Cornwall Golf Union
Channel League Win for Cornwall
Under moody skies Cornwall's first home Channel League match of the 2024 season turned out to be a good one as the Duchy team completed a 9 - 6 win over Dorset at West Cornwall Golf Club yesterday.
[County Captain Peter Simmons reports]
Cornwall’s second Channel League fixture was held at West Cornwall Golf Club on Sunday 5th May. Dorset Golf Union were our opponents for this match and following a close defeat at Parkstone last year my Cornwall team were keen to get revenge. The following team represented Cornwall.
Matt Richards, Tom Stephens, Rob Macgregor, Jamie Greet, Louis Archer, Ethan Tempest, George Law, Jack Kevern, George Champion and Jared Mortimore
The weather was cold but with a stiff breeze and thankfully the rain stayed away. The conditions were quite tricky with some interesting pins that with the wind would create some problems for players on the day. However, with three of the Cornwall team local West Cornwall members I was hopeful of getting a result.
In the morning foursomes Matt Richards & Tom Stephens were reunited again following Tom’s return from Florida and would lead Cornwall out. Some excellent putting from Matt ensured that the top match would deliver the first point of the day with a 3&2 win over Joe Turner & Sam Roles.
In match two Rob Macgregor continued his partnership will Mullion player Jamie Greet but they struggled to get momentum in their match and Dorset would level the scores with a 3&2 win by Oscar Hein & Jenson Bull.
A new foursome pairing of Louis Archer and Ethan Tempest was created for this fixture and following a 2&1 win in match three looks set to continue as both players worked well as a team and enjoyed the partnership. George Law teamed up with local player Jack Kevern and had a tight match which ended on the 18th green all square and with the back match of George Champion and Jared Mortimore losing 4&3 the teams would go into lunch even at 2.5 points apiece.
I was hoping for a little more out of the morning foursomes, but it is a tough format and if you don’t get the rhythm going early it’s very difficult to find your best golf. Therefore, the afternoon singles required a big effort by all the players and that is exactly what was given.
Matt Richards would head out top with the result being a halved match in around 2hours and 20 minutes! Cornwall would then win four out of the next five matches with Louis Archer, Ethan Tempest, Rob MacGregor and Jamie Greet all recording wins with Tom Stephens struggling on the greens and losing 3&2. That left the score line Cornwall 7 – Dorset 4. One more point was required to secure the overall match win and that was duly delivered by Jack Kevern who cruised to a 4/3 win over Ollie Drewitt. Meanwhile George Law showed his steel by winning the 18th hole to gain a further half point alongside Jared Mortimore who also halved on the 18th. In the final match George Champion lost a close battle with Dorset’s Tom Peacock by 2&1 which meant the overall match score was 9-6 to Cornwall.
This was a good result following the narrow defeat away to Somerset and with South West Week looming in June it means Cornwall head to East Devon feeling like we can really compete this year. The short game will need to be hot for those players selected as this match once again proved that most games are won and lost with the wedges and putter!
This week a strong contingent of Cornwall players head to Mullion Golf Club for the 2024 County Championship. Although I have my team for South West Week pretty much sorted in my head, there may well be an opportunity for a player to leap out of the pack and make a challenge for a team space. I would like to wish all players playing at Mullion all the best this week and I look forward to watching the semi-final and final before announcing my SW Team on Saturday 18th May following the individual final.
As stated in my previous report Adam Bridgewater has now taken on the role as my Vice Captain for the remainder of 2024 and will take over the captaincy in March next year. It’s great to have him on my side and I’m sure he will prove to be a great captain for Cornwall during his tenure. Thanks Adam!!
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