Dorset County

Our match against Somerset was our only home match of the season, and with Yeovil Golf Club being pretty familiar to the Dorset team, we felt ourselves in position to put up a good fight. Since Somerset was the winning U16/U14 team at the South West Championships, we knew that we needed to be on our best form.

The morning Foursomes started on the Newton Course, with the opening par 3 testing the mid-irons. Having played on the course a few days earlier, the Dorset team were confident that some of the quirkier holes would spring some surprises for Somerset, and this was seen to be the case with 3 of the 4 matches in Dorset’s favour at the turn, albeit with narrow margin. The front match of Baker/Carroll was always going to be the hardest, and it was great to see the boys keep their 1 shot lead through to the last to bring in the first Dorset point. The following games concluded on slightly earlier holes, all in Dorset’s favour, with the Davis/Russell match having turned into Dorset’s favour on the back 9. So, an excellent conclusion to the morning with Dorset in a 4-0 lead.

A quick intake of sandwiches and chips, and Tom Atkins was stood on the first tee of Yeovil’s Old Course ready to commence the afternoon singles. It quickly transpired that Dorset were up in all matches after only a few holes, which provided a solid position for the matches. By the turn, word had quickly spread that Jack Baker had made somewhat short work of his match with a dominant 9&8 win, leaving his Somerset competitor in a state of shock. The remaining matches were still in play, but Dorset still maintained their positive position.

Tom Atkins concluded his match with a satisfying 4&2 win, and we started to get the sense that Dorset were overwhelming Somerset with some excellent play in all matches. In quick succession, Carroll, Lyon and Davis brought that matches to conclusion in Dorset’s favour securing the overall win, but history has shown that the league title very often falls to a countback on number of games won, so the remaining 3 matches were still to play for.

All final 3 matches went down the 18th. After a cracking drive, Dunstan found himself in a splendid position given his opponent’s ball settled behind some trees. However, a miracle shot from Somserset placed their ball only a couple of foot from the pin, and Dunstan knew he was going to have to make birdy. A missed putt to deliver Dominic a tap-in par was unfortunately not enough, and Somerset gained another point.

Foley went down the 18th all-square, and pars from both played held that match to a half. Russell was 1up going down the last, and a missed 3-footer for birdy by Somerset saw both players par, and Russell keep his unblemished singles record for the season.

So, a resounding 10½  to 1½  win for Dorset brought many smiles to close out the season. With two wins and one loss, we hold tight to see how the final league matches pan out and see if we have done enough to get out hands on the league trophy.

The Team Manager would like to thank the Under 16’s for an excellent inaugural season, and the parents for getting everyone to the coaching and match fixtures. Coach Dan Frost has also done an excellent job with the boys, and has fine-tuned the process of match preparation. Jack Baker should also be thanked for being the U16’s Captain this year. We wish the boys moving out of the 16’s age group all the best.

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