Avalon Match Report Wells v W-S-M (away)

The Wells Avalon Team visited Weston-Super-Mare on Sunday 19 June hoping to return to winning ways.

The Weston-Super-Mare layout is an old favourite from a course perspective and we had the opportunity to get some new players embedded into the team set up as we attempted to secure a vital away win and some much needed away points.

Group 1 made up Darren Barnett and Justin Chadburn. The last time this paring played they recorded the highest winning margin of the season and they were hoping to continue in this vane? It didn’t bode well however, when Justin thinned his first tee shot and fatted his approach shot.  But Justin was not bothered as he proceeded to hole a simple 25ft putt for birdie, 1 up. