Having successfully negotiated the qualifying stage at Worplesdon GC back in May, we found ourselves at the Finals up in Norfolk for the second consecutive year, held at two beautiful links golf courses, Hunstanton and Royal West Norfolk (aka Brancaster).

A bye in to the 2nd round saw us drawn at Hunstanton on Friday 27th September against Brentwood.  The team assembled for a practice round on Thursday to be greeted with a weather warning of strong winds and rain and even a tornado warning going into Thursday night and Friday morning.

Thankfully by Friday morning the rain had subsided, however the strong winds certainly hadn’t, a chilly North Easterly blowing at 50mph from off the North Sea, it was going to make for a challenging day on the links!

The team and pairings were:
Greg Whalley & Phil Stickler
Simon Hewett-Avison & Mark Banham
Tim Blood & Pete Whalley

It was fantastic to have three Grafton Morrish debutants on board in Simon, Mark and Tim.  A welcome return of Simon to the Scratch Team after an 18-year hiatus due to an injury, but great to have him back on board.

The course was presented in stunning order however the wind did make the conditions almost unplayable with balls rolling away on the greens and even balls being blown off tee pegs.

Unfortunately, the strength of Brentwood’s team prevailed.  We were hoping the weather would be a good leveller, but Brentwood’s side made up of scratch golfers managed the conditions in a more superior fashion to ourselves.  We lost 2.5 to 0.5, with Greg & Phil losing 6&5, Tim & Pete losing 5&4, but a very impressive half by Simon and Mark, having never been down in their match.

Despite the disappointment of losing, it did mean we had the chance to play Brancaster on the Saturday in what turned out to be perfect golfing conditions.  A complete contrast to Friday with sunshine, blue skies and a light breeze.  Links golf doesn’t get much better.

A fantastic few days and very well done to all involved, with a special thanks to our ‘Team Chef’ Greg, who fed and watered us handsomely over the few days.  One thing Greg can attest to, they might have fantastic golf courses in Norfolk, but they’re not quite ready for the electric car revolution.  I think he made it home eventually!

This year’s Cyril Gray took place again at the end of June 25 – 28.
Once again the sun shone and the course was in great condition.  Our first round was against Wellingborough, last year’s runner up, and Taunton had a great first round winning 2-1.   In the 2nd round Taunton were facing Liverpool and unfortunately we didn’t play as well as the first round and lost 2.5 – 0.5.

Captain’s Closing Message:
Many thanks to all for participating over the past couple of days. A slightly disappointing outcome against Liverpool yesterday but one match still live on the 20th when the match point was lost by another on 19th is real progress. Congrats to Pykey and Tim for remaining unbeaten in this year’s event and banking 1 1/2 points. Congrats to John G whose trajectory in his first four matches ( 8/7 loss, 7/6 loss, 2/1 loss, loss on 19th) is showing real improvement! Thanks to Richard for flying over from Menorca with a dodgy back and to Martin for being part of the team. Thanks to Neil R and Andy H for being in reserve and and Neil actually coming down on Wednesday and being prepared to interrupt his lunch if needed on Thursday. Great team spirit. 

Team:
David Morgan, Richard Willacy, Tim Blood,  Matthew Pyke, John Groombridge, Martin Knight.

Reserves: Neil Robertson, Andy Horne

Draw-Sheet-2024.Day-3

Sunday 19th May, beautiful day again, course in good condition and OTGS looking for a performance like last year!  Welcome back Hewi after a long period away through injury.  There were 10 teams in the qualifying group at Worplesdon and only the top 5 went through to the finals at Hunstanton & Brancaster.

Team consisted of:

Richard Willacy & Ed Bradnock
Simon H-Avison & Greg Whalley
Pete Whalley & Tim Blood

After an interesting shot at the 18th following Ed’s flier from the semi rough approaching the 18th green 1 point was still made for an overall 28 points.  Simon & Greg scored 25 points and probably the clincher was Pete and Tim with 32 points.  The back 9, 18 points, from Pete & Tim secured our position at 4th place to qualify for the finals for the second year running.

Well done boys.

Another wonderful day had by all (14 Attendees) as the sun shone, the wind was non existent and the terrace beckoned us at the end of the day to talk about the golf and admire the view of the North Downs.

The day started at noon with the AGM for the OTGS which updated those attending what had happened within the society over the past year and golf at the school.  The minutes can be read on the OTGS website.  The course was in superb condition and once again Matt, head greenskeeper, has raised the standard of the course.  After lunch we played for the Fairwater Cup, Vets Cup (over 9 holes), Nearest to the pin, Longest Drive, best Team score and a prize for the best Guest.  There were 10 OT’s and 4 Guests.  Banter on the terrace was typical after golf which I believe reflected how much people enjoyed the day.

Results:
Fairwater Cup  –  Richard Parsons 35 Points
Vets Cup  –   Andrew Horne 15 Points
Nearest to the Pin –  Mark Banham
Longest Drive  –  Greg Whalley
Best Guest  –  Mark Welsh 34 Points
Best Team  –  Mark Banham/Rob Mazur/Richard Parsons

Once again the Thone Cup meeting at Taunton & Pickeridge GC was a success on Sunday 28th April.  A huge thank you to Clive Large who has taken over match managing this from Hugh Todd.

Terry Davidge won the Thone Cup with 38 points, Finley Pyke (son of Matthew Pyke) won the GB Johnson salver for the best pupil (who went around Taunton and Pickeridge in one over par off the middle tees playing off 6) with 41 points (A future Halford Hewitt team member!)

The OTs won the team competition versus the school.