Sidmouth were drawn at home to Boringdon Park from Plymouth in the first round of the Annodata UK Golf Club Classic, a national team event played regionally in the early stages.
Club Captain Jonathan Lee met Wayne Goss from Boringdon, who received 5 shots. Lee took an early lead but Goss held on and with a fine putt on 9, a chip-in at 10 and a shot at 11, the game was all square before Lee took four holes on the trot to close the match.
Neil Holland followed in a game with a similar pattern, an early lead, a comeback from Boringdon’s Barry Williams and Holland two up on the 17th. A fine birdie from Williams took the match to the final hole, where Holland clinched victory.
Terry Jones featured in match three and the Boringdon boys held little hope as their Colin White had been struggling of late. Sidmouth isn’t the easiest of courses in such circumstances and Jones took a comfortable win on the 10th green.
With the match in the bag for the home side, Iain Roberts found himself all square after 10. The game then took a most unusual turn as Mike Hampson took 4 holes to be 4 up on the 15thtee, only for Roberts to take the last 4 for an unlikely halved match.
Duncan Taylor was given the anchorman role, a tribute to his extra holes win over the two-time, back-to-back defending Challenge Cup Winner, James Spiller, on the previous evening. Wayne Tulley, Annodata Team Captain for Boringdon, was his opponent and who took an early lead, 3 up after 7, before Taylor rallied to be one down on the last tee.
Taking an aggressive line from the tee in an attempt to drive the final green he took a chunk out of the Captain’s car instead and lost the match 2 down. A rare loss for Taylor and a fine victory for the Boringdon man.
Sidmouth must now wait a few days for the second round draw.
Sidmouth seniors had a tough away match in prospect when they travelled to Libbaton but Captain Phil Spencer and Charles Brown set off with high hopes though and leapt into the lead, 3-up after 3 holes.
Unfortunately, reality set in with the home side pegging them back by the 11th hole. A couple of vital missed putts and poor drives on the 17th meant Libbaton ran out 2 & 1. Vice-captain, John White and Bernie Millward, were never in front and succumbed on the 15th to lose 5 & 3.
The third pairing of Steve Nunn and Paul Blay also got off to a poor start and were 4-down after 5 holes. Although they managed to make a game of it through the middle holes, they couldn't improve the situation and lost 4 & 3. Things didn't get better with the fourth group of Brian Margison and David Bromage also losing by a hefty margin, 5 & 4.
When the next pairing of Chris Grubb and Vernon Ruffle also went 3-down after 3 holes, things were looking grim. However, they pulled themselves together and won 4 holes in a row from the 5th and were never behind from then on, securing a much-needed win 2 & 1. Bruce Harcourt and late replacement, David Cowler, were last out and also put in a sterling performance to win 2 & 1.
Despite the overall loss 4 points to 2, Sidmouth will look forward to the return match in October.
The Sidmouth Jewellers Friday Stableford was won by Dave Richards with 38 points from Steve Milton in third on countback from Colin Craven, both on 37 apiece.
The Gater Contractors Medal on Saturday saw Saju Patidar win Div 1 with an excellent net 4 under par 62, ahead of James Spiller on 65 and Paul Lewis who posted 66.
Div 2 was won by Mike Temple with 66, having beaten Steve Nunn into second on countback and with Nick Bater taking third with 67.