Cornwall Seniors Heading to County Finals ..... Again

The Cornwall Seniors team once again delivered a stellar performance on Day 2 of the SWCGA Seniors Championship at Kingsdown GC, Nr Bath and their reward is a second trip to the English Seniors Finals in back to back years.

A confident Seniors County Captain Warwick Holland set out his ambitions for 2024 at the back end of last year. One of these was to qualify (out of county) for the National finals again and he has seen this come true in spectacular fashion. In the two day competition Cornwall trailed Wiltshire by 4 shots after Day 1 but rallied to win by 22 shots from the Tractor Boys.

Not only this but the top 3 individual scorers were Cornish team members and after a playoff Ian Veale (Newquay) was crowned SW Seniors Champion beating Mark Blaber (Carlyon Bay) and last year's winner Simon Knowles (Perranporth).

Veale returned scores of 76 and 71 as did Blaber, whilst Knowles shot 71 and 76 to see all three tie on 147 (+3). (Full playoff details not available yet)

With 5 scores from a nominated 6 players to form an aggregate total on each day and then a combined aggregate Cornwall's other Day 1 counting scores were a 76 from David Kneebone (Truro), a 78 from Guy Norris (Trevose) and an 83  from Richard Jones (St Enodoc). Jones was forced to withdraw on Day 2 heaping pressure on the remaining 5 Duchy players to deliver. And deliver they did as Veale, Blaber, and Knowles all came up trumps and Norris recovered to a 74 with Kneebone managing a 79.

Congratulations from all of us and now we can look forward to a final a little closer to home than Suffolk was in 2023 - for 2024 the finals are at Torquay GC from 8th - 10th October

SWCGA Seniors Championship Scores

England Golf Seniors County Final Qualifier Team Scores

And if you are wondering about the ribbons - the team wore these today as a tribute to two time former Cornwall County Captain Andrew Ring who passed away earlier this month and whose funeral took place today at a packed Truro Cathedral. 'Ringo' would be delighted at the team's success.

[Seniors County Captain Warwick Holland has sent in the following report]

Last year saw one of the greatest performances by any Cornish team in winning the SWCGA Championships, winning the individual champ (Dr Simon Knowles) and qualifying for the England Senior Finals for the first time ever. However, some of our foe suggested home advantage at Newquay had a little bit to do with our win, we disagreed!! So here was our opportunity, not only to set new records and heights but by winning on away soil (tree lined to boot) it would send a message to the South West that Cornwall was the real top player in any environment.

So onto to Kingsdown GC, Wiltshire, home of the resting ground of 3 ancient kings, buried and marked on the 16th fairway. The weather was perfect, a light breeze, sun shinning but a golf course that offered disaster to any that ventured off the fairways and with somewhat treacle greens, scores were likely to be high! Practice day didn't end well with a couple of health issues (particularly in the heat), Richard Jones picking up a chest infection and Dave Kneebone having a reoccurrence of heart flutters. The team realised before we even started that every player would need to produce absolute top performances. After long deliberations the six man team was selected:  Simon Knowles  Mark Blaber, Ian Veale, 'Chuck' Norris, Richard Jones and Dave Kneebone - with Andy Rowe and Mark Johnson narrowly missing out on selection. It was a risky call from the Captain Warwick Holland, but he plays to win, second or otherwise is not on his radar and he was confident that the team would pull positively together, even with health issues to contemplate.

Day one was as expected, Wiltshire (with home advantage) and Dorset both setting the early pace with strong scoring from some of their English and Welsh Internationals. Things didn't however start as we wished, Chuck Norris (winner of the Jock Lawrence Championship at Kingsdown earlier in the year) played great golf before taking a ten on the 16th, maybe the three kings had an impact, with 2 lost balls, dropping his opening score to 6 over. Not disastrous but pressure on. The word got round and the team team pulled ranks with Kneebone, Veale, Knowles and Blaber all shooting top leaderboard scores to put us only four shots behind the local favoured county, Wiltshire. 

Cornwall was far from worried. Last year at Newquay we were six shots adrift and clawed it back. Furthermore, our performances over the past year have seen real stamina, fight and fast finishing to get us over the line more than once. Cornwall is also top of the Seniors Channel League, so we were not only up for the fight we were confident of gaining the result. Our opponents were equally aware and accordingly the pressure was on them, not us. Who would crack, who would rise to the occasion?

On day two, the bit was firmly between our teeth and our lead players didn't disappoint, they set off at pace and never looked back. A true pleasure for myself, the rest of the team and onlookers to see. Mark Blaber, Ian Veale and Simon Knowles were tied first in the overall tournament, Chuck Norris (if not for his 10 would have joined them) with Dave Kneebone securing the final score in the 70's. We not only won, but we secured our English Finalist spot by a historic comprehensive 22 shot margin. A testimony to some great players, great individual performances, great team spirit and staying power that simply blew the opposition away. We really are now a team to be reckoned with, not only in the South West but also for the upcoming England Golf Seniors County Finals at Torquay in October.

However, it was not to end there. Last year saw Simon Knowles winning the individual SW Championship. This year we had a three way tie, all Cornish. A sea of yellow marched down the three extra holes to determine the overall champ. I have to say the quality of golf over those, eventually 7 extra holes, was truly top drawer and would have stood up to any you would see on TV and the national stage. Perhaps, all being team mates laid the scene to friendly rivalry, nevertheless it came down to a majestic up and down by Ian Veale to take the title. An emotional Ian Veale raised his arms with the sun shining, then embracing and consoling Simon and Mark, and joining hands with the rest of the team. Ian was full of joy but also the emotion of winning as well as memories our two time past County Captain Andrew Ring (whose funeral  was being held this very day in Truro). 

A sad week with the loss of 'Ringo', but a great week which no doubt he would have been so proud of. The Seniors heading to the EG finals in consecutive years, a first in itself and another first with Harry Hall winning on the US PGA Tour. 

What a week!!. Next up - and down to earth - back on the road to Thurlestone GC away to Devon on Monday 29th July, a win will keep us on top of the Channel League.

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