Dorset County

Dorset v Gloucestershire Sunday 2nd April 2023

On a cold spring day the first Channel League match against Gloucestershire was played at Ferndown Golf Club.

The team met for breakfast, discussed strategy and went for their warm up.

The foursomes commenced with Sam Roles and Jenson Bull being involved in a close contest with the Gloucestershire pair winning 2 & 1. The second match saw Nick Hopwood and Andy Su play some great golf to win, also by a score of 2 & 1. In match three Matt Warren and Zac Mudford (making his debut for the first team) were unfortunately beaten 4 & 3. The fourth match had Andy Rideout and Andy Robson level the scores with a fine 4 & 3 victory and in the final game Gregg Sutcliffe and another debutant, Andy Simpson, had a great game to win by 5 & 4.

So with a 3-2 lead we commenced the singles and it was to be expected that Gloucestershire would come out strongly. Andy Rideout led us out but lost 5 & 3. Matt Warren’s match went the full distance ending all square. In match three Sam Roles was up against some excellent play, unfortunately losing 6 & 5. In the fourth game Zac Mudford was up against Nick Day. It was a close contest finishing in Gloucestershire’s favour on the 17th. Nick Hopwood in match five continued to impress with a 5 & 4 win. Jenson in match six was unable to hold off his opponent and lost on the 14th whilst Andy Su playing behind him came up just short losing 1 down. Match eight was halved by Andy Simpson and Andy Robson in match nine was up against some fine play from his opponent losing 5 & 4. In the final game Gregg Sutcliffe played very well again, winning by 4 & 3.

That left the overall result 6-9 in favour of Gloucestershire who showed why they are such a strong side and our congratulations to them.

Our thanks to Ferndown for hosting this fixture at short notice, for presenting the course in excellent condition and catering for both sides superbly.

We also thank the President, executive committee, caddies and all the Dorset supporters. It was great to see you all today. It really does make the difference and we hope to welcome you again at our next match against Cornwall at Parkstone Golf Club on the 7th of May.

Finally thank you to Kevin Garwood, our Performance Director for his support and guidance all weekend and to the Dorset Secretary, Sean Whelan, for all his hard work in arranging this fixture and also for caddying this afternoon.

David Cook & Tom Peacock

Dorset First Team Managers

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