichip 7 & 5 Alex Gill   10-3 14 Steve Martin   Gary Spears 3 & 2 10-4 15 Peter Wilson 1 Hole Wayne Arands   11-4 16 Stuart Laws   Chris Woodward 1 Hole 11-5 17 Andy Adams 2 Holes Michael Scotland   12-5 18 James Illsley 4 & 3 Craig Gregory   13-5

Just done some tidying up of the Word tags causing this to go a bit skew wiff.

 

Well done team CGL