“Sunday, Bloody Sunday”. I just couldn’t get this song out of my head as I traveled over the hill early on Sunday morning with a slight to middling hangover! With Royal Wellington Golf Club forcing this on the Otaki Cup contenders year after year, and informing team managers they would not be providing carts for this round, I am sure you can understand my frustrations. On a positive note, however, “kicking their arse” 14 – 1 in Division 2 Interclub at home the previous day gave me an extra sense of satisfaction.
It was great to welcome debutant George Deans to the team and he would get things underway for us as he teamed up with Peter Jackson as our first foursomes pairing out. It would be fair to say that early nerves got the better of George as the pair lost ground to their opponents, being three down after the first six holes. Despite their best efforts, they could not claw their way back into the match with the final result being a 6/5 loss.
With Joel Macklin on “COVID” leave, his foursomes partner, Luke Lange, teamed up with Dean Gray as our next pairing. They worked well together and were in a tight match from the outset. The updates I got from these guys throughout the morning never had them more than one up or one down at any stage. Dean’s steadying influence paid dividends, with both players displaying great confidence despite their match hanging in the balance throughout. When they were all square with six holes to play, much of the team was there in support. They would finally break the deadlock on the par 4 12th, our penultimate hole having started on the 14th. Dean rolled in a good par-saving putt to win the hole and go one-up with one to play. Taking the honour on the final hole (the par 4, 13th), Dean’s tee shot snuck into the left rough, leaving a difficult approach shot for Luke. With some tree trouble to go with the rough lie, it would take a great shot to find the putting surface but Luke delivered as he muscled one out of the rough. The ball would give the tree a tickle on the way past but ultimately he left his playing partner with the opportunity to walk to the green with his putter in hand. Par would be enough to halve the hole and Dean did a great job to roll his putt up close enough to be conceded for a one-up win. Nice work lads!
Unfortunately, that would be the only point earned in the morning session with our final three pairings suffering heavy defeats. Phillip Tuoro and Jason Lange got to an early one-up lead but things turned quickly for them to be two down after seven holes. From there, things got even tougher as they were only able to halve one of the next five holes, losing the rest to succumb to a 6/5 loss.
Rob Blackett and Gordon Reisima would suffer a similar fate with a 6/4 loss to opponents who played very well as a pair on the long and difficult Royal Wellington course. Their opponents didn’t drop many shots and they threw in the odd birdie for good measure to close the match out early.
Recent form gave us hope that our pairing of Jamie Frew and Sam Forrester could produce another foursomes win. It wouldn’t come today, unfortunately. When they were two down through seven holes, their experienced opponents offered very little in terms of opening the door for a comeback. They would go on to lose 5/4 and the team would head to lunch, having only secured a solitary point for the day so far. Lunch was nice – lasagne!
The lads were up against it in the afternoon as well. The wind strengthened and the greens got a bit faster as the day progressed. However, there was some good fight displayed early in the singles matches from our boys. Through the first five holes we were down in six matches but either all square or up in the other four. We would have taken four points from the singles at that stage if we could have.
George had overcome those early nerves and kept his opponent honest as they traded wins and losses to end up being all square after 10 holes. With playing partner Peter Jackson being three down at the same stage, my hopes lay with George to pull through with at least one win from this pairing. It would be Jacko that would come away with the win for us, however. A great fightback saw him wear his opponent down and impose a two-down defeat on him. Nice work Jacko! Unfortunately, George was not able to finish as strong as he fell to a 3/1 loss. A great effort on debut nonetheless.
Luke and Gordon were always just behind in their matches as I got updates throughout the afternoon. The greens got the better of Luke at times and a bogey on the difficult par 3, 11th would end his fight as he suffered a 3/2 loss. Gordon’s match ended on the previous hole as he probably tried to do too much being dormy down as he started it. He would lose 4/3 despite his ace on the par 3, 3rd hole. That’s right, an ace! It is Gordon’s second time achieving the rare feat but to do it in a premier match representing your club makes it extra special. Gordy made it pretty clear that he would happily trade it for his singles win but congratulations on achieving this rare and special moment! It was certainly the highlight of the day for the team.
Jason Lange played well for large parts of his afternoon round, getting to a two up lead with eight holes to play. He would not maintain that lead, however, as his match got back to square with four to play. He won the par 5, 10th to provide great hope of adding a point to the team tally but he lost the next hole and then found the penalty area on the 12th off the tee. Heading to the final hole, one down, he was unable to provide the birdie required to win the hole so it was a one down loss for Jason. Phill was not able to give me too much good news when updates were asked for as he slowly fell behind in his match. When he was four down with four to play, he would win the next hole (the par 5, 10th) and follow it up with another win on the 11th to provide hope of a late surge to scramble half a point. Unfortunately, however, his comeback ended on the penultimate hole as he went down to a 3/1 loss.
Our next pair of Rob Blackett and Sam Forrester were providing the most promising updates throughout the afternoon. Both remained up in their matches as they completed the first 10 holes. Rob was one up and Sam two at that point. Sam was ultimately too strong for his opponent, increasing his lead to as much as four up before finishing his match off with a solid 3/2 win. Great to see Sam getting his first singles win for the season and here’s hoping he takes that form and confidence into the last two rounds of Otaki Cup and, being his partner, the first round of the Baker Four Ball as well! Unfortunately, the tide turned a little for Rob down the stretch. He would finish his match by losing five of the last six holes played to fall to a 4/2 loss.
Big-hitting Perry Hayman was too strong for Jamie Frew on this day. Jamie fought hard to stay with him early on, only being one down after six holes despite losing the first two. The tipping point was when his opponent made a tricky downhill putt for birdie on the par 3, 3rd before Jamie’s shorter birdie putt agonisingly slid past the hole. He would struggle to come back from that as he fell to a 6/5 loss.
Playing partner, Dean Gray was having a great battle with the wiley Adam Church. It was tight throughout with Dean being all square or one down at every update I received. Coming off a recent bout of COVID himself, Dean was struggling physically as he played the final nine holes. I am sure he was very appreciative of Tony Rowntree’s efforts to push his bag for him at this stage. The extra support allowed Dean to not only stay in the match but put himself in a position to win it. When Dean was still one down with three to play, he tapped in for par, forcing his opponent to make a tricky 12-footer to halve the hole. He made it though, damn it! Doing his best to win the penultimate hole, Dean found himself in the right trees on the par 4, 12th. He was not able to recover from here, conceding the hole and recording a 2/1 loss. A great battle though, despite his fatigue.
So the final result was a 12 – 3 loss to Judgeford. Always a difficult pill to swallow but at least we were able to head to the clubhouse and help Gordy celebrate his ace from earlier in the day! We now look forward to hosting the Otaki Cup teams at Masterton on Saturday, March 25th. The boys are giving their best despite some tough defeats recently and I am sure they would greatly appreciate the club’s support as we take on Shandon on our home course. Come on out and get behind your team!
Nathan Frew, Co-Manager