Cornwall U18 V Cornwall Seniors – 13th February – Perranporth GC

The Cornwall Boys U18s - pictured above - and the Cornwall Seniors opened their season yesterday in what has become an annual encounter.  The sun made a welcome appearance, but that only just took the edge off the bitterly cold north westerly wind on the beautifully presented Perranporth links. The Junior boys started where they left off last year with a great team spirit fostered by Junior County Captain Joe Reynard (Trevose) who ensured pre match bonding on the putting green.

In Team Manager Gary Andrew's first match in charge of the U18s, the first game saw a welcome return to County golf for Finn Rule (West Cornwall), who was paired up with Reynard (Trevose), against Senior ‘s Captain Simon Harper and Vice Captain Andy Rowe, the young pairing fired six birdies and an eagle to record a comfortable 5&3 win.

Perranporth’s George Law and Truro’s Cameron Gurd were next up against Charlie Phillips (Newquay) and Colin Kitt (China Fleet), and in another high quality match the U18’s closed the game out 4&3.

The Seniors stopped the rot in the next match as Colin Ross (Falmouth) and Trevor Ashton (Trevose) had a fine 7&5 win against Rhys Kerton (Perranporth) and Freddie Norris (Mullion).

Lewis Woolaway & Will Trew (both Perranporth) found themselves in a right old battle against Gary Stone (Bude & N Cornwall) and Neil Hodding (West Cornwall), and in what was a nip and tuck affair Lewis and Will saw the match out one up.

Mike Wigley (Trevose)and David Goodman (Bowood Park)once again got the Seniors back into the match with a fine 4&2 win over Ollie Watson (Carlyon Bay) and Ricardo Sanchez (Truro).

Two last minute ‘stand-ins’ for the Seniors, Tristan Gurd (Perranporth)and Neil Bradley (St Enodoc), showed some class as they got the overall match back to level with an excellent 6&5 win over Zac Cook (Perranporth) and Thomas Stephens (Truro).

With just two matches left on the course and the overall score standing at 3-3, there was all to play for. Truro’s Jack Andrew and St Austell’s Ewan Warren combined well to record a solid 4&2 win over Duncan Powell (Carlyon Bay) and Ross Durkin (Mullion).

The U18’s just needed half a point to secure victory and all seemed to be in the bag as Liam Wilson (Truro) and Morgan Craven (Perranporth) were four up after ten, but Paul Clahane (Trevose) and John Harris (Looe) had other ideas as their experience showed and they clawed the youngsters back to one after 16. The Senior pairing had a chance to win the 17th, but the four foot putt didn’t drop, so Liam and Morgan had to hold their nerve going down the last. On 18 both pairs made solid pars and hence the juniors sealed the game one up, giving the U18’s an overall 5-3 victory in what was a very exciting match.

After a quick change into their suits, the players then tucked into a very welcome and deserved hot carvery. In the speeches, Senior Captain Simon Harper congratulated the Under 18’s on their performance and Junior Captain Joe Reynard thanked Perranporth Golf Club for their very kind hospitality.  Perranporth will see a lot of county activity across the coming season in the build up to the SWCGA Boys Championship which is being staged there in July. Prior to that the Junior County Championship will take place over the James Braid designed links in the middle of June.

Andrew was pleased with the performance of his team, "The boys applied themselves today and it was a good test. The team spirit and desire is what I was looking for and I am pleased to say it was evident and that can only be good for what lies ahead this year. The match with the Seniors is a good test and also played in such great spirit. So thank you to them and also to Perranporth GC for their welcome and hospitality, We look forward to being here across the year and to getting to know and to play the course as well as we can".

Full result here

Picture: Back row (L to R):Zac Cook, George Law, Will Trew, Lewis Woolaway, Cameron Gurd, Liam Wilson, Ewan Warren, Thomas Stephens. Front row: Freddie Norris, Finn Rule, Ricardo Sanchez, Joe Reynard, Ollie Watson, Jack Andrew, Morgan Craven, Rhys Kerton.