St. Enodoc Golf Club - Close encounters at Launceston

With a one point lead from the home match in March, the Old Saints were in optimistic mood at Launceston on Monday, 17 August. The weather was superb and the course in beautiful condition as the Seniors confidently set out, hopefully, to reinforce the lead and retain the Shield, for which the two clubs compete annually. The said Shield, which had been missing for some time, had been recovered from its hiding place under the new Trophy cabinet at St Enodoc.

However, the mood changed a little when the Captain of the day, Geoff Matthews inadvertently picked up a makeable three foot putt on the 6th, thinking he was out of the hole. Sadly, that would have achieved a half had he made it, to keep the 1 up lead, but equally sadly, it deleted him from partner Keith Hawke’s Christmas card list. He then proceeded to ‘crash’ his trolley into the green keepers’ machinery on the steep 10th, and despite his Keith’s great efforts the first match went the wrong way at 2 & 1. This rather set the tone for the day and the first three matches went to Launceston.

The Seniors though, are in good hands with our Captain, Richard, Club Vice Captain, Tony Mindel, and Kevin Birkett and their partners scoring 2½ points. This left the old boys trailing 4½ - 2½ and a win from the last pair, whilst losing the match on the day, would at least have retained the Shield. In the event, the final pair of Bill Comyn and Harry Gliddon managed a notable half with Bill holing a putt from off the green to win the last.

The final result was therefore a win Launceston 5 - 3 who thus won the Shield by 1 point on aggregate. The good news is that the Shield is in need of a bit of a makeover, having been filled up with the results from 1989. It has also suffered somewhat in its wanderings, but the responsibility for the refurbishment falls, of course, on the current holders !

• Geoff Matthews & Keith Hawke lost 2 & 1
• Nigel Thomas & John Bower lost 1 down
• Keen Metcalfe & Frank Harper lost 3 & 2
• Kevin Birkett & Steve Smith won 4 & 3
• Tony Mindel & Paul Godfrey halved
• Colin Earle & David Ramsbottom lost 5 & 3
• Richard Parsons & Charles Rayment won 4 & 3
• Bill Comyn & Harry Gliddon halved

NTP: Charles Rayment

Old Hickory’s Trivia:

• Even small bets lengthen putts and shorten drives

• Confidence evaporates in the presence of water

• In the heat of a match, balls tend to rise to the surface of the rough

• It takes considerable pressure to make a penalty stroke adhere to a scorecard