First Team V Bedfordshire
On Sunday 2nd July, the BB&O First Team played Bedfordshire in the South East Group League Match at The Millbrook GC.
The tight and tricky course was playing very hard and fast meaning that local knowledge would be at a premium, and with many of the Bedfordshire team being members at The Millbrook GC, it was going to be a very stern test.
The morning foursomes was a very tight affair. Only 2 of the 4 matches got to more than 1 up at any stage, these were only at the latter stages of the games. In the top match the Bedfordshire pair of Jack Hawksby and Paul Kenna played some exception golf to beat the established and formidable BB&O pair of Tim Shin & George Bell. The Bedfordshire pair carded 7 birdies in 17 holes and concluded with them being 5 under par for the last 8 holes of the match to win on the 17th. In the second game, the BB&O pair of Aaron Ashberry and Alex Stubbs played some sterling golf themselves to also be under par, finishing superbly to win 3 of their last 5 holes to win 3&2 against the Bedfordshire pair of Normal Cilliers and Jack Leek. The other 2 foursomes matches were extremely tight with firstly the BB&O Pair of Rory Browne & Harrison Arnold halving their match with Scott Armitage & Harry Boyle, and David Langley and Olly Huggins halving the final game against the Bedfordshire pair of Ryan Craig and Ryan Smith. This left the match hanging in the balance at 2-2 at lunch time
In the afternoon singles, BB&O started well, being up in 5 and only down in 2 out of the 8 matches after 3 holes, however things looked a bit different after 8 holes where BB&O were only up in 3 matches… In the top games, BB&O did not get the results they were looking for. In the top match, Tim Shin (BB&O) was having a great match against Millbrook based Jack Hawksby (Beds). Jack eventually won the match on the last hole following on from holing a ridiculous 50+ foot putt from off the green on 17 after being deep in the trees. In the 2nd match, Rory Browne (BB&O) also went down the last, although he couldn’t quite find the birdie he needed to get a half against Ryan Smith (Beds). George Bell (BB&O came up against an unstoppable force in Harry Boyle, who made 6 birdies in a row from the 8th to finish -7 and beat George 5&3. In the 4th match for BB&O Harrison Arnold then showed experience beyond his youthful years to record a very good half point against Jack Leek. This was the start of the turn of the tide for BB&O. Alex Stubbs played great golf for BB&O and never gave his opponent (Ryan Craig) a chance, and won his match 3&2. Olly Huggins in the 6th game was also continuing his excellent current form and closed out an early point for BB&O, winning his first 5 holes and eventually beating Scott Armitage by the tune of 7&6. Unfortunately in the 7th game, Norman Cilliers (Bedfordshire) hurt himself trying to play from poor lie and had to retire, leaving Aaron Ashberry with a walkover and an early point for BB&O, although Aaron was 3 up at the time and playing very well. This left the match dependant on the last game. For BB&O David Langley started poorly and was 2 down after 8, but he dug in and showed his class and experience to win 6 holes in a row to eventually win the game 3&2, which meant an overall win of 6.5-5.5.
This was an excellent result for BB&O against a Bedfordshire team who have an exceptional record at The Millbrook GC.
To view the full match result click here
