Daily Telegraph Salver
The Final of the Daily Telegraph Salver took place at Brocket Hall on 6th October. BB&O had won all four of our matches in the North of the Thames League, whilst Surrey had got through on Game Points after 3 Counties in the South had tied on 5 points. Our matches against Surrey have always been hard fought affairs, often with the teams evenly balanced. Both sides have lost a few key players recently, either because they have turned Professional or gone back to the USA on scholarships.
The morning foursomes went well and at one stage we looked assured of a 3-1 lead into lunch, but the final Surrey pairing fought back from 3 down with 4 to play to earn a half and cut the deficit to 2½-1½ at half time.
All the afternoon games were tense affairs and after 4 games it was 2-2 and we still held a 1 point advantage. The news from the course was not good with 1 likely win and 3 loses which meant a tied match was the most likely outcome. However, our most ‘Senior’ player and past County Captain Malcolm Reid had other ideas. As in the morning foursomes he was 4 down after five holes and heading for defeat, before a surge of birdies turned the tide. He came to the last all square and 3 very solid shots to the par 5 left him with a 12 foot putt to win the match. It turned out it was not needed as his opponent was destined to 3 putt from the front of the green and a par was good enough to win his game and the match by just 1 point. Well done to all who represented the County, this year as we won the Daily Telegraph Salver for the first time since 2006.
Thanks to Surrey for their part in a fine match played in the very best of spirit by all who took part.
The winning Team at Brocket Hall
