Day 132 - Junior Golf

Today was the occasion of the Men vs Juniors Club match. Due to an overlap with the June Stableford, it had been decided to limit the competition to four pairs, so it was always going to be close.

The format was 4Ball Better Ball and my partner was playing off 19. As Captain, I was paired against the Junior Captain (Lizzie, who plays off +3) and Junior Vice Captain (Malcolm off 5) - giving them a combined handicap of 2 against our 29.  I think it is fair to say that Jonny and I approached the first tee with a degree of trepidation...

But we needn't have worried: the handciap system is there for a reason... We received a fair amount of shots and put them to good use. Despite the fact that Lizzie and Malcom played very nicely (including birdies on 6, 7, 12, 14 and 16), we too managed to play very tidily. By the time we came off the 16th, our better ball score was around +4 which meant that we were actually 2 holes up with two to play.

At this point though the Junior showed their mettle and Lizzie holed an excellent 20' putt on the last, to win the hole and halve the match.  Back in the Clubhouse, we soon discovered that the other two matches which had finished had been split, one win either way, so that all depended on the final group. That too turned out to be All Square, meaning that the match itself was tied. This was the first time in 5 years that the Men had not lost, so we could walk away with some satisfaction.

Lizzie and her team tried to persuade us to settle the match with a play-off on the 18th of the New, but we were far too old and wise to fall for that one!  Now, let's see how Paul Csey is getting on...?