DEBUTANTS SPRINT FINISH TO SPLENDID WIN

With 5 or 6 of our usual players unavailable, mainly owing to their English Amateur Championship commitments (read more below), this was a chance to introduce a number of this season’s debutants. The morning foursomes did not bode too well as over the opening holes three Sheffield pairs were holes down. Then occurred the turnarounds: Hollingworth/Fell turned a 2-hole deficit into a 3&1 win, similarly Brind/Stones a 1-hole deficit and Harrison/Smith a 3-hole deficit into 1up wins; both King/Tasker and Clarke/Sowerby had 4&3 wins; and, ‘last but not least’ Fullwood/Wilson an excellent 8&7 win – a ‘full house’ foursome total of 12 – 0 points.

For the singles the sun and temperature had risen high, and so had expectations. Uncharacteristically Lewis Hollingworth, Neil Stones and Nick King all lost their matches, the last two having endured an early onslaught of 4 and 3 birdies. But the rest of the team rose to expectations. Particular mention must be made of the debutants: Conor Clarke (Wheatley) won the last hole to square the match; similarly Michael Sowerby (Doncaster TM) won the same hole to win 1up; Oliver Smith (Sicklehome) turned a 3-hole deficit into a 4&3 win; and Jack Wilson (Hallowes) A/S on the ninth into a 4&2 win. What a spectacular debut for these players scoring a total of 15 points out of a possible maximum 16 – a sprint finish to produce a splendid total match win of 29 – 7 points! Captain Neil Allen commented: “I was proud of the team today winning by such a huge margin despite the absence of some of our stalwarts. It shows the strength and depth that our Union has”. Notably in addition, our latest junior league recruit, Jack Wilson, in the foursomes had the longest drive (7th), nearest the pin (9th), and biggest win (8&7). Well done!

All the above means that our Sheffield team remains top of the YIDU table, AND with substantially increased comparative differences, especially in number of holes won. Our next match against the East Riding Union at Hickleton on Sunday 19 August is now the crucial match to win. The team will welcome as much support as possible, such as enjoyed from Past Presidents, Tim Jackson, Eric Powell, Ian Smith, Graham Needham and John Reynard at this match.

English Amateur news: after the 2 rounds of strokeplay, Sheffield players filled 3 of the top 4 places: Sam Rook (1st), Sam Bairstow (2nd) and Nick Poppleton (4th); Lewis Hollingworth and Bailey Gill also made the cut. In the second round of the matchplay these two along with Sam Bairstow lost, Lewis to Nick at the 20th. In the third round Sam Rook won at the 19th, Nick at the 23rd (no less!). Sam lost out in the last 16, Nick in the quarter final to a finalist, Joe Long – all fine achievements to be proud of!

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