BB&O V Essex
The BB&O First Team started their 2017 league season with a hard fought half with Essex at Frilford Heath on Sunday 14th May. The Red Course was presented in excellent condition and the weather for the most part was sunny and warm, so the stage was set for a great days golf – and it didn’t disappoint.
In the morning foursomes, BB&O played some superb golf to take the lead 3-1 at lunch time. Tim Shin (Castle Royle) and George Bell (Harewood Downs) led the way with some flawless golf to win 4/3 against Jay Beisser and Curtis Knipes. BB&O Stalwarts Kevin Freeman and Tom Lawson (both Stoke Park) showed their skill and experience to dispatch the young Essex pair of Aaron Edwards-Hill and Michael Gilbert in the bottom game 3/1. Unfortunately the Essex pair of Ali Plumb and Taylor Carter were too strong for Olly Huggins (Frilford Heath) and Harrison Arnold (East Berks) and won the second match 4/3. The last match to complete in the morning was the match between the BB&O pair of Adam Batty (Beaconsfield) and Aaron Ashberry (Burford) and the Essex pair of Will Percival / Callum Pipe. Adam and Aaron were 1 up playing the last, but with Essex inside 6ft for 2 and looking likely to make birdie, Adam Batty rolled in a fantastic 15ft putt for birdie and to take the game 1up.
Unfortunately, BB&O did not fare so well in the afternoon singles. Through 9 holes of the singles things were very tight – BB&O up in 3 matches, Essex up in 3 matches and it was All Square in the other 2. However, the top order for Essex found another gear and they went on to edge out close wins in the first 3 matches of the afternoon. George Bell played fantastically and held off a late comeback to win his match and to buck the trend and give BB&O some positive news. Unfortunately Harrison Arnold & Aaron Ashberry had too much to do to make up their matches and came up against some astonishing golf from the Essex players in these games (who were -6 combined). However BB&O had an ace up their sleeve with Kevin Freeman shooting -4 for 14 holes to win his match convincingly. So the match came down to Adam Batty. He’d given a short game masterclass to be 2 up with 3 to play – and with the rain coming down he played some very solid golf over the last couple of holes and didn’t give his opponent a chance to grind out a 2/1 win, which meant the overall match was halved.
First Team at Frilford Heath against Essex
For the full match result please click here
