THE OLD ST. BEGHIANS' GOLFING SOCIETY COMPETITION RESULTS:

Halford Hewitt
This year’s Halford Hewitt took place from 7th to 10th of April on the wonderful courses along the Kent coast. As usual the team took advantage of the excellent accommodation arrangements at Knowlton Court, with the members beginning to assemble on Monday evening. Once again we were extremely well fed by Karen and the team from Oregano. This year we were blessed with the warmest Hewitt weather that anyone could remember and this was confirmed as the national press reported that April 6th and 7th were the hottest on record.

Halford Hewitt Round 1:
St Bees v Repton – Royal St Georges 1130.
We were drawn to play at this year’s open venue, Royal St Georges. As expected the course was in wonderful condition with the greens running at a nice pace throughout the week. Following two practice days, Andrew Deall lead the St Bees team away at 11.30. The sun was shining and light winds blew from the south west. 

In match one, Andrew Deall and John Currie got off to a poor start going three down after three holes. They then fought back winning the 4th and 5th with pars, followed by a birdie on the par five 7th to get back to all square. By the time they reached the 15th tee they were one down. Andrew hit a good second shot to 10 feet but the putt did everything but drop. The Repton pair followed by hitting a poor second that bounced the bunkers and somehow found the green. A half in 4’s. Both sides hit the green on 16 and walked off with regulation threes. Still one down with two to go. Repton made a classy three on the 17th, which the St Bees’ pair couldn’t match. St Bees lost 2 and 1.

In match two, Adrian Peckitt and Mark Morrison lost the first to a soft par. A mixture of poor finishing from the St Bees’ pair, and excellent finishing from the Repton pair meant that this hole wasn’t to be recovered in the first nine. This was epitomised on the tricky 5th, which was halved despite Repton losing a ball. Unfortunately every opportunity to give holes away was taken, and the match turned with St Bees three down. With the 10th and 11th halved, St Bees got themselves back in the game winning the 12th. The 13th saw the gap reduced to one with St Bees for once winning one “against the head” with steady putting on a difficult green. With the momentum now in St Bees’ favour, a win looked distinctly on the cards. The momentum however immediately returned to the Repton team with not one but two poor chips from St Bees. Two down became a three and two loss on the short 16th when another put slid agonisingly past the lip. St Bees lost 3 & 2.

Match three was hard fought up to the turn. The two holes we lost we could not recover even though we steadied the ship. Our opponents were good company and the match was played in a very warm and friendly manner.
St Bees lost 2 and 1.

In match four, Mike Stamper and Gareth Edgar went two down early on, but through true Cumbrian grit and determination they had squared the match by the 11th tee. A rush of blood by Mike at the twelfth meant a three putt and a hole handed to the opposition. Sadly, worse was to follow when Gareth’s tee shot at the 14th followed our opponents over the out of bounds fence into Prince’s.
The result was a disappointing 3 and 2 defeat.

In match five, James Doggett and Charlie Crummey, playing against Sunningdale foursomes finalist Phil Carr, got off to a strong start with an early string of pars putting them two up after three. Despite some good play from the opposition over the next few holes, St Bees maintained a one hole lead on the 8th tee. Some good tactical thinking caused Repton to lose the difficult 8th and a St Bees par at the 9th could also not be matched by the opposition. St Bees were three up after nine holes. The 10th and 11th were exchanged and at the 12th, with Repton in a swale just off the left of the green in two and St Bees lying the same no more than 15 feet from the hole, four up with six to play was looking very possible. But foursomes can be a cruel game. Repton were down in two from the swale and a St Bees three putt meant back to two up with six to play. We could not match solid pars from Repton at 13 and 14 and it was back to all square. St Bees ground out a good par at 15 to sneak back into the lead, but despite Charlie’s best efforts, a 25ft putt stayed out and it was back to all square at 16; at which point news filtered through that the matches in front were over. The result was already confirmed, an honourable half agreed, and we headed for the bar. Match Halved.

 

Prince’s Plate

Prince’s Plate Round 1:
St Bees v Framlingham. Princes Golf Club.

In match one, Andrew Deall and John Currie got off to a good start and took an early lead. By the turn they were two up. On the back nine they reinforced their position eventually closing the match out on the 16th. St Bees won 3 and 2.

In match two, Gareth Edgar and Mark Morrison established an early lead and looked comfortable for the first nine holes, reaching three up at the 8th. With the 9th lost they turned two up. Framlingham’s confidence grew and they managed to get the match level by the 12th and then took the lead at the 13th. Despite some better golf from the St Bees’ pair on the subsequent holes, the deficit was not recovered by the 16th green when the match was declared a half as the other two matches had already been won. Match halved.

