Dates: Play on Sunday 6th July and Monday 7th July Place: Luffenham Heath G.C. Hosts: Uppingham School
The 2007 Final
HMC SCHOOLS FOURSOMES FINALS, 2007
Floods in Cheltenham featured on the BBC news a week or two before the Finals, but a call to Cotswold Hills was reassuring; after lunch the course was back in play, long before flooded shops in the town had reopened. When this “new” course opened thirty years ago (the Club itself was founded in 1902), it was cleverly designed; it drains well and the contours produce plenty of interesting holes. Of course, the heavy rains had thickened up the rough, so players soon learned to think carefully over club selection and to appreciate the importance of keeping straight. Fairways and greens were in marvellous condition and the whole course superbly presented.
In the Finals, with the eight regional winners sorted into two groups on combined handicaps, the draw should bring the strongest two teams together in the third round of matches with all to play for. This year it did not quite work out like that because two odds-on favourites emerged after the first couple of rounds; in Group A, Millfield (combined handicaps 7) took maximum points in beating Monmouth and Brentwood, as did Loretto, Group B, for beating St George’s and Loughborough. Not that these matches were one-sided, far from it. St George’s pairs Tom Berry (scr) & James Boase (4) only lost 1 down and TJ Waldron (5) & Matt Roberts (5) were only beaten on the 19th, so giving the 2006 winners a nasty shock. Then the top two Loughborough pairs did almost as well against the Scots in the afternoon, with two matches going to the last green. Meanwhile, the third Brentwood pair, Ewan McFarlane (10) & Edward Bartlett (10), excelled themselves to defeat a Millfield pair off 2 & 4, and Monmouth bounced back to beat Mill Hill 2 matches to 1.
In the final group matches, the two leaders were, perhaps, trying to save themselves for their head-to-head in the afternoon. Certainly, the young Eton second pair, Tom Greenhagh (1) & Andrew Carver (8), seized the opportunity to win 1 up against Loretto, and Mill Hill nearly pulled off a major surprise against Millfield. With a restructured line-up, third pair Alex Quinn (5) & Chris Alexander (11) won 2 & 1 and their second pair was only defeated on the final green. Meanwhile, with pride at stake rather than any prospect of winning the group, the Loughborough boys played superbly to beat St George’s 2-1 despite some twenty strokes difference in handicap. Then Monmouth and Brentwood halved their match, a well-deserved result which was only permitted because the group winners were already known.
After remarkably good weather for a day and a half, there were enough storm clouds around to make us glad we had shortened the Stableford competition for the non-finalists to eleven holes. With all three scores counting, Mill Hill just squeezed ahead of Eton by one stroke to win The Tankard. It needed a count-back before the Best Pair trophy could be decided; Mitz Maeda (5) & Adam Rossington (9) of Mill Hill, continuing the fine form they had shown in the morning, just edged ahead of Loughborough’s David Saul (5) & Avraj Ghaly (4) with a better score on the back six. Ahead of the Stableford, the Millfield v Loretto clash was certainly living up to expectations with some fine golf from both teams. Loretto’s second pair, Andrew Baillie (4) & Rob Satterley (4), overcame David Gregory (1) & Darryl McMahon (1) 3 & 2 to take the first point, but the euphoria was short-lived. News swiftly came through from the 18th that Millfield’s Captain, Henry Smart (+2), playing with Max Smith (1), had prevailed over Tom Hayes (Scr) & Angus Cappi (1) to even the score. So, the whole match hinged on the third pairs, with Loretto one down on the 17th tee; a lucky bounce off a tree from a pushed tee shot might still have kept them in the game, but a short approach shot and a missed putt gave the match to Millfield’s Jack McKenzie (2) & Max Broadfield (4) 2 & 1. It was a disappointing end for Dexter Buckle (3) & Henry Featherstone (4), who had won their previous three matches, but Millfield were worthy winners of the Hill-Samuel Cup after losing out at the group stage last year.
