Promotion glory for Sidmouth Golf Club

After narrow defeats for captain Steve Milton and George Barber followed by Will Hastie and David Pepperell, Sidmouth were up against it in next three matches.

Consistent pair Graham Davies and Paul Hitchcock were one up by the 13th but Exeter fought back strongly and by the 17th hole, the Sidmouth pair were one down.

With Hitchcock driving under trees on the 18th fairway, it wasn't looking good for Sidmouth and although he managed to make contact with the ball and scuttle it along the fairway, unfortunately it went under trees on the opposite side of the fairway.

Miraculously, contact was made again and the ball trundled through a narrow gap beside a lake to finish on the fringe of the green. The putt was dutifully sunk for a birdie to win the hole and secure half a point towards Sidmouth's cause.

Penultimate pair Terry and son Harrison Jones fought a tight match and after 15 holes found themselves one down. A great tee shot from Terry 10 feet from the hole on the 16th, followed by a putt to the centre of the hole squared the match. Exeter responded by winning the 17th leaving the match level on the 18th tee.

With Harrison deciding to visit the gardens of the attractive houses along the 18th fairway with his tee shot, it left Dad Terry to attempt to salvage something from the match. This he did, with a testing putt holed on the 18th green to halve the hole and the match taking Sidmouth's tally to a point ensuring promotion next season.

The final pairing of Moray Bosence and Jim Anderton, only defeated once in their matches across the season, were involved in another extremely close match. An amazing chip from Exeter levelled the scores going down the last.

Step forward Jim Anderton with a brave par on the 18th to give Sidmouth the extra half a point to win Division 3 outright and gain promotion to Division 2 next season.

Sidmouth seal promotion at Exeter GC (Image: Exeter GC)