Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire Seniors delivered a statement of intent in their Channel League opener against Cornwall at Knowle Golf Club on Tuesday 3rd May.  With a resounding 12 and a half to 2 and a half victory, it would seem the new additions to the team augur well for the forthcoming season.

The morning greensomes set the foundations for the day with Gloucestershire losing just one match and forging a 4 – 1 lead. Newcomer Tim Rogers was paired with his Knowle colleague Nick Barwood in the top spot and responded as expected with a comfortable win.  If Cornwall’s danger pairing of Andy Rowe and Charlie Phillips had any thoughts of gaining anything from the second match they would have been thoroughly frustrated by the customary quality of golf inflicted upon them by Steve Yorke and Mike Jarvis.  Another debutante in Seniors Channel League was Tim Clink who, with Brian Mitten proved too strong for their opponents.  In the final greensomes match Vernon Chappell and Nick Morris let an early lead slip from their grasp only to make the shots and hole the putts when it mattered most. The morning lead proved to be a confidence booster for the afternoon singles in which Gloucestershire either won or halved every match.

Gloucestershire went into the afternoon session with local men Nick Barwood and Tim Rogers filling the top two berths and they duly delivered, vindicating the hopes placed upon their shoulders by captain Nick Morris.  Steve Yorke halved his match before Mike Jarvis effectively sealed the result by beating Charlie Phillips 4 and 3.  After the match Phillips said he was “simply beaten by the quality of Jarvis’s short game and was under pressure the whole afternoon.”  One of the stand-out performances came from the experienced Brian Mitten.  After going 3 down in the first seven holes he showed class and character to fight back and chalk up a 3 and 1 win. Tim Clink kept pressing to the end and along with the other debutante Tim Rogers delivered 2 points on a day when the “youngsters” announced themselves in the best way possible.  Rich Wood was his usual efficient self and so too was his Long Ashton colleague Andy Wright with both established team members atoning for their morning loss in thoroughly determined fashion.  Vernon Chappell, unaccustomed to playing in one of the tail matches hit pretty much all of his fairways and halved against the accomplished Cornishman, Andrew Clotworthy. Captain Nick Morris took the tail with opponent Colin Kitt.  With both players having periods of brilliance (Morris holed his second shot on the first!) neither deserved to lose and an honourable half was the outcome.

The hospitality given us on the day by Knowle was superb and so too was the condition of the course.  The support frequently given by them to GGU cannot go unmentioned and we appreciate it very much.  Gloucestershire, on the strength of this performance will go into the next match at home to Somerset on 26th May with an unchanged team.

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Nick Morris

GGU Seniors Captain

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