The HMC Foursomes organizers are extremely grateful to all at Cotswold Hills for their generous support of this event, and particularly thank the Manager, Mrs Annie Hale, and the current Captain, Mr Colin Gay, who presented the prizes. We also thank Cheltenham College, where we were so comfortably looked after in Christowe House, and especially Mr Barry Wild, who made all the arrangements so efficiently. This will be a hard act to follow, as they say, both in terms of a first class golf course that welcomes juniors and of a school that can offer excellent accommodation, plenty of recreational facilities, good food in pleasant surroundings, and all this only a short drive from the course.
Hopes of taking the 2008 Finals to the Northern Region, and of breaking new ground in playing two courses, Ilkley and Kirkby Lonsdale, with Giggleswick as host school, were dashed shortly before this year’s Finals were played. Details of the venue and the dates will be posted as soon as they are confirmed.
Roger Lane July 2007
2007-8 HMCFG
The regional draw for the 2007-8 HMC Foursomes is now showing.
The dates by which the rounds are to be played are:
Round 1 Oct 14 Quarter Final Dec 9 Semi Final Apr 20 Final May 25
Loretto are 2006 Champions
Loretto beat Eton in the 2006 National Finals of the HMC Foursomes. The Tankard winners were Millfield, whose 1st pair (Hatcher and Smith) won the Best Pair Cup.
2006 Final
The 2006 National Final was contested by the 8 Regional winners: Woodbridge, KCS Wimbledon, Warwick, Loretto, Eton, St. George's Weybridge, Millfield and Kingswood.
Here is the Finals Organiser's Report
HMC SCHOOLS NATIONAL FOURSOMES FINALS 2006
After our visit to The Worcestershire and Malvern College in 2005, it was the turn of the South-Central Region to host the 2006 Finals; we are most grateful to Hockley GC and to Winchester College for making this possible. Little were we to know when the dates were first chosen that we would be looking to assemble, perhaps even to play practice rounds, on the day scheduled for the World Cup Final. As it also clashed with the 36 hole Club Championships, it was clear that playing, or even walking the course, would not be practicable and so the first morning round was particularly testing as all but a very few were seeing the course for the first time. What they found was a glorious downland course with plenty of exciting holes and enough run off firm fairways to put a premium on straight hitting. Luckily, the strong winds of the previous day had dropped, but the fierce rough was a constant challenge; it was very hard to find balls even when they were closely marked, and lost balls or bad lies in thick grass affected several matches, often at crucial moments. It all added to the excitement; more matches went to the 18th or extra holes than I can ever remember.
Our finalists were, as usual, sorted into groups based on the aggregated handicaps of the three pairs. No teams were as strong as Millfield in 2003 (an aggregate of scratch!) but their 2006 team (19) still headed Group A with Loretto (22) favourites to win group B. What appeared the weaker schools on paper, Kingswood (60) and Woodbridge (57), might still pull off the odd surprise result if they had not lost key players but still had two strong pairs. Given that our unique scoring system gives 5 points for a match win whether 3-0 or 2-1, plus 1 for each individual pair win, the apparent underdogs can give their opponents a nasty nip at times. So, while Loretto (Northern) and St George’s, Weybridge (SE) took maximum points on the first morning against KCS (London) and Kingswood (SW Midlands) respectively, Millfield (SW) very nearly came unstuck against a determined Woodbridge (East Anglia ) despite the 36 strokes difference in handicaps. Only a dramatic fight back by the top pair from 4 down to win on the last hole rescued the top match, the decider as it turned out when underdogs Hugo Dobson (3) & Harry Hogg (12) levelled the match by snatching the second game 1 up from the experienced Tom Large (2) & Charles Hitchcock (4). Meanwhile, Eton (South Central) defeated Warwick (NE Midlands) 2-1, but lost the top pairs' game, so demonstrating that Group A was likely to be closely contested right to the end.
