The 2009-10 Regional Draws are now live. Play-by dates as follows: Round 1 by October 17 Round 2 by December 12 Semi-final by March 27 Final by May 29
2009 Finals
Regional Winners and Qualifiers for 2009 Finals taking place at Royal Ashdown Forest G.C. on 6-7 July and hosted by Tonbridge School are: East Anglia: Bedford London: Epsom North: Birkenhead South Central: Bradfield South East: Wellington South West: Millfield NE Midlands: Rugby SW Midlands: Monmouth
2008-9 Draw
2008-9 draw now shown. Play-by dates as follows: 1st round by Oct 18 1/4 final by Dec 13 1/2 final by Apr 25 Final by May 23
2008 Champions - Millfield
HMC SCHOOLS FOURSOMES FINALS, 2008
Luffenham Heath provided a perfect venue for the year’s finals. Designed by James Braid and opened in 1911, the course looked superb, with lush fairways and fine, true greens unfolding among clumps of gorse and mature woodland. The wavy, calcareous grasses of the long rough lining many narrow fairways delighted the cognoscenti; because of this, it is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) Many of our players, though, were less excited by its rarity, particularly after searching unsuccessfully for balls in this wet, knee-high rough. To them, a policy of extinction would have been preferable; some muttered darkly of deep, Seriously Harsh Intractable Terrain (acronym unprintable). Whatever their point of view, the players will, as the Captain, Mr George Greenlees, pointed out at the prize-giving, have gained invaluable experience in thinking their way around a challenging course, and of reviewing their club selection, especially when wind and rain made conditions even more testing. They were also quick to appreciate the need to walk forward in true foursomes style to reduce the risk of losing balls. It was no accident that the two girls, despite playing off men’s tees, did so well; what they lacked in distance (not much at times!) was more than made up for by the straightness of their hitting, control around the greens and the confidence this gave to their playing partners.
The first round saw the top teams in each group, Millfield and Loretto, justify their seeding with apparently crushing 3-0 victories, but there were some tight individual games for which that score-line gives no credit. The Millfield top pair, both off scratch, only won 2 & 1 against Reigate despite the 11 stroke difference in handicaps; Bedford’s Henry Banks (15) & Sam Jackson (10) only succumbed to the Loretto third pair at the 20th despite 17 strokes difference in handicaps. Epsom & Bradfield also got maximum points at the expense of Cheltenham & Worksop respectively. Some matches, of course, were very one-sided, and the same mixed fare was noticeable in the second round, but it was great to see the young Worksop top pair, thrashed in the morning, battling it out well round the course against a Loretto top pair 14 strokes stronger on handicap.
For those pairs that have found themselves outgunned in the match play or, perhaps, feel they have underperformed, the Foursomes Stableford Competition for the six non-finalists provides a new challenge on the final afternoon. With 3 points for Par and played over 10 holes, it worked brilliantly this year. Mitchell Farrer (5) & Lewis Kuhler (6) of Reigate were worthy winners with something to prove after losing in two of their three earlier matches. They won on count-back from James Stock (11) & Sophie Godley (6 and, at 14 years of age, the youngest girl ever to play in this competition) who played superbly in worsening weather and so nearly pulled off a remarkable victory. Their other two pairs did not quite have the fire-power to match Epsom for consistency, so they took the team trophy, The Tankard, with Loretto in second place. The Epsom team deserved great credit for recovering so quickly from their defeat by Millield in the morning; what a tight match that was! The first pair, Gareth Blease (3) & David Boote (3), only went down at the second extra hole and the second pair, Ollie Lloyd (4) & Matt Chase (7), at the last. Although the third pair, Jeremy Morgan (7) & Madeleine Kuhler (6) was beaten well, the two of them were resilient enough to bounce back with solid support for their team mates; team Stableford score 73 points, an excellent effort.
Bradfield, too, needed to be mentally strong enough to raise their games after the euphoria of beating the Scottish Golf Academy in the morning. Now they had to face the West Country Golf Academy, Millfield, who had five of the 2007 winning team, some with international experience. Would it be a one-sided affair? Would the extra yardage of the Blue Championship tees weigh more heavily against the longer-handicapped players? In the event, it was a cracking match with Bradfield up in all three pairs at one stage. Many of the participants had watched the climax of an enthralling men’s final at Wimbledon the night before and all neutral supporters must surely have been hoping that the brave challengers could, Nadal-like, topple the holders and favourites. In mounting excitement, all three games went well round the course with Bradfield “punching well above their weight”, as their proud team manager put it afterwards. Unlike Federer, Millfield just hung on; the fact that two matches went to the 18th and the third to the 17th gives a measure of what a fine match it was.
Congratulations are certainly due to the two finalists and to many more on the quality of their golf,on the spirit in which it was played and on their conduct around the club-house. Thanks are due to all at Luffenham Heath for their generous support of this event, even allowing us to play two rounds on a Sunday – quite unprecedented! We are also grateful to Uppingham School, particularly the staff of West Deyne House where six schools stayed, and to Mr Keven Johnstone, who organised everything for us so efficiently.
Lastly, on behalf of all participating schools, I end this report with profound thanks to Mr Dick Longley, who has run the HMC Schools’ Foursomes Competition for the last ten years. Huge numbers of junior golfers have been introduced to the thrills and spills of foursomes in that time, including Paul Casey (Hampton GS), whose hole-in-one at the last Ryder Cup is still a vivid memory, and Ross McGowan (Epsom), a rookie on the European Tour this year. We wish Dick well as he passes the torch on to Mr James Nicholls, also of Tonbridge. At the time of writing, the dates and venue for 2009 are still uncertain; they will be published as soon as they are confirmed.
WINNERS: MILLFIELD David Gregory Scr & Daniel McMahon Scr: Max Smith Scr & Parsons 3: Jack McKenzie Scr & Max Broadfield 4
RUNNERS-UP: BRADFIELD Jon Rafferty 4 & Ben Metters 5 Findlay Ingram 2 & Charlie Bull 5 Alex Beasant 6 & Jack Beckett 10
Roger Lane. July 12th, 2008
Finals 2008
Finals arrangements:
Dates: Play on Sunday 6th July and Monday 7th July Place: Luffenham Heath G.C. Hosts: Uppingham School