In match three, James Doggett and Stephen Moss complemented each other well and gave little away in a close match. The pair took an early lead with a confident par five at the 2nd; however the lead was then immediately relinquished after they failed to get out of a greenside bunker at the short 3rd. The St Bees’ lead was re-established with a great pitch to inches by Stephen from the bottom of the bank at the tough 6th. The pair then immediately built on their lead to win the 7th. The 8th and 9th were exchanged and the 10th was won by Framlingham with a classy four. St Bees struck back straight away with a regulation par at the 11th, which was enough to re-establish a two hole lead. On the par five 12th, after a straight drive by Stephen, Framlingham drove the ball right out of bounds and conceded the hole. St Bees were now starting to take control moving to three up and eventually won the match. St Bees won 4 and 3.

Prince’s Plate Round 2:
St Bees v Bishops Stortford.  Princes Golf Club. 
Despite having the worst record in the Hewitt, some recent new recruits made Bishops Stortford a team that we could not expect to walk all over.

In match one, Andrew Deall and John Currie traded early holes but by the turn they had managed to secure a lead, being two up. On the back nine they reinforced their position eventually closing the match out on the 16th. 
St Bees won 3 and 2.

In match two, James Doggett and Charlie Crummey were drawn to play a couple of young Cambridgeshire county players, one of whom was last year’s English School Champion. The Bishops Stortford pair produced two birdies and an eagle in an awesome front nine of three under par leaving them six up at the turn. Despite this, Charlie and James put in a gritty performance over the closing holes halving four and winning one of the next five holes before eventually succumbing. 
St Bees lost 5 and 4.

In match three, Adrian Peckitt and Andrew Goodwin lost the first to a holed birdie chip, but then won the 2nd. The third was halved, Bishops Stortford holing a good 15 ft putt. Despite being very erratic off the tee, the Bishops Stortford pair managed to avoid any serious trouble and won the next four holes. Andrew played a good shot into the 8th green and the opposition lost their ball, so we were three down. At the 9th, Bishops Stortford holed a 20ft putt for the half. Andrew and Adrian went four down at the 10th following a lost ball. The recovery began at the 11th, where Adrian holed a tricky 6 ft putt for the win. A win at the 12th brought us back to two down. An error on the course planner resulted in Andrew going just through the green 30yds from the pin. Bishops Stortford played a good second shot to 12ft and Andrew holed the most important putt of the round from 6 ft to halve the hole. Andrew and Adrian then played their best golf to win the next three holes to be one up at 17th tee. A good tee shot from Adrian went unrewarded, just going through the green, whilst the opposition struggled to reach the green in three; but they holed another good 15ft putt for the half to keep them in the match. With the pressure mounting, the Bishops Stortford pair again found trouble off the tee and St. Bees secured the win to go two up.  

Prince’s Plate Quarter Final:
St Bees v Canford.  Princes Golf Club.

In match one, Andrew Deall and John Currie were playing against a pair with handicaps of scratch and one. The St Bees pair got off to a good start managing to win the 1st with a single putt par having found a fairway bunker off the tee. That set the precedent for the round with the St Bees pair scrambling, but putting well. They single putted 6 for a birdie and holed a long one at 7 for par. By the turn they were one down. Holes were exchanged, but by the par five 15th tee the pair were still one down. They birdied 15 to bring the match back to level but immediately gave it back with a poor bogey at 16. A strong birdie two following a fantastic tee shot from Deall brought the match back to all square. With the matches behind finishing 1-1, all was now on this match. With the rest of the team members watching, both sides found the fairway with their drives. St Bees then pushed their second right of the green and the Canford pair found the front edge. Canford made a regulation par which St Bees couldn’t match. 
St Bees lost 1 down.

In match two, Gareth Edgar and Charlie Crummey got off to a slow start against unbeaten opponents and were two down after seven. A good tee shot to the par three 8th looked promising, but three bad putts lost us the hole and we were three down. A good two putt par at 9 won the hole to leave us two down at the turn. Having short- sided themselves at 10 and 11, our opponents recovered to halve and win those holes to be three up rather than the predicted one. Holes were exchanged but the St Bees pair could make no inroads losing on 16th.
St Bees lost 3 and 2. 

In match three, James Doggett and Andrew Goodwin sailed into an early lead with birdies at the 2nd and 3rd followed by a par at the the 4th to put the pair three up. Their position strengthened with another win at the difficult 6th, which meant St Bees were four up through six. A missed six-footer at the 8th let the Canford pair back in and a good four from them at the 10th meant St Bees were pegged back to two up. St Bees held their nerve with regulation pars at 11 and 12 to win the next two and reinstate themselves at four up. Pars followed from St Bees at 13, 14 and 15, which were good enough to keep the score at four up. St Bees won 4 and 3.

Canford eventually went on to win the Prince’s Plate by beating Mill Hill in the semi-final and Winchester in the final.

Grafton Morrish Qualifying
As usual, the Grafton Morrish qualifying was played at Huddersfield Golf Club in May. On a wet and windy day the six man team, made up of three foursomes, had a combined total of 59 points. With the top five teams qualifying for the finals at Brancaster and Hunstanton golf clubs in October, St Bees were unlucky to miss out by a mere six points. Perhaps we shall have better luck next year.