Cornwall County Captain Charlie Phillips reports on the first Channel League match of the 2022 season:

Having made the long trek to Gloucestershire, Cornwall Men's first team began their 2022 season against the current English County Champions Gloucestershire. A tough task indeed. 

On a morning more in keeping with a visit to Val d’isere, conditions were difficult with frost and very bright sunlight. 

Cornwall were led out in the foursomes by current County  Champion Jamie Greet (Mullion) and Kieran Faulkner (Looe) Their match against England international Joe Harvey and the evergreen Nick Day was a tight affair until the Gloucester pair released a barrage of 6 birdies in 7 holes that proved to hot to handle. 

Matt Richards partnered debutant Jack Kevern (both West Cornwall) and both played very solid golf before just losing out on the 17th. Another debutant Ethan Tempest (West Cornwall) paired up with the experienced Mark Grootz (Trevose) They played fine, trouble free golf to secure a win on 17. Nice start Ethan. 

Adam Bridgewater (Launceston) and Tom Stephens (Trevose) match ebbed and flowed before they were defeated on 17. This match could easily gone either way but the odd piece of luck went Gloucestershire's way not ours…

Rob Macgregor (above, Tehidy Park) renewed his long standing partnership with Conor Wilson (Perranporth) but a couple of loose iron shots proved costly in their defeat. 

The scores at lunch: Gloucestershire 4.  Cornwall 1. Although slightly biased as a Captain can be, we deserved a lot more than a point!

The afternoon singles were going to be a test for Cornwall. The top two singles saw the inform Harvey and Day defeat Greet and Richards and the same fete befell Tempest and Grootz. 

However with the match already lost Adam Bridgewater (Launceston) Tom Stephens (Trevose) and Rob Macgregor (Tehidy Park) all secured wins… well done lads. 

Special mention must be given Jack Kevern (West Cornwall) who during the round saw his opponent hole 3 times from over 30 feet on very tricky greens. Well on the 18th it was Jack's turn when he slotted a 40 footer to birdie the hole and earn a well deserved half. Great battle Jack. 

Stalwart Conor Wilson used all of his vast experience to ‘hang in there’ in a match that saw both players  continually producing ‘shots of the day’ (All except 18 Conor….aghhhhh)
Still, great to have you back in the team ! 

The team has a good new feel to it’s composition and a great team spirit. It is fair to say that the difference was Gloucestershire putted better than us as tee to green the teams were equally matched. Thanks to Peter Simmons my wing man, your timely input is invaluable. Well done team for a great effort in what was a big ask. It was also great to see players putting down markers for selection for Southwest Week in June. Thanks also must go to Nick Datson for his continued support of the County Men’s team.

Editors Note: I omitted at the time of publishing to thank and credit Ian Veale with the photographs   Thank you Ian!

Match result: Gloucestershire 10•5. Cornwall 4•5

Match Sheet