Mens Challenge Team fixture, results and reports

Season ending narrow defeat for Mens Challenge team

Beds Mens Challenge team v Essex Mens Challenge team. 

The Bedfordshire Challenge team hosted Essex in the final match of the season at Aspley Guise & Woburn Sands GC on Sun 10 August, knowing that only a win would extend the league to the final match between Essex and Middlesex.  As always, Essex brought a team packed with talent, including recent English Amateur quarter-finalist Will Wright.  Nonetheless, the Beds team started strongly in the morning foursomes with wins for Kyle Faulkner & Joe Kirby and Jon Marlow & Jordan White, both 2&1, with a further half secured by the scratch pairing of Paul Kenna & James Stocks, which saw Beds with a 2.5-1.5 lead at lunch. The afternoon singles were typically tight affairs although Jon Marlow secured the first home point of the afternoon with an emphatic 4&3 win over Ben Horton, but Essex secured three valuable points with Paul Kenna, Ross Hamilton and James Stocks unable to add to the Beds total, but George Garnham did then secure a valuable half against Ben Humphrey to ensure the outcome remained in the balance. Subsequently a 2-hole victory for Kyle Faulkner on his home track meant the overall result came down to the last two matches on the course, and in the end the final putts on the 18th green. Jordan White’s putt came up just short to see his match halved and Wright holed his final putt to hold off a gallant Joe Kirby by 1 hole to see the narrowest of Essex wins by 6.5-5.5.  Another very competitive performance from the Challenge team in what has been a positive season for all who have played.  

Foursomes Result (Bedfordshire first)

George Garnham &  Ross Hamilton beat  Ben Humphrey &  Mitch Wellington  2 & 1    

Paul Kenna &  James Stocks AS   Will Wright &  Timmy Moncur  

Kyle Faulkner &  Joe Kirby beat   Zac Taylor &  Eoghan O’Connell 2 & 1

Jon Marlow &  Jordan White beat  Dominic Piccolo &  Ben Horton 

Singles result (Bedfordshire first)

George Garnham  AS  Ben Humphrey          

Paul Kenna lost Timmy Moncur   6 & 5  
Ross Hamilton lost Mitch Wellington  3 & 2 
Kyle Faulkner beat Eoghan O’Connell  2 holes up 
James Stocks lost Dominic Piccolo   2 & 1 
Jon Marlow beat Ben Horton  4 & 3 
Jordan White AS Zac Taylor 
Joe Kirby lost Will Wright 1 hole
         

Essex Mens Challenge team v Beds Mens Challenge team. 6th July, away at Brentwood

The Bedfordshire Challenge team travelled to Brentwood GC on Sun 6 July to play Essex in search of a third league win this season.  The strong looking Essex team started well but Bedfordshire played some good golf as well, and the morning foursomes were typically close run with three matches being decided by a single hole. Unfortunately, Beds could only secure one of those matches with a point won by the experienced pairing of George Garnham and Ross Hamilton so a 3-1 deficit from the morning efforts.  The afternoon singles were again typically very close with four matches going up 17 but again only a solitary point was achieved from these matches with Fraser Jamieson winning 2&1 against local boy, Shay McQueen.  The result was a somewhat flattering 10-2 win for Essex but this was not the one-sided affair the scoreline suggests.  The Challenge team have a chance to re-dress this when Essex visit Aspley Guise & Woburn Sands GC on Sun 10 Aug for the return fixture. 

Beds Mens Challenge team v Middlesex Mens Challenge team.  1st June, away at Greenford

The Bedfordshire Challenge team made the trip to Greenford, and West Middlesex Golf club, for the return match v Middlesex on 1 June. Playing the oldest course in the county, the James Braid design track definitely asked questions of both sides, with the six par 3 holes particularly challenging.  The morning Foursomes saw fast starts for the Bedfordshire team, and comfortable 4&2 and 4&3 wins, respectively for pairings of Ross Hamilton & George Garnham (playing 1) and Jordan White & Tom Portas (playing 4), were further backed up with a solid 2&1 win for third pairing, Jon Marlow & Ben Hull.  The final match on the course saw an impressive comeback from the opposition with 2 birdies in the last three holes to see honours even and a half for Rob Brightman & Matt Cheyne, giving a 3.5-point return from the morning session. The afternoon singles would still be decisive and mid-round there was still all to play for, but an emphatic win for Jon Marlow (8&6) saw the first point and further points from Matt Cheyne (1 hole) and Rob Brightman (3&2), with well-earned halves from Ben Hull and Ross Hamilton, confirmed a superb 7.5 - 4.5 win and the double over Middlesex this year.  The Challenge team’s next match is away to Essex (at Brentwood GC) on Sun 6 July. 

Beds Mens Challenge team v Middlesex Mens Challenge Team. 27th April, home at Beds&County.

the result for the match can be found here...  https://www.bedfordshiregolf.org.uk/matchdetail/793/