| Date: | 7th October 2007 |
| Venue: | Littlestone G.C. |
OTGS TEAM WINS THE LITTLESTONE INVITATION FOURSOMES Report from Tony Monteuuis
All four members of the OTGS team arrived in good time to recover from our various journeys and be ready to take on the challenge that Littlestone presents when played from the back (blue) tees. We had prepared ourselves for the usual extremes of weather but had not considered this year's variant from the normal hurricanes, floods and bitter cold. There was a very dense early morning fog on the Romney Marsh which reduced visibility to 20 yards and this meant that all starting times had to be put back by 30 minutes. The extra time spent in the bar could have proved fatal but it was a surprisingly determined and disciplined team which represented the OTGS this year.
Happily the fog cleared by 9.30 and revealed a beautiful Autumn morning. As if to emphasise the course's difficulty a "one-club" wind sprung up immediately the fog had dispersed and it gradually intensified throughout the day. We were paired with the Kent County Golf Union team which as usual was composed of two hardened veterans and two young turks and they proved to be very good companions.
In the morning round our "A" pair, Adrian Cooper and Tony Monteuuis, played very well to lead the field by two points (coming in with 36 points despite scoring only three points in the last three holes) and their pleasure was further enhanced by the news that our "B" pair, Mark Fleming and William Marle, had also played well and had scored 31 points. The rough was very difficult indeed and the wind was from an unusual direction so generally the scoring had been poor. The OTGS team turned out to be leading by a couple of points after the morning's play so lunch was much enjoyed and the team's good start was celebrated with some enthusiam by the "A" pair. Mark and William were less cavalier and their virtue was rewarded later.
The afternoon round was hard work for most, but the abstemious Mark and William played beautifully and scored 34 points which was excellent in the conditions. The Captain and the Hon. Secretary (who had the day's best overall score) scored 32 points and our overall score of 133 was sufficient to give us a comfortable victory which meant that had we won the Rawlcliffe Salver for the first time in about ten years. We had finished 5 points clear of the Kent County Golf Union and a further point in front of a very good Royal Ashdown team led by Jeremy Dixon (OT).
The new Secretary at Littlestone won his spurs with a thoroughly well-run event. It had been an excellent day and we very much look forward to defending the trophy next year.