First Team V Middlesex

On Sunday 30^th July, the BB&O First Team played Middlesex in the South East Group League match at Sudbury GC.

Although there had been a deluge of rain the day before which had curtailed the teams practice round, the course had stood up well and was in great condition for the match in the bright and breezy conditions. There was also an added spice to the match as Rymer Smith (The Buckinghamshire) was playing for BB&O and his father, Joe, was playing for Middlesex!

In the morning foursomes the team started slowly and were down in 3 matches after 5 holes. They soon got into their stride and through 11 holes had turned things around to be up in 3 matches and All Square in one. In the top match, the BB&O pair of Olly Huggins (Frilford Heath) & John Gough (Stoke Park) played some sparkling golf and were -4 to win their match 4&2 against Tommy King & James Ellis. The established BB&O pairing of Tim Shin (Castle Royle) & George Bell (Harewood Downs) also played some great golf to dispatch Joe Smith and Kane Stone 3&2. The 16^th green proved to be a popular finishing point with BB&O pair Rory Brown (Feldon Valley) & Alex Stubbs (Frilford Heath), also winning their match 3&2 against Justin Phelps and Niall Keogh. In the final match, the BB&O pair of Rymer Smith (The Buckinghamshire) & Adam Batty (Beaconsfield) had been 3 down in the early stages to the Middlesex pair of Ross Dickson & Tom Nagle, but had rallied to get back to all square by the 11^th. The match went down to the last hole, and with Middlesex in the hole for par Adam had a 8ft birdie putt to win the match and give BB&O a whitewash. Unfortunately it was not to be as the putt defied gravity and somehow stayed out of the hole, so the match was halved, leaving BB&O leading 3.5 to 0.5 at lunchtime.

For the afternoon singles, all eyes were on the draw to see if there would be the father and son match between Rymer & Joe Smith – unfortunately it was not to be and they drew different opponents.

In the matches, it was once again a slow start from BB&O, with the team being down in 5 of the 8 matches. Unfortunately the same pattern did not occur as it did in the morning and after 11 holes things were looking very bleak, with the BB&O down in 7 of the 8 matches. For the 3^rd match in a row this season the BB&O lost the top 3 matches of the afternoon singles order. Olly Huggins (Frilford Heath) and Tim Shin (Castle Royle) both fell victim at the 16^th green and John Gough (Stoke Park) produced a late surge of birdies but unfortunately lost on the 18^th. In the 4^th match, things were slightly better for the BB&O with George Bell (Harewood Downs) grinding out a 1 hole victory over Rymer’s dad, Joe Smith, with George producing a fantastic 2 putt from long range down a large tier to halve the hole and win the match. Rory Browne (Feldon Valley) had a great tussle with James Ellis, with the match also going down to the par 3 last hole, with Rory being 1 up. Both players hit it within 8ft leaving a putting contest – unfortunately Rory’s ball replicated the gravity defying act of Adam’s ball in the morning and somehow stayed out. Then in true match play style James knocked his putt in for birdie to win the hole and to halve the match. In the next match, Rymer Smith (The Buckinghamshire) had been 3 down through 11 holes, but had then played some sparkling golf to turn things around and be 1 up playing the last hole and managed to hold on and get a vital victory. After a loss in the bottom match, the match hung in the balance with the BB&O leading 6-5 with one game remaining. All eyes turned to the last game on course, which was between Alex Stubbs (Frilford Heath) and the Middlesex player, Kane Stone. With a win vital for BB&O to keep their league chances alive, it was imperative that Alex got something from his game to ensure victory in the match. Unfortunately it did not look good, as Alex was 1 down playing the last and missed the green with his tee shot. The Middlesex player also missed the green and following his chip the best he could make was par. Following a good look from all angles, Alex stepped up and proceeded to chip his ball straight into the hole for birdie to win the hole, halve his match and give the BB&O victory! A great way to finish off a great match and was greeted by a cheer of relief from all of the BB&O players and officials who were watching on!

The BB&O now go into their final match of the league on Sunday 6^th August against Hertfordshire at Frilford Heath, knowing that a win would put BB&O in the driving seat to win the league, and would force Essex to have to win their final match by a certain amount of games to snatch the title.

For the full result please click here

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