Woolly sent this in on time, just taken me a while to get round to sharing it, and some lovely presentation pics of another good WHV day. The standings/handicaps will be updated shortly (but possibly after I’ve been to Troon). It will be interesting to see where Woolly- the man without a fridge capable of wearing magnets – places his new treasures.
The WHV season marches on and for the Captains Matchplay we re-visited Cleobury Mortimor which consists of three nine hole courses. The event saw the first outing of the year for Little Nelly who was keen to defend the title. He arrived with the Trophy proudly updated with his name.
The day kicked off with a Full English breakfast which was a welcome a welcome treat, no bacon rolls when the Captain is in charge. Millers then continued to shower me gifts in exchange for golfing ‘Merch’.. This time it was a golden fridge magnet from Bath to compliment the Dubai one I had already received. That was followed by a fridge magnet bottle opener which could actually come in useful. I have been assured that he will ‘sort me out’ when he goes to Troon!!
On the first nine holes I was in a four ball with Greggors, Donk and Little Nelly. I was up against Greggors and went one down after the first hole but managed to turn things around a bit mainly due to him to losing a couple of his favourite Pro V1’s. Little Nelly was on fire and was three up in no time which included hitting the flag on the second. He continued his dominance and after beating Donk then proceeded to hit the ball erratically once the pressure was off.
I managed to beat to Greggors on the last hole but it was certainly close. I even managed a slightly ridiculous putt earlier when the ball trickled down the hill and fell in the hole. After the first nine we all indulged in ham, egg and chips. Noz had a jacket potato that looked like it had been in the oven for a week but once mixed with some runny egg went down well.
In the semi final I was up against Noz who was driving it will with his new bat from Greggors. Little Nelly was up against PK in the other semi final. That match saw a great bit of gamesmanship from PK who stopped Little Nelly from giving up the hole by telling him he had a shot. At the par three up the hill I was one down and needed to turn things around. Noz hit his chip to 3-4 feet and I made him putt it out…. He missed it!!! That was the turning point and I won the match 2up. During the break between the next nine holes the length of that putt decreased every time he told the story… Sorry Will J
Onto the final and I was up against PK and had to give him one shot. Approaching the par three sixth and ‘the shark’ I was one up. There was a ball on the green about 5-6 feet away from the flag which was a cracking shot from Noz who was in the group ahead. I hit my shot to the left edge of the green but PK hit a beauty and then sank the putt for birdie to level the match. Heading up the 7th we both hit our tees shot left and into the thick stuff. He escaped better than me and hit a great approach into the green easily winning the hole and going one up.
On the 8th I had to give PK one shot which was a tad daunting considering the form he was in. After a good drive and scrappy second I hit a wedge into 5 feet. PK then went a bit wayward with his second shot into the trees but recovered well to get to the green. I managed to hold my nerve and sank the putt for par to level the match.
On the 9th PK took out the driver and went for it… He hit a beauty straight down the middle and then a fine approach to the edge of the green. I hit a good drive but was still 197 yards from the green. I then managed to hit what was possibility my best ever 5 wood shot to hit the green. PK’s first chip went onto the back edge and I rolled my putt up to two feet. He had no choice but to go for it but unfortunately it ran past the hole handing me the victory. We both agreed that golf was the winner on the day and I will be proudly wearing ‘the ring’ at the CJ weekend.
Good stuff Paul, very fair and lacking in the usual passive aggressive or just explicit aggressive stylings of other tournament victors.
