SUGC V TEESSIDE at BLACKWELL GRANGE GC

SUNDAY 23 JUNE 2024

Whichever person decreed that a bad day on the golf course is infinitely better than a bad day in the office was clearly not at Blackwell Grange on Sunday.

On a very warm, sunny but somewhat breezy day, the strongest side Teesside could field hosted Sheffield on a firm, bumpy course with hard greens that were somewhat slower than the visiting side are used to, leading to a course set up where local knowledge and home advantage was priceless.

The golfing gods were certainly not with Sheffield at any stage throughout the day, and whilst it is not unreasonable to get a few bad breaks it is not unreasonable to expect "the rub of the green" on some occasions.  

This was not to be, however, as countless putts stopped a few inches short whilst the home side seemed to hole out regularly from long range.  There were numerous holes lost when, after driving long and straight down the middle of the fairway to be "in the driving seat" compared with the opponent who had carved the ball way right to be on the wrong fairway or behind trees, we would lose the hole because our approach shot to a raised green, with the flag at the front would visit the green only to turn up its nose and roll back down the bank, or decide to take a hefty jump and disappear over the back.

The opposition on the other hand seemed able to find just the right branch on the right tree from which to clatter the ball so it could then nestle nicely on the green, admittedly perhaps thirty feet away, but, no problem, they would hole that for a birdie.  After playing the hole correctly even with the aforementioned bad luck with the approach shot, Sheffield's par proved not to be good enough.

Even when we achieved a birdie in the afternoon singles matches, the opposition replied and won with an eagle, without ever visiting the green!

A combination of all these factors lead to some heavy defeats in the morning foursomes where the home side went in to the afternoon singles with a healthy 10 - 2 points advantage.  The afternoon matches proved to be more of the same with heavy defeats in our first three matches before John Berrisford recorded a hard earned 2 & 1 victory, but two more heavy defeats sealed our fate, before Junior player Presley Allott recorded a notable 2 & 1 win against a far more experienced player, surviving the shock of losing a hole which he had birdied. Defeats in the following three matches really enhanced the home team's points tally. Even though the final two matches earned us three more points with Lewis Adderley-Foster winning by a fine 6 & 5 margin we failed to achieve double figures in the points count, losing by a resounding 27 - 9 points.

It was not as though we had played or scored particularly badly, the opposition just scored better, taking full advantage of the home venue and their knowledge of it and the gifts that the golfing gods bestowed upon them. The result left Teesside cock a hoop and Sheffield very deflated with much soul searching to do.

Nigel Ogden - President 2024

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