Under 35's 2009

Oadby Golf Club have not had an Under 35's team for a number of years, but Dave Goodman has changed that. He has organised the team, and has entered the team back into the league and he has also entered the club into the cup. The format of both the league and cup is foursomes. Foursomes is played by pairs playing alternate shot. Player A would tee off the odd holes, and player B the evens. It would be alternate shot all the way around. The league consists of four pairs, while the cup only two. It is the team with the most amount of points who win the match. If a cup match is halved at 1-1 there is a playoff, while if a league match is halved at 2-2 it is a draw.

League Match No. 1 Vs Melton Mowbray (Home 15th May 2009)

With the team being very new, nobody knew what to expect. A number of the playesr in the team had played very little, if any, foursomes in their golfing careers so the first year for the under 35's was always going to be about gaining the foursomes experience and trying to find out which pairs play best together. For the first match there were four players who had played a decent amount of foursomes golf, with two of those having played a lot of foursomes golf. Dave Goodman, Ed Eley, Ben Hall and James Whitehead were the more experiences players while Dale Baker, Gianluca Napolitano, Craig Seal and Oli Fletcher-Warrington were much less experienced. The result did not really matter that much in the first game, although the team would still have loved to have won. In the end a 2-2 draw was a great result. The pairs were split to try to get an experienced foursomes player and a non-experienced foursomes player playing together. The first pair out were Ed Eley and Dale Baker. They won the last two hole to win their match 1 UP, a fantastic way to get the new Oadby Under 35's team underway. The second pair out were James Whitehead and Craig Seal, who didnt play very well and in the end unfortunately lost. The main focus of this pair was that James would be able to give Craig some foursomes experience. The third pair out were captain Dave Goodman and Oli Fletcher-Warrington. Once again this was more a case of giving Oli some experience of foursomes, and once again the pair lost. The fourth pair out were Ben Hall and Gianluca Napolitano. Gianluca might have played a lot of foursomes golf back home in Italy, but he had certainly not played any in England for Oadby. In the end this pair won. It was a close game all the way round, with both teams leading and then falling behind. The match was all square on the 18th tee, and Ben and Gianluca made 5, which would never have seemed good enough for the win. Melton missed a short putt for their 5 which meant Oadby won the hole and the match, leaving the final score at 2-2. This was not a bad result, although there will be much harder games than that.

League Match No. 2 Vs Kibworth (Home 5th June 2009)

The second match of the year was never going to be easy, with Kibworth having a number of very good, low handicappers. Fortunately for Oadby some of their really low handicappers did not play, which meant Oadby went into the match with a very good chance. The captain had stated at the start of the year that the pairs were going to be changed around each week to let people play with different people, and that they were. Ed Eley could not play due to an exam, so Adam Jacques came in to replace him. Gianluca Napolitano had to pull out on the day of the match, so Paul Hillsdon stepped in as a replacement. A big thank you goes out to Paul who stepped in at such short notice, getting to the club from work very quickly. Despite the weakened side fielded by Kibworth, it was still a strong side, and it was always going to be a tough match. In the end the team just came up short, losing 2 1/2 - 1 1/2, a result that is still not bad considering the team have only been going for a matter of months. The first pair out were Dave Goodman and Criag Seal, who never managed to get into any rhythm in the match and unfortunately suffered a decent sized defeat. The second pair out were James Whitehead and Dale Baker. Dale had won his first match with Ed, but he could not repeat that same result. In a game that was neck and neck a lot of the way round, they went behind on 16 and lost 17 to lose the match 2&1. This meant the last two teams needed to win to get a half in the match. Adam Jacques and Oli Fletcher-Warrington were the third pair out, and they gave the team a chance of a result with a big 6&5 win, leaving the score at 2-1 to Kibworth. The fourth and final pair out were Ben Hall and Paul Hillsdon, both players having rushed quickly form work to get to the club. This showed in the first four holes as they went 3 Down through 4. They started to fight back after that, with a birdie on 6 and a 5 Nett 4 on 7 they went into the 8th 1 Down. A 3 putt on 8 after a poor first putt from Hall put them 2 Down once again. The next few hole were a fantastic few holes for the Oadby boys. The 9th was won with a par, before a par on 10 also won them the hole. They lost the 11th to a birdie, before winning 12 in a dramatic way. Hall hit an awful drive which resulted in Hillsdon having to run back to the tee. The Kibworth boys were just short of the green in two. A great drive from Hillsdon and a good second shot from Hall put them just through the back in 4 Nett 3. Kibworth then hit the green and 3 putted while Oadby got down in two to win the hole with a 6 Nett 5, a hole that they always looked like losing. They went on to win the next with a par, before halving 14 with a par, leaving them 1 UP, which was very good after the poor start. A lost ball on 15 and a poor tee shot from Hall on 16 left the team 1 Down with 2 to play, with a shot down 17. Hillsdon hit a cracking drive down 17, which Hall put up 30 yards short of the left bunker. Hillsdon hit the green and Hall putted up to a few inches to win the hole with a 5 Nett 4 to leave the match all square. Great drives from Hall and Kibworth left their partners a short pitch. Both players hit average shots and it was Oadby to putt first. Hall's putt missed the hole by half an inch left, and after Kibworth putted up the 2 inches the match was over, a half. A half was not quite good enough for Oadby to get a result, but the experienced that is being gained will certain help more next season. Once again a big thank you to Paul Hillsdon for stepping in at the last minute.

