U16s Win against Devon - U14s Lose
Monday 22nd May 2017
Ben Enoch Trophy & Jack Roberts League Cornwall U14/U16 v Devon U14/U16 Sunday 21st may 2017 Trethorne C
Yesterday saw both the Cornwall U14 and U16 boys teams in competitive action against their Devon counterparts at Trethorne GC. The venue hosted the Cornish Closed Championship a fortnight ago and was again presented superbly with the welcome and hospitality praised by those taking part.
Out on the course there were contrasting fortunes though. The Duchy U16s excelled in beating the visiting neighbours by 9 matches to 3 whilst the U14s went down by a 7.5 to 4.5 margin.
The U16s pictured above, produced one of their finest performances in recent years to overcome arch rivals Devon with a superb 9 – 3 winning margin.(L to R: Ewan Warren, George Law, Ricardo Sanchez, George Leigh, Joe Reynard, Tristan Barnes, Lewis Woolaway and Cameron Gurd)
The morning foursomes saw the very strong pairing of Captain Joe Reynard and George Leigh record a comfortable 5&4 victory. George Law and Cameron Gurd were up against inspired opponents especially on the greens as they went down 3&2. Ewan Warren and Ricardo Sanchez played very solid golf to win 4&2 and the final pairing of Lewis Woolaway and Tristan Barnes rounded off an excellent mornings golf also winning 4&2 for Cornwall to go in 3-1 up at lunch.
George Leigh played some scintillating golf in the afternoons singles being four under par at the point of his fine 5&4 victory. Joe Reynard was in equally fine form as he won 4&3. George Law once again impressed as he had an excellent 2&1 win.
Wiith six points in the bag, Cornwall knew they couldn’t be beaten, but wanted to taste victory for the first time against Devon in a number of years. The next two matches added to the tension as Devon claimed the points with Cameron Gurd going down 3&2 followed by Ewan Warren 6&4.
The score was now standing at 6 – 3 in Cornwall’s favour, with three matches left on the course and a draw still a possibility, but Cornwall’s remaining players had other idea’s. Lewis Woolaway (4&3), Ricardo Sanchez (2 up) and Tristan Barnes (2&1) all recorded excellent wins to give the Duchy what team Manager Gary Andrew called a brilliant victory.
Andrew said “ I am absolutely delighted for the lads, last year we finished second (in the league), but felt that there was a momentum building with the strong squad that we have and the evident great team bond. This is an excellent start to the season and we now have high ambitions for our remaining matches". Andrew also had high praise for the host club. "The course was in superb condition and we were very well looked after. I also need to thank Devon as the match was played in a great spirit"'
The Cornwall U14s who faced Devon (L to R: Charlie Ward, Thomas Stephens, Zack Cook, Archie Fox, Liam Wilson, Will Price, Jack Chudleigh and Alec Nile)
In the U14s Jack Roberts League match there was some quality golf from both teams with the format for the first time seeing teams of 8 players playing 9 holes of morning foursomes and then 8 afternoon singles over 18 holes. There were 5 rookies in the Cornwall team playing their first competitive Jack Roberts match.
In the 4 morning foursomes, Cornwall took a 2.5 matches to 1.5 matches lead with fine wins from Thomas Stephens and Liam Wilson (1 Up) and Alec Nile and Charlie Ward (2 and 1). Zack Cook and Will Price went down 2 and 1 and the pairing of Jack Chudleigh and Archie Fox managed to win the last hole and half their match and go into lunch with a slender lead.
In the afternoon singles Devon came out strong with Thomas Stephens finding himself 5 down after 8 holes. Some inspired golf got Thomas back to all square after 17 holes but a birdie 3 on the last hole by his opponent meant a 1 down loss in the opening match. Liam Wilson had a great match against Lewis Ross in the second match and this finished all square. Zack Cook played solid golf and won 2 and 1 before Devon won the fourth match with Will Price going down 3 and 2 against an opponent 5 shots lower in handicap than himself.
In the fifth match Alec Nile was four up in his match after 8 holes until his partner playing some great golf on the back 9 holes and ended up losing his match 1 down. Jack Chudleigh was also up in his match for most of the game and ended up halving his match.
In the bottom two matches, both Archie Fox and Charlie Ward were beaten by 2 and 1 and as a result Devon ended up winning the encounter 7.5 matches to 4.5 matches.
Team manager Simon Wood said "It was an extremely close match that could have gone either way and importantly it was played in fantastic spirit. Our hosts have again been very good and treated us to a course in excellent condition, so a big thank you to them".