Boys U18s v Staffordshire – Match Report
Team
SPENCER TANNER (COVENTRY)
LOUIS TAYLOR (c) (LADBROOK PARK)
ALFIE MITCHELL (NUNEATON)
CALLUM LEE (MOOR HALL)
JACK HEWITSON (COPT HEATH)
OLLIE CAMARGO-JONES (COVENTRY)
EDWARD HAYLE (RUGBY)
JOEY WILLIAMS (MOOR HALL)
After this, our final home fixture, and one game left to play (away to Shropshire & Herefordshire on 4th August), the chances of Warwickshire Boys’ team winning the league hang in the balance.
On a warm and pleasant Sunday morning, we hosted Staffs at Atherstone GC, which was well presented although relatively unknown to most of our Boys team. Credit to our opposition, who had travelled the previous week to play a practice round at Atherstone, and no doubt it stood them in good stead for the match.
Despite the above, Team Warwickshire took a deserved lead in the morning foursomes session by 2.5 points to 1.5. This was by virtue of wins for Jack and Ollie (by a resounding 5&4), and Ed and Joey (by 1up). There was a halved match for Alfie and Callum, whilst Spencer and Louis slid to a 3&1 defeat to Staffs’ top pairing.
A very swift lunch break was followed by the singles matches, with Warwickshire needing 4 points from 8 to ensure victory.
A tactical change saw Joey go out first against their top player, and whilst he fought hard this was just too tough an assignment. Spencer halved a close second match, before Louis went down to an uncharacteristic 5&4 defeat.
Excellent wins followed for Ollie (2&1) and Alfie (5&4), before a defeat for Jack in match 6 and a further half point secured by Callum in match 7. This made a total of 3 points won, with Ed having won the 17th hole to stand all square with his opponent on the 18th tee. A halved match would secure the draw, and a full point needed for the win.
Unfortunately, despite a battling performance Ed could not repeat his heroics of the previous match. His tee shot on 18 was lost to the left, and his opponent was able to make par and secure the win for Staffs. These are the perils of going out in the last position, but of course the result is made of all 12 matches, not just the last one.
It is still possible to win the league, but we will need a strong win against S&H in our final match, whilst also needing to rely on Worcestershire to beat Staffs in their last fixture on Monday 29th July. Let’s see what the golfing Gods have in store!
Many thanks to our host club ATHERSTONE GC, and to former County President Mark Reynolds for his support on the day. Thanks as always to our players and parents, who I’m sure will be determined to see out our season with a win.
See match results sheet for the full score breakdown.
As mentioned above, our next and final league fixture of the season is an away match against Shropshire & Herefordshire, to be played at Church Stretton GC on Sunday 4th August 2024.
Simon Taylor
Warwickshire Boys Team Manager
