Day 246 - Committee vs Staff

A nice gentle start to the day as we were not due to meet at the Club until 11:30 for a 12:00 start. Today was the occasion of the second Committee vs Staff match of the year:a great opportunity for members on the various Committees to play with and get to know representatives from the green-keeping staff, the sales office and the Pro Shop.

Both teams were fielding sides of 12 players: in the members' case, 6 Men and 6 Ladies, whereas on the Staff side the ratio was 1: 11.  I had asked Diana, our Lady Captain to select the pairings and it was clear once we saw the start sheet that there would be some good matches out there. The Staff had three players off 3 or below, but coupled with a number of less experienced golfers.  Diana and I were playing together against a pair that matched that mix exactly: Rob, the Head Greenkeeper, off 3 and Simon, who looks after the maintenance of all the equipment, with a handicap of 28.

Our match was an exciting one: Rob played really well, despite it only being the second game pf his season. He hits the long way off the tee, meaning that all the long par 4s are well within his reach, something that was not the case for the other three of us!  Diana and I started well, winning holes1 and 2 and managed to hang onto that lead, pretty much unscathed, until we got to the 16th when Simon produced a stunning tee shot to give him a gross par, net two, and a win.

Mike Evans, Head Pro, together with the Captain

After a tight tied hole on the 17th, we went to the last hole where a brilliant chip to 9" for par gave Rob the hole and meant that we had halved our match.  I had played at, or one better, than my handicap - my best for a while - which shows that the others played well too.

When we got back to the Clubhouse, it turned out that ours was the only match where the Committee had not beaten the staff, giving our side a victory by 5 1/2 to 1/2.  This means that the two sided trophy for this match will remain on the shelf in the Honours Bar, with the 'Club" side showing for the next six months until the return fixture next Spring.