BRADFORD V SUGC

The Bradford Union provided a venue, at Bradford Golf Club, which, because of the long dry spell we have enjoyed over the past few weeks was a tough challenge with hard bouncy fairways and firm, unforgiving greens.  Whilst the local consensus is that all greens slope towards Baildon Moor they proved to be more unpredictable than that with subtle borrows and slopes not easily seen by the visitor.

The morning foursomes, played in breezy, overcast conditions did not start well with local knowledge of where to lay up and which side of the pin to leave the ball was proving to be advantageous.  At the half way point in the round SUGC were looking at a large deficit but a spirited fight back towards the end of the rounds meant that at lunch we approached the afternoon singles 5 - 7 down, a much healthier position than the early encounters suggested, with Jonty Butcher and Frankie Houlgate returning a fine 5&4 victory and Ollie Smith and Lewis Harrison turning a sizable early reverse into a well fought 1 up victory.

Armed with the benefit of having played most of the holes earlier and in slightly warmer and sunnier afternoon conditions the singles matches started more promisingly than the morning foursomes with SUGC winning three of the first five matches with one halved, giving us a slender lead, with Ollie Smith, Frankie Houlgate and Presley Allott carding fine wins.

The points in six of the remaining seven matches were shared equally and with the final match on the course showing that  with SUGC two up with three to play there was grounds for some optimism.  The optimism was soon dashed however when Rob Hillas from Bradford, showing a never say die attitude then carded two birdies in the last three holes, almost holing out for an eagle two at the last to snatch a 1 up victory and render the match an 18 -18 points tie.

The Bradford course has many subtle challenges with some shortish par four holes where in the current hard, running conditions some players were tempted to try and drive these greens, where the wiser heads laid up short and benefited from a chip and putt from the correct side of the pin indicating that, whilst not as exciting or spectacular an approach to playing a hole, it can be a more profitable one.

Nigel Ogden 19 May 2025

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