With the pandemic still causing so many problems, it was wonderful that the South Western Counties Golf Association Championship was held this month, at the glorious Burnham & Berrow GC, Somerset.With a course presented in first class condition and relatively benign sunny and warm weather over the entire week it was a privilege to be there. Burnham & Berrow without the wind - almost unheard of!

Starting sluggishly over the first two days County Captain Charlie Phillips’s 10-man team  showed some very encouraging performances as the week progressed. The Cornwall Team ended the week a 4th in the 6-county matchplay table.

Sandwiched in between 5 days of singles and foursomes matchplay against the other 5 counties, was the SW Qualifier for the English County Finals and the Duchy team whilst having some good individual performances could not collectively produce 6 scores – forming an aggregate total – to challenge for a finals spot from the region.

Day 1 Sunday 6th June Cornwall v Devon

It was a disappointing result for Cornwall on a benign sunny and warm opening day as Cornwall were convincingly beaten 9.25 - 4.75 by neighbours Devon.

At the lunchtime halfway point, following the 8 morning singles, the overall match was tied at 4-4 and there was everything to play for, but things were to unfold badly for

the Duchy.

First morning singles winner for Cornwall was Richard Jasper (Launceston) as he beat Sam Dunn by the odd hole at the top of the order. Rob MacGregor (Tehidy Park) was next as he claimed his second win in a week against Craig Passmore (2&1). Next up was Matt Richards (West Cornwall) with a 2-hole win over Jack Pope. There were halves for Jared Mortimore (Truro) and debutant Mark Grootz (Trevose) against Matt Millar and Eliot Baker respectively.

The afternoon foursomes commenced with Jasper partnered by Joe Reynard (Trevose) and they were heavily beaten (6&5) by Dunn and Pope. Matches 2 and 4 were soon down and never recovered. Richards & Aaron Stephens (Newquay) lost 4&3 to Passmore & Millar and MacGregor and Adam Bridgewater (Launceston) went down by the same score to Baker & Fred Bishop.

The only remaining match on the course saw Mortimore playing with young debutant Tom Stephens (Trevose). Both played well and after a sublime long iron to the par 3 12th by Mortimore had a 2-hole advantage. The par 5 13th was halved in birdies before their opponents, Devon’s stalwart Peter Lawrence and Lewis Beer reduced the deficit to one. At the next the match became all square before Cornwall got back ahead at the 17th to take the one-hole advantage down the last. With both pairs on the last in 2, Lawrence (some might say cruelly) drained a 40-footer to deny the Duchy pair a win they felt they just deserved.

In other matches Gloucestershire came from 5.5-2.5 down at lunch to beat Dorset after claiming all 4 of the foursomes and Wiltshire edged host county Somerset 7.25-6.75.

Day 2 Monday 7th June Cornwall v Gloucestershire

More misery for Cornwall followed with a 10.5 – 3.5 defeat at the hands of reigning SW Champions Gloucestershire.

Of the 8 morning singles Cornwall lost the first 7 on the bounce and the only success came from Richard Jasper as he gained a half with Ed Butler. Tom Stephens was pitched in at the deep end for his first SW Week singles match but could not cope with the experienced Nick Day who beat him 5&4. Grootz went down heavily to Workman (6&5), whilst Richards lost 4&2 to Jake Phillips. Greenaway got his match to the 17th before losing 3&1 to Kieran Sutton. Aaron Stephens (Newquay), Mortimore and MacGregor all went down narrowly by the one hole to Matt Bell, Sam Sullivan and Andy Hale respectively.

With a 7.5 - 0.5 lunchtime lead Gloucestershire could not lose the overall match – the 4 afternoon foursomes are each worth 1.5 points whilst singles matches attract one point.

A degree of pride was restored as the foursomes were halved when Mortimore & MacGregor beat Tom Workman & Matt Bell 2&1 and Richards & Reynard won 3&1 against Andy Hale and Sam Sullivan. The losing foursomes pairing for the Duchy were Bridgewater & Tom Stephens (5&3) along with Josh Greenaway (St Enodoc) and Jasper (4&3).