During the afternoon the light drizzle developed at times into penetrating rain, but the standard of golf remained high, the matches well contested. In Group B Loretto consolidated their position by beating Kingswood 3-0, but KCS bounced back from the earlier disappointment to beat St George’s 2-1. In Group A, Warwick's second pair, Ben Illingworth (11) & James Yearsly (7), played bravely to take a point off Millfield, while a titanic struggle developed in the other group match. Woodbridge had altered their pairings to good effect, Greg Slade (18) supporting James Reiss (3) superbly to beat the top Eton pair of James Rowland Clark & Will McPhail (both 7). With the giant-killers of the morning going down at second pair, the bottom pairs would decide the match and, perhaps, the group. Again it was a case of so near and yet so far for Woodbridge; Stuart Green (10) & Ben Havard (11) took the Eton lower handicappers, Charles Brook Shanahan (7) & Ben Holden (6), to the 20th hole before they had to accept defeat.
The second day provided near perfect conditions; plenty of sunshine and a gentle breeze. In Group B, St George's had a mountain to climb to stop Loretto winning the group; they would have to take all three games. All credit to them that these were so well contested that the results were in doubt until the very end; second and third pairs one each, both 2 up, and the top pairs' game clinching it for Loretto 2 & 1. The decider in Group A was just as exciting: Eton's Ed Farley (9) & Billal Ismail (7) won 3 & 2 at second pair. but Millfield's top pair, Matt Hatcher (1) & Max Smith (4) coolly took their birdie at the 18th to win 1 up. All now depended on the third pairs again. Would the nerve-jangling finale of the previous day help the Etonians? How well would the Millfield pair Alex Viklund (2) & Becky Gibbs (6), handle pressure and play the finishing holes after earlier wins in the first two rounds? A fine match just tilted Eton's way; the 2 up win saw the team through to their first final for many years to play Loretto in their first year in this competition.
So, to the final afternoon; while the two group winners continue with match play, the other six schools play a ‘generous’ Stableford (3 points for Par), which we shortened to 10 holes this year to help the teams with long journeys ahead. When the unexpected happens at the group stage and the favourites are put out, they are likely to dominate the Stableford and Millfield duly won ‘the Tankard’. However, they were run very close by Woodbridge, who were only beaten into second place by one stroke despite the huge difference in handicaps. Indeed, it needed some outstanding golf from the Millfield top pair to clinch the team trophy; Matt Hatcher & Max Smith only dropped one stroke against par in winning the Best Pairs Cup.
Meanwhile, Eton and Loretto were battling it out over the full course, although two of the games finished earl\y one going each way. Surely it couldn't be three times unlucky for the Eton top pair who had played so magnificently only to lose on the last green twice already. Alas for them, Loretto were not to he denied; Tom Hayes (scratch) & Peter Atkins (4) took the match 1 up to the great joy of the many OLs who had supported them so enthusiastically over the two days. The other two pairs, Martin Zinn (4) & Andrew Baillie (4) and Dexter Buckle (4) & Rob Satterley (6), enjoyed their success and it was a pleasure to hear the Captain express all the appropriate thanks both to Hockley G.C. and to Winchester College after receiving the cup.
Dick Longley, who still takes on the lion's share of organising this HMC Schools’ Foursomes competition from start to finish, joins me in thanking all the Team Managers who organise all the early rounds and, particularly, all those who made this year's final such a success. It was good to hear so many compliments from the Secretary, Mrs Lyn Dyer, and others about the boys’ behaviour both on and off the course. (Girl’s too, I should add, because Becky Gibbs of Millfield is the first girl to play in these finals since 1999; winning two matches out of three and coming 4th = out of 18 pairs in the Stableford is pretty impressive!) Our thanks, too, to Mr David Ward, who acted as Starter for all the rounds.
Subject to confirmation, the 2007 Finals will be held at Cotswold Hills GC and hosted by Cheltenham College; details will be published on the HMC Schools Foursomes website shortly.