Mens County Foursomes Team 2009

The four players that are representing the club for 2009 are captain Tidge Gharial, Ben Hall, Ed Eley and Dave Goodman. The first round match is to be played on Wednesday 13th May 2009 and the team will certainly appreciate any support from the members as they travel to Melton Mowbray. The tee-off time is around 4pm.

The team played their first round match on Wednesday 13th May Away at Melton Mowbray. The pairings consisted of Ben Hall and Tidge Gharial going out in the first pair, and Ed Eley and Dave Goodman going out in the second pair. Due to Tidge running late Ed and Dave went out as the first match. They got off to a great start, going 6 UP after 11. The pair from Melton put up a great fightback on the back 9, finishing 2 under par gross for the last 6 holes with a shot, meaning Ed and Dave finished 3 UP, a fantastic result away from home. The other pairing had fell a few holes behind, and the game was very balanced. Neither team was ever more than 2 UP, with Hall and Gharial going from 1 Down early on to be 2 UP after 7. the game remained very tight, with the Melton pair putting up a fightback to lead 1 UP after 14. Coming down the 15th Hall and Gharial found out the result of the first match, so they knew if they lost 2 Down or less Oadby were in the next round. The 15th was halved to remain 1 Down, and when Hall chipped close on 16 after Gharial hit a good tee shot on the long par 3, the match was over, with the par 3 being good enough to win the hole to go All-Square with 2 to play. They won the 17th with a birdie, and then lost to last to half the match and leave the end result a 3 UP victory to Oadby.

The second round was never going to be easy due to the large amount of fantastic golfers who play for Kirby. Luckily for Oadby they only bought two of their 4 Plus handicappers, Jason Palmer and Matt Stephens, playing off +3 and +1. The first pair for Oadby were Tidge Gharial and Ben Hall, who went out against a 2 and 4 handicapper, giving Oadby 3 shots. Tidge and Ben went round the 18 holes in level par, winning 3UP after the 18. The putter of Ben Hall was working very well, with very few putts missed. Even the ones that missed were stone dead which meant Gharial did not need to putt. Hall and Gharial birdied 7 to go 2 UP in the match, before winning the 9th to go 3 UP at the turn. The 10th was lost, but a great pitch from Gharial and a good putt downhill on 11 from Hall meant they restored their 3 UP lead. The 12th was won to go 4 UP, before losing 13 to go back to 3. The 14th was halved, while the 15th was also halved in pars to mean Hall and Gharial could not lose. Kirby birdied 16 to get the score back to 2, before getting unlucky with trees down 17 on their way to 6. Oadby made 5 to ensure they were guarenteed a win in that match, knowing the match behind were down they went into the last knowing they needed at worst a half. The 18th was halved with 4s which left Hall and Gharial with a 3 UP victory. Oadby were not sure what had happened in the match behind after the 14th where Ed Eley and Dave Goodman took on Jason Palmer and Matt Stephens, getting 7 shots. It turned out that Ed and Dave were 1 Down coming down the last, which meant the match was over. Ed and Dave went on to birdie the last to halve their match, leaving Oadby with an overall score of 3 UP. the next round is at home to Longcliffe on Wednesday 8th July. Any support is greatly appreciated, and the team would like to thank Stuart Robinson, Jan Reading, John Goodman, Gary Smith, Shirley Bright, Su Goodman and Dale Baker for their support during the match against Kirby Muxloe.

Oadby had another tough draw in the third round, being drawn at home to Longcliffe. Longcliffe had beat Cosby in the last round while Oadby had beat Kirby. Oadby had the same team out from the previous rounds, and once again Ben Hall and Tidge Gharial went out first. The match was all square after four, and then Gharial and Hall birdied 5 to go 1 UP after a great second shot by Gharial. The 7th was also won to go 2 UP, and after losing the 9th Hall and Gharial were 1 UP. A poor approach shot from Gharial on 11 meant the hole was halved in 5's, while both teams lost balls on 12. Hall and Gharial won the hole with their shot to go 2 UP. A poor tee shot from Hall meant Gharial had a tricky shot from close to the hedge, while Longcliffe had hit a worse tee shot but ended up fine over the hedge. That hole was lost after a Hall chip shot ran on past the hole more than it looked. The 14th was halved while the 15th was lost after Hall & Gharial were in the bunker for 2, but Hall had an aweful lie and left it in. Gharial also had an awful lie in the bunker but hit a good shot out out 20 feet, the putt from Hall just sliding away at the end. The team made a good 3 on 16 to stay AS after Hall hit a great chip and Gharial rolled in the putt. Dave Goodman and Ed Eley had played through on the third, and they were just finishing off the 18th as Hall & Gharial were on the 17th tee. Eley and Goodman were 3 Down after 8, but looking like they were clawing it back on the back 9. Hall hit a fantastic tee shot on 17, leaving Gharial in the perfect position. Gharial then hit his worst shot of the day as he hooked it into the hedge, after Longcliffe had hit up to 80 yards away in the middle of the fairway. Longcliffe put it to 20feet. At this point Hall & Gharial found out that Eley and Goodman had won 1UP. They made a fantastic recovery on the back 9 after playing the last 11 holes in 2 under gross, including an eagle on 13 after Goodman put it to 8 feet off the tee, and a birdie on 15 after Eley put it to 12 foot out of an awful lie in the rough on 13. A truly fantastic shot from Eley, and a great result for the pair, winning after playing awful golf for the first 8 holes. Hall dropeed out the hedge and continuing with the luck they were having the ball rolled into an awuful lie. Hall put the shot just inside Longcliffe, who then missed their putt, giving Gharial a chance for the half. The putt just slid away at the end, meaning Loncgcliffe were 1UP going down the last. Both players hit good tee shots down the last, although more bad luck for Hall and Gharial meant they were under a tree, although they had a shot through overhanging branches. Hall had the right hand bunker to go over, and he then hit the worst shot he could have hit, putting the ball in the bunker. The shot caught the overhanging leaves but the leaves would not have taken that much pace off the ball. The right hand bunker is awful, and Gharial had an awful lie. He produced some magic though, splashing out to 3 feet. Longcliffe hit a bad chip but then holed a 10 footer, meaning Hall had a 3 footer for a playoff. He rolled it in despite the ball bobbling in the air. This meant we had a playoff. Hall and Gharial won the first before losing the second and third, getting very unlucky on the third, hitting a drive which was fine, until it rolled right under a tree with leaves and branches everywhere. The shot could have been hit 50 times and only ended up there once. They then hacked and lost the hole to lose be 1 Down after the 3 holes. Eley and Goodman were 1 UP after the second extra hole, but they lost the third extra hole to be AS after the 3 holes, meaning Longcliffe won the match on the 21st. It was a very good performance from Eley and Goodman, who fought back extremely well, just a shame they were let down by the other pair.