Also on Monday, Dorset beat Somerset 9.5 – 4.5 and Devon maintained their strong start with a 7.5 – 6.5 win over Wiltshire.

Day 3 Tuesday 8th June – English 36-hole Strokeplay Qualifier

Captain Phillips nominated his six players as Bridgewater, Jasper, MacGregor, Mortimore, Reynard and Richards.

Richards had a splendid morning round of 67 (-3) and just behind him Reynard returned a 68. With MacGregor registering a 72 (+2). These were the best three Cornish scores in the morning and Richards was tied 3rd at the halfway mark. Jasper (73), Bridgewater (74) and Mortimore (79) gave the Duchy a 433 total behind a 427 from Dorset and leaders Gloucestershire on 421.

The Cornish second 18-hole total was a full 26 shots worse (459). MacGregor matched his morning round to finish on 144 (+4), Jasper and Mortimore both returned 76s, Reynard fell away to a 77, Richards did the same with a 78 and Bridgewater an 80.

Gloucestershire returned an afternoon 433 for an aggregate total of 854, some 20 shots ahead of second placed Somerset with Wiltshire on 875. Dorset took 4th spot on 884, Cornwall fifth on 892 just one shot ahead of Devon in 6th place. Gloucestershire will represent the SW Region at the English County Finals at Remedy Oak GC, Dorset in September.

SW Strokeplay Champion for 2021 was Ed Butler (Glos) with two rounds of 67 for a 6 under par total of 134, one shot ahead of Joe Retford (Wilts). MacGregor was tied 11th. Richards and Reynard tied 15th in the 59-man field.

Day 4 Wednesday 9th June 2021 Cornwall v Dorset

And so to better news with an excellent win for the Duchy by 8 points to 6.

At lunch there had been morning singles winners in MacGregor (2&1 over Dorset County Champion Thomas Kollberg), Tom Stephens (claiming his first ever SW Week singles victory over Oscar Hein), Jasper (2&1 over Sam Atkins), Greenaway (3&2 over Robbie Mabb) and Richards (1 up on Matt Sandy). There was another narrow morning defeat for Aaron Stephens losing by one hole to Andy Rideout, Mortimore was well beaten 5&4 by Adan Yates and Reynard lost 3&2 to Tom Lawrence.

Greenaway and Jasper then joined up for a 3&2 afternoon foursomes win over Mabb & Andy Robson whilst Richards and Reynard were reunited in a one hole win over Tom Lawrence and Sandy. MacGregor & Aaron Stephens lost 2&1 to former Dorset Captain Tom Leech and partner Yates whilst Bridgewater and Tom Stephens went down by one hole to Rideout & Atkins.

Some strong performances through the day helped lift Duchy spirits and helped focus on the next match.

In the other Day 4 matches Somerset lost 10.5 – 3.5 against unbeaten Devon and Gloucestershire had another victory taking care of Wiltshire 9.25 – 4.75.

Day 5 Thursday 10th June Cornwall v Wiltshire

This was a match that both sides could claim got away from them. Both morning singles and afternoon foursomes were halved, leading to a final 7 – 7 scoreline.

The 4 early singles signs were good and came to fruition as the Duchy raced to a 4 – 0 lead. Within a short space of time this lead was wiped out and Wiltshire had levelled.

MacGregor beat Garry Slade (2&1), Mortimore beat Johnny Grace by the one hole, Aaron Stephens picked up his first singles point winning 2 up against Matthew Hibbs. Tom Stephens continued an impressive debut week with a 3&1 win over Wiltshire’s Ali James.

Then came the turn around as Jasper lost 2&1 to Dom Baverstock-Seaman, Greenaway went doe 5&4 to Ben Loughrey, Reynard lost 3&2 against Max Drayton and Richards lost 4&2 to Tom Law.

