Gloucestershire Golf Union
U16's V Wiltshire U16's - Channel League
Click Here for the full match results
The boys arrived at The Bristol to find it in good condition but were greeted by a cold North Easterly wind and a very strong Wiltshire side. The boys started slowly and at one point on the front nine all the pairs were loosing. Although the boys gave away some silly holes they hung in there and turned a couple of the matches around. Sam Edlin and Dan Berry won their match comfortably in the end 5&4 after being all square after nine holes. Ollie Christopher and Djib Ali battled well and managed to secure a 2up victory in a match where they were behind for a long time. Giving Wiltshire a slender lead of 3-2 at lunchtime.
In the afternoon the boys rallied well, Ethan in the lead match got up early and stayed that way winning his match 4&2 against his plus handicap opponent. Dan Berry heading out second also against a plus figure handicapper was ahead for most of the match but in the end lost the last 2 holes to loose 2 down. Leo Powell got up early then lost a few holes and again took the lead on the 16th, unfortunately he lost the last hole but gained an important half to keep the momentum going. Jaxson Perry was 2 up in the first four holes and kept applying the pressure to his opponent by not making any mistakes and won on the 16th hole. Ollie Crowley again went ahead early and found himself 4up through 9 holes and ended up winning 2 up. Ambrose Eaves made his debut for the U16's and took to it like a duck to water, he played really well all day and was 4up with 4 to play when his opponent suddenly turned his game around and forced the match to the 18th. Ambrose held his nerve though and won the 18th to win his match 2up.
Reggie Phelps was involved in a real battle and at one stage found himself 3 down on the front nine, at the turn he made some pars and birdies to get back to all square standing on the 18th tee. He hit a great tee shot down the middle of the fairway leaving a wedge to the green, his opponent then hit the green in regulation but was a good 25ft past the flag. With all the pressure on him Reggie hits his wedge to 5ft and thought he had a nice putt for the win but Jude Ward had other ideas and rolled in his 25ft down hill putt for birdie. Knowing he needed to hole his side hill 5ft putt to halve the match Reggie calmly knocked in his putt to earn a good half point.
Ollie Christopher in match 8 started strongly and was 1up through 2 holes but then struggled against Luka Drinkwater and found himself 3 down at the turn. After a nice little pep talk from Mark Powell he battled hard on the back nine only dropping a couple of shots but the damage was already done and he lost his match on the 15th green. Djib Ali put in a great performance, his match was close all the way round but from being 2up on the 14th he found himself 1 down on the 18th hole. He managed to hole a great 10ft putt for par to win the hole and a deserved half point. In the final match Sam Edlin was always in control and played solidly all afternoon and won his match 4&3.
The boys did really well to turn the match around after lunch against on paper a stronger Wiltshire team, they showed some real belief and team spirit to win the match 8.5 to 6.5. Thank you to Wiltshire for giving us a great game and for The Bristol for hosting us. Thanks for all of the support on the day from the spectators, parents and The Green Army on Whatsapp.
James Tuck
U16 Coach/Manager
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