Sunday 19th May, beautiful day again, course in good condition and OTGS looking for a performance like last year!  Welcome back Hewi after a long period away through injury.  There were 10 teams in the qualifying group at Worplesdon and only the top 5 went through to the finals at Hunstanton & Brancaster.

Team consisted of:

Richard Willacy & Ed Bradnock
Simon H-Avison & Greg Whalley
Pete Whalley & Tim Blood

After an interesting shot at the 18th following Ed’s flier from the semi rough approaching the 18th green 1 point was still made for an overall 28 points.  Simon & Greg scored 25 points and probably the clincher was Pete and Tim with 32 points.  The back 9, 18 points, from Pete & Tim secured our position at 4th place to qualify for the finals for the second year running.

Well done boys.

Another wonderful day had by all (14 Attendees) as the sun shone, the wind was non existent and the terrace beckoned us at the end of the day to talk about the golf and admire the view of the North Downs.

The day started at noon with the AGM for the OTGS which updated those attending what had happened within the society over the past year and golf at the school.  The minutes can be read on the OTGS website.  The course was in superb condition and once again Matt, head greenskeeper, has raised the standard of the course.  After lunch we played for the Fairwater Cup, Vets Cup (over 9 holes), Nearest to the pin, Longest Drive, best Team score and a prize for the best Guest.  There were 10 OT’s and 4 Guests.  Banter on the terrace was typical after golf which I believe reflected how much people enjoyed the day.

Results:
Fairwater Cup  –  Richard Parsons 35 Points
Vets Cup  –   Andrew Horne 15 Points
Nearest to the Pin –  Mark Banham
Longest Drive  –  Greg Whalley
Best Guest  –  Mark Welsh 34 Points
Best Team  –  Mark Banham/Rob Mazur/Richard Parsons

Once again the Thone Cup meeting at Taunton & Pickeridge GC was a success on Sunday 28th April.  A huge thank you to Clive Large who has taken over match managing this from Hugh Todd.

Terry Davidge won the Thone Cup with 38 points, Finley Pyke (son of Matthew Pyke) won the GB Johnson salver for the best pupil (who went around Taunton and Pickeridge in one over par off the middle tees playing off 6) with 41 points (A future Halford Hewitt team member!)

The OTs won the team competition versus the school.

Once again the BNB took place the weekend before the Halford Hewitt so it was going to be a long few days of golf.  The weather was looking blustery with winds just short of 50 mph but it did remain fairly dry!   Richard Willacy, Tim Blood, Andy Ford and Jack Malden played on the Friday practice day and was later joined by Captain Pete Whalley for the welcome, draw and dinner.   Taunton were drawn to play Lloyds Bank in the 1st round on Saturday.

The team for the weekend was:
Richard Willacy & Phil Stickler
Jack Malden & Andy Ford
Tim Blood & Pete Whalley

1st Round (Main Competition) against Lloyds Bank Won 2-1
2nd Round (Main Competition) against Wigorns Lost 2-1

Round 1 Results:  1st Pair Willacy/Stickler (Won 3-2), 2nd Pair Malden/Ford (Won 3-2), 3rd Pair Blood/Whalley (Lost 4-3)
Round 2 Results: 1st Pair Willacy/Stickler (lost 19th), 2nd Pair Malden/Ford (Won 3-2), 3rd Pair Blood/Whalley (Lost 19th)

Sadly the two pairs that lost are still recovering having been dormy 3 Up and losing on the 19th!

On Sunday we joined the ranks of the consolation stableford, which was again incredibly tough with the extremely strong winds, achieving an aggregate score of 64 points.

Taunton having won their qualifier stage benefitted from a first round bye and were due to play Nottingham in the second round at glorious Brancaster.  The weather was dry but the wind, in true links golf, was fresh!!

Team and pairings consisted of …..

Gary Hector & Phil Stickler
Richard Willacy & Greg Whalley
Pete Whalley & David Higginson

Tough school again Gary and Phil lost 2-1, Richard and Greg halved their match on the eighteenth and Pete and David fought back to 1 down going down the eighteenth but didn’t manage to win the hole back, so Taunton lost 2.5 – 0.5.  Unfortunately, we had car tyre problems which needed sorting out before the long drive home so we were unable to put a full team in for the Salver BUT were allowed to follow the field at midday and play another 18 holes amongst ourselves which was, as always, fun and competitive.

Well done to Captain Pete for leading the team and Gary for sourcing the excellent accommodation.

Full results and finals draw can be viewed under Scratch Competitions – Grafton Morrish