So, to coin a phrase all to play for.

Hibbs & Grace got the first foursomes points for Wiltshire defeating MacGregor & Aaron Stephens 3&2. Then the Duchy got its nose in front with a 4&2 win for Bridgewater & Tom Stephens over Loughrey and Baverstock-Seaman, followed by a 3&2 win from Mortimore & Jasper against James & Slade.

This meant everything was down to the final game - Richards & Reynard versus Law & Drayton. The encounter has been close throughout and the pairs set out down the last with the opponents one up. A good, halved hole ensued but the overall win had eluded Cornwall.

Other Day 5 results saw Devon continue their impressive run thumping Dorset 11 – 3. In what was a surprise Somerset managed a 7 all draw with Gloucestershire meaning Devon topped the table at that point. Gloucestershire and Devon would meet the following morning to decide the overall matchplay winners.

Day 6 Friday 11th June Cornwall v Somerset

Friday dawned with just two teams in contention for the Matchplay Shield and the other four vying with each other to avoid the wooden spoon, so a lot to play for! Devon were top of the table along with the other unbeaten side Gloucestershire.

With the Duchy facing Somerset who had not registered a win in the week, Captain Charlie Phillips was keen to remind his team to be wary of a wounded county side. Whilst very pertinent he need not have worried during the morning session as Cornwall romped to a 7 – 1 lunchtime lead, what a performance.

First out in the singles, Richards went down the last one up and an exquisite greenside bunker shot was enough to see him win 1 up against Phil White. MacGregor and Reynard won by the same margin against Ollie Brimfield and Dylan Xanh respectively. Jasper recorded a win out in the county (6&5 against Justin Lane), Mortimore beat Andy Ferris 3&2 and there was yet another win for Tom Stephens (2&1) over Kobe Adams. Aaron Stephens won 5&4 against Andrew Isaacs, and it was unfortunate for Mark Grootz as he lost on the last to Tom Trowbridge.

Moving into the foursomes in the afternoon, Cornwall failed to press home the advantage and finish Somerset off quickly. Cornwall were certainly made to fight, and it was not until well into the early evening that matters were resolved. Needing just a half in one of the four foursomes to get over the line things were not made easy by the host county.

The all-important overall match winning 0.75 point was gained by Matt Richards partnered again by Joe Reynard in a halved and tight encounter with White and Brimfield.

Mortimore and MacGregor were 2 down playing 16 when the former holed a 15-footer for birdie to reduce the deficit. The pair halved the 17th and when Mortimore narrowly missed from 25 feet the chance of a win on the hole had gone and they lost 1 down.

For Somerset Xanh & Isaacs beat Bridgewater & Stephens 2&1 and in the final foursome Jasper & Greenaway suffered the same fate at the hands of Trowbridge & Ferris. Despite the anxious moments, the win ensured Somerset took the Wooden Spoon, so a very significant win for Cornwall.

In the most meaningful encounter on the final day Gloucestershire were tied 4-4 with Devon at Lunch but then won two foursomes and halved another to register a 7.75 – 6.25 win thereby adding the matchplay shield to their strokeplay accomplishment. Dorset suffered a 10 - 4 loss to Wiltshire. Devon finished as runners up, whilst for Cornwall fourth spot was secured.

The Final Matchplay Table

Full 36 Hole Strokeplay - Scores

English Finals Qualifier - Scores

For Cornwall Matt Richards was top points scorer with 6.75 from 10 rounds played, just ahead of Richard Jasper (6.5 also from 10) and Mortimore (6.25 from 9). Further evidence of an excellent debut came as Tom Stephens registered 5.25 points (from his 9 appearances).

Cornwall achieved 20.5 points from a possible 40 in the singles and only 10.5 from a possible 30 in the foursomes.

The CGU would like to thank Burnham & Berrow GC, its staff and members for their excellent hospitality throughout the week. Truly wonderful.