Emerton Court Trophy

Last week Sidmouth seniors were playing the home leg of their Emerton Court Trophy match against Elfordleigh, writes Terry Carter.

These matches usually go the way of the home sides, as local knowledge of the golf courses means so much.

The away leg had been played earlier in June, and had resulted in a 5-0 win for the Plymouth club, leaving Sidmouth needing a 5-0 home win to keep hopes alive.

Sidmouth started well with a comfortable four and three win for the on-form Chris Ashley and Peter Spooner, highlighted by some brilliant play from the ever-consistent Ashley that featured four birdies.

Second off was Trevor Kerridge and Doug Goodall, another strong pair who had a tough struggle against determined opponents, but who never gave up. This game was to prove critical as the other games reached their conclusions.

The new pairing of Peter Harrison and Tony Crow had come back strongly from being two down at the turn to record a three and two victory, and Alec Salway, partnered by Bob Welsman, had proved too strong for their opposition and had run out winners by another three and two margin.

With the final pairing of Pop Banfield and Mick Baden looking comfortably ahead in their game, everything depended on Kerridge and Goodall securing a win in the second match now drawing to a close on the last green.

Despite having been two down with only three holes to play, the pair had used their local knowledge to win both the 16th and 17th and leave their game all square with one hole to play.

All four players had good drives down the par four 18th, but a halved hole would give Elfordleigh the necessary half point for a two leg aggregate win.

With the visitors on the back of the green in two, it looked as though a birdie by the home pair would be required. They both just failed in their birdie attempts but were sure of a par, leaving the visitors only needing two putts from about 12 feet for victory.

The first putt finished about three feet away, still a missable distance for some of us, but, with both teams and spectators looking on, the putt caught the rim of the hole and dropped in. This critical game was halved giving victory over both legs to Elfordleigh by a mere half point, despite a valiant effort by the Sidmouth team.

Result: Sidmouth 4� Elfordleigh �.