League Match No. 3 Vs Leicestershire (Away 12th June 2009)

The Under 35s third match of the seaon was a trip away to Leicestershire, and going into the match the team were not confident. After only picking up half a point out of their first two league matches, the away match to Leicestershire always threatened to be a very tough match. That was made even harder by the fact Ed Eley was once again unavailable, and James Whitehead was also unavailable. The only change then was Jake Hurst coming in for James. A big thank you goes out to Jake who stepped in at short notice. The final result was 4 - 0, but to Oadby's surprise, it was to Oadby. It was a fantastic result for Oadby and the pairs all worked well together, with everybody playing well, and everybody from Leicestershire not having a good day. the first pair out were Adam Jacques and Craig Seal, who ended up winning 4&3. Dave Goodman and Dale Baker were the second pair out, and they also won 4&3. The third pair also won 4&3, and that pair was Paul Hillsdon and Jake Hurst. The fourth pair out were Ben Hall and Oli Fletcher-Warrington, and after a bit of a shaky start, the putts started rolling in for Hall, and they ended up winning 6&5. They played against former Oadby member Marc Palmer, who did not have his greatest game, but Hall and Fletcher-Warrington chipped and putted fantastic, with Hall hardly missing a putt. When the putts roll in any team is hard to beat. From the 4th onwards, Hall and Fletcher-Warrington were only 3 over par, getting three shots as well, which is very hard to beat. It was a fantastic result for Oadby, and if the team can hopefully pick up another point away from home in their last few games, they might have a chance of finishing in the top three in the league.

League Match No. 4 Vs Scraptoft (Away 26th June 2009)

The fourth match of the season was never going to be easy, due to the fact that Scraptoft have a very good, young side and the course is a very tricky one. Even with this in mind the team went into the match with a decent amount of confidence having beat Leicestershire 4-0 away a few weeks ago. There were two changes for this match, with Ed Eley and James Whitehead coming back into the team at the expense of Jake Hurst and Craig Seal. A combination of average golf from Oadby and good golf from Scraptoft meant Scraptoft won the game 3 1/2 - 1/2 in the end, not a good result for the team. The first pair out were Ed Eley and Oli Fletcher-Warrington, and they managed to find themselves 6 Down with 7 to play. With the Oadby attitude of never give up they reeled of 5 won holes in a row, getting the score back to 1 Down with 2 to play. Scraptoft were always in trouble on the 17th, having hit a provisional and taking a lot of shots. A massive stroke of luck for the Scraptoft pair meant they somehow found their first ball, with which they they went onto make 5 Nett 4 and after Eley's birdie chip just scraped the edge of the hole, the match was over, with a 2&1 victory for Scraptoft, winning a hole that they never looked like winning. The dream team pair of Paul Hillsdon and Adam Jacques were out second, with both players having an unbeaten record so far, Adam winning 2 out of 2 and Paul getting 1 1/2 points out of 2. The match was halved but only after some sensational golf in the last few holes. Paul holed out on the 15th for an eagle 2 from 100 yards after a massive drive from Jacques, to then put it to 5 feet on the par 3 16th next. The match was level going into the last, and both pairs had missed the green, with Scraptft in the bunker. A great chip from Hillsdon meant the short putt was conceded, and then an average bunker shot from Scraptoft left a 15-20 foot putt for the half. The putt was hit straight into the middle of the hole to mean Scraptoft did not lose a match on the night. The thrid pair were Dave Goodman and James Whitehead, who came up against a pair who 1 putted most greens. If a team putts well in this format they are going to be very tough to beat, and that is exactly what happened. Goodman and Whitehead ended up losing 6&5, although they did not play bad golf. The fourth and final pair out were Ben Hall and Dale Baker. Some extremely bad strokes of luck were somehow achieved by the pair, including ending up directly behind and under two trees on the same hole despite the shots that lead to these reuslts not being bad. If these strokes of luck has not gone againts the pair it could have beeen a different story. They ended up losing 4&3. It was a case of not Oadbys day, as it seemed all the luck went Scraptoft's way, with Oadby getting no luck and some pairs not holing as many putts as their opponents. Unfortunately in golf that is the way sometimes, and on another day everything could have gone Oadby's way. The fifth and final match is away to Glen Gorse on Tuesday 14th July 2009. A big thanks must go out to Su Goodman who sorted out lifts at the last minute, and an even bigger thanks to Brian Fletcher-Warrington who has supported the team in every game so far. IT is nice to have this support and all the team greatly appreciate all the support they get.

League Match No. 5 Vs Glen Gorse (Away 14th July 2009)

Scratch Knockout Cup Round 2 Vs The Leicestershire (Away 15th July)

On Wednesday 15th July Oadby under 35s took on The Leicestershire in the second round of the scratch knockout cup at the Leicestershire. Oadby were always going to be up against it, not only playing away from home but playing against some very strong players of scratch. To add to the uphill task Oadby were without linchpins Ben Hall (holiday) and captain David Goodman (illness), so in stepped Dale Baker and James Whitehead to join Adam Jacques and Ed Eley. Ed and James went out in the first match against a 1 and 3 handicapper, and were obviously up against it, despite this Ed and James battled extremely hard and despite being down for the whole match managed to battle to a 4 down loss, with James putting in an especially solid performance. Again playing against lower handicappers (3 and 5) off scratch at the opposition's course Adam and Dale put in an extremely credible performance losing only 1 down and the pairing seemed to work well together and by all accounts played very well. This result leaves the overall score as a 5 up win for The Leicestershire. Despite losing this match it provided invaluable experience for James and Dale, playing at this standard and will hold them in good stead for future first team matches and possibly county 4's matches. Leicestershire had by far the greater side and have the potential to go on and win the competition and we thank them for their hospitality and wish them luck in the rest of the competition.....EE