| Date: | 1st August 2010 at 13:00 |
| Venue: | West Sussex G.C. |
On another warm and dry Summer day, a group of 14 OTs aged from 17 to nearly 70 assembled at West Sussex for our second match against the Old Eastbournians. The original plan was for a match of 12 a side, however I was delighted to inform my OE counterpart, the charming Michael Walter, that we could raise the stakes to 14 and he was more than happy to agree. The course was almost burnt to a crisp, but the greens were fine and looked like oases in the Sussex desert countryside.
After the usual delicious lunch in the dining room and a welcome from Peter Meanley, one of 2 West Sussex members in the OE side, we set off for our afternoon round. We had several players who had never played West Sussex before (including the Match Manager) and several people making their OT debut in the match. These included Adrian Spurling, Matthew Leedham and Jas Hansra, who had only recently left the school and wore his School Golf Club tie and colours with flair. It was wonderful to have such a young newcomer playing with us, and I can only encourage Jas and his friends to join us more often. At the tender age of just 17, surely he must be the youngest OT to represent the OTGS.
Leading the charge was the formidable 1983 old Judde House pair of Adrian Betts and Adrian Spurling. Adrian B confessed to me that West Sussex was one of his favourite courses when I approached him to play in the match, and that knowledge of the course certainly helped to get them off to a good start. Adrian S played out of his skin by all accounts, booming the ball down the fairways and belying his handicap of 12. This was the start we wanted and they safely gathered the first point of the afternoon.
My policy of strength up front was continued with the second pairing from the strong 83 vintage - Carl Brian (another JH) and Matt Leedham, who had been recruited over a sandwich in the City. Matt made a fair trek from the St Albans area to join us, and they dovetailed nicely to give us a solid 2-0 lead.
Surprisingly the third pair, made up of the Hon Sec and the former Sec of the OT Society, failed to master the greens and were pipped at the post by David Bell (a West Sussex member) and Patrick Hole, to leave the match poised at 2-1. However I needn't have feared, as the medical pairing of Tony "the Boxer" Buckland and David Golding-Wood went 4 up after 4 and sailed home to give us a 3-1 lead.
The match was clinched by the Royal Ashdown pairing of Charlie Davies (old Judde House but former Eastbourne parent) and Chris Pettman (no known Eastbourne connections!). By all accounts the latter was arrow straight off the tee (this feedback was from the oppo I hasten to add) and gave us an unassailable 4-1 lead. This was fortuitous as the last 2 matches went the OE way.
Second from last were Hugh Bethell and Jas Hansra (aka the Sorcerer and his apprectice), who started well taking the few couple of holes, however their driving was a little erratic (at least it seemed so from behind them!) and they couldn't quite make enough putts.
I was bringing up the rear with my old friend and contemporary James Gough-Cooper, who played amazingly well considering he hadn't hit a ball since the corresponding fixture last year! We had a few notable highlights (a brace of 2s at the 6th and a chip in at the 15th) but made a few too many mistakes against the steady OE pairing and lost at the 17th.
So overall the results were as follows:
Adrian Betts & Adrian Spurling (1) v Peter Meanley & Brian Meaby (0)
Matt Leedham & Carl Brian (1) v Peter Robinson & Martin Reynolds (0)
Tony Monteuuis & Peter Morris (0) v David Bell & Patrick Hole (1)
Tony Buckland & David Golding-Wood (1) v David Burt & Peter Jamieson (0)
Chris Pettman & Charlie Davies (1) v Michael Walter & Anthony Eden (0)
Hugh Bethell & Jas Hansra (0) v Brian Jay & David Wells (0)
Mark Pettman & James Gough-Cooper (0) v David Dunn & Andrew Langlands (1)
Many many thanks to all who played for us and please do put the "home" fixture date in your diaries for next year - Sunday July 31st at Royal Ashdown Forest. I'd be delighted to see as many again as possible. We lead the series 2-0 and want to make it 3-0 in 2011.
Mark Pettman (Match Manager)