Dorset County

Looe Golf Golf Club – 19th May 2013
County Junior President Ian Clark made the long trip down to Cornwall to witness the u14’s kick off the 2013 Jack Roberts Trophy campaign in style with a great win at Looe Golf Club.  All bar 1 of the team made their way to Looe on Saturday for what proved to be a very worthwhile practice round. It was an opportunity to get to know the specific challenges the course presents, a few blind tee shots, subtle slopes around the greens and the local wildlife which included an Adder snaking its way across the 3rd fairway.
David Cooper was also in attendance on Sunday armed with energy bars and plenty of bottled water to the delight of all the boys and I to help get the boys prepared and focused for the match ahead. Following the friendlies there was defiantly a different feel to this match. The Jack Roberts Trophy bears the name of a long standing servant to Dorset Golf sadly no longer with us and as such belongs in a Dorset trophy cabinet.
The morning foursomes again proved to be a dominant affair by the Dorset boys picking up 2 ½ points with only ½ point conceded. The team spirit amongst this group of lads is a joy to see and was reflected in the results. Adam and Ben made their usual fast start going 2 up early on but for the first time together were unable to convert to a win falling victim to a superb 20 foot putt on the last by Cornwall’s George Leigh to settle the match all square. Sam Brooke and Tomas Seville enjoyed a handsome 4&2 victory against Conor Davidson and Jack Andrews. Oscar Perry and Mark Rankin also maintained their unbeaten partnership seeing off Joe Reynard and Danny Sweet 2&1. The reserve match saw Cameron Moss making his first appearance in the County colours, paired with Kieran Mulhall they secured a half against Bradley Barnes and Finley Rule.
Both teams sat down to sandwiches and chips at the interval before David and I gathered the boys to ensure they were switched back on for the afternoon singles. We only needed 2 ½ points from 6 to win the match but after losing the trophy to Devon last year after being tied on points but losing out virtue of Devon’s better result against us then every point gained becomes priceless.
We set off in the afternoon full of confidence but initially the match looked in the balance, Adam was down, Ben was down, Mark loses the first, Tomas was down and all of a sudden the Dorset supporters were looking at each other wondering where “just 2 ½ points” were going to come from.
Slowly some of the matches begin to swing in our favour, Adam gets to 2 up through 7 against Conor Davidson. Oscar never behind begins to put some distance between himself and Danny Sweet whilst Mark recovers from his dodgy start to ease away from Cornwall’s Jack Andrews. Sam gets to 2 up but starts to lose control of his match to Tom Lentern as Toms putter warms up. Ben found himself a little out of sorts and never got to grips with a tenacious George Leigh. Tomas found himself in a real examination, 2 down after 5 against an inspired Joe Reynard Tom sticks to well drilled routine to slowly get back on level terms. As the afternoon progresses Adam finds himself back to all square through 10, he digs in to turn his match and return a 3&2 victory. Oscar is next to arrive with a smile as big as his hair proudly announcing his 6&5 win and we were hearing that Mark was about to close his match 5&3 to the good. Sam’s match eventually finished 3&2 in favour of Cornwall and Ben who managed to get back on level terms after 16 proceeds to lose a ball off the 17th tee to finally go down by 1 hole. Secure in the knowledge we had won the match it was all eyes on Tomas as his match drew to a close, with very little to separate the them, Tom manages to earn a bit of breathing space winning the 16th and holds his nerve to end up winning 2 up.
The two reserve matches finished with honours even for both sides, Kieran doing down 4&2  whilst Cameron saw all his hard work through the winter pay off as he wins his debut singles match 2&1.
After the on course action both sides changed for dinner to enjoy very nice roast beef followed by chocolate cake and ice cream and the obligatory speeches. We were very well looked after by Cornwall and Looe Golf Club so my thanks to Phil, Gary and Amanda at the golf club. The Cornwall boys played the match in great spirit and we wish them well  for the rest of the season.
So, of to a winning start, golf is as much a mental challenge as a physical one, probably more so in fact so to remain focused for 6 hours on an away course and deliver such a good result is a fantastic achievement. The boys need to reflect on the day, think about the key moments in their match and consider how they may do things differently. Our next contest will be another away match against Devon at Honiton Golf Club and I suspect the boys will need all of their mental toughness  to get a positive result in that one but I have every confidence they can do it.
Rob Harris

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