Page 48 - OO_2019

www record96byMalvern.
2019 WIMBLEDON PUTTER
By Richard ‘Bomber’ Harris (Lx 91)
After two years away from the competition (we were relegated after coming last), a gorgeous evening on the fantastic putting green at Royal Wimbledon welcomed the OOGS team.
With a combination of youth and experience in his side, ‘Bomber’ Harris was hopeful and his optimism was rewarded when, for most of the night, it looked like Oundle would come first or second and so qualify for the finals.
Steve Carr (S 84) was the top performer from all schools, recording 12 points out of 14. He still thinks he is a terrible putter!
Jack Ireson (L 15) had a brilliant debut, coming eighth overall with nine points, his only loss being in the last match.
Fred Domellof (Lx 76) had a very unlucky time, only obtaining two points, with nearly all his matches finishing on the last hole.
Harris putted well until his last match, which he lost easily and ended up with seven points.
Oundle tied second with St Paul’s, which meant that Harris had to go into a sudden-death play-off to decide who would progress to the finals.
St Paul’s putted first on the very difficult first hole and knocked the ball straight in! Harris could not follow him in, so Oundle ended up third. A cracking evening had been had by all, though!
2019 MELLIN
By Peter Pentecost (St A 73)
2019 saw a changing of the guard, with Patrick Fossett (B 65) handing the organisation of the GL Mellin Salver (over-55s), Peter Burles Salver (over-65s) and Bunny Millard (over-75s) to me - although the Millard is really organised by David Aston (St A 55).
David Beamish (Sc 77) (pictured left) and Nick Wilson (G 78) at West Hill GC for the Mellin tournament
Itallstartedpromisingly,thoughtherewasabitofa battle as to which age range Robert Barrell (St A 61) would play for. No sooner had David and I settled our differences, than Robert ruled himself out, having contracted Lyme disease. Frankly, Robert would have held a place in any of the teams, so good is his golf still, even at 75 years old. We also lost a stalwart member of the OOGS Mellin/Burles teams in Andrew Herald (N 62) – very sad.
A clash of dates also left us a bit short of the normal suspects, with Michael Beamish (Sc 75) busy on R&A duties heading to Portrush, Duncan Smith (C 71) on a golf tour in Ireland and Chris Bartram (C 67) unable to play on the Thursday in the Burles due to a non-executive commitment in the City.
So, up stepped Nick Wilson (G 78) into the Mellin side for the first time, while Patrick Fossett was recalled to the Burles and our President, Nick Copestick (Ldr 69), came down a day early to feature in the Burles, before switching to the Mellin on the Friday (when Bartram became available).
The Burles team marched through two sets of opposition on the Thursday (Lancing and Bradfield), barely breaking into a sweat in spite of the heat! Come the Friday afternoon, they again swept Cheltenham aside without missing a step. It was only in the final that they faltered against Felsted, when a few putts failed to drop at vital moments.
The ever-steady Nick Owles (N 63), first with the President and then with Chris Bartram, was a tour de force, while the second pair were gritty. Patrick’s swing shows none of the self-deprecation that he espouses and Michael Williams (N 69) is an out-and-out competitor. They were victorious again until the final.
In the Mellin, after the drama of a player phoning up on the Friday morning, having found he could not walk, and the ensuing frantic representation to gain permission to use a buggy (Shrewsbury had to check it was not illegal!), we despatched Lancing I would like to say relatively easily, but that would be a lie. At 1-1, the top pair began to find some hitherto absent form over the last few holes and then made a complete hash of the 18th; after two decidedly suspect chips, it required a 15-footer from the President to take us down extra holes. A solid four at the 19th was sufficient, but if ever I need a putt that has to be holed, I know where to look!
Round two was also far from plain sailing, but I suspect a tactical error by Bradfield, having their strongest pair in trap three, was pivotal. It came down to the second pair and after an imperious shot into the 15th and two copybook efforts at 16, victory was ours.
In the third round against Cheltenham the captain switched the order. This was partly to put our steady second pair against Caplan in trap three and partly to keep Shrewsbury guessing, were we to meet them in the final. Suffice to say, it did not work, with trap two winning and, after a cornucopia of putts, trap three losing. That left the burden on trap one, who lost on 17, despite a putt stopping agonisingly on the front lip on 16 and an astonishing recovery by David Beamish (Sc 77) from the
SPORT
48 <<<RETURN TO CONTENTS THE OLD OUNDELIAN 2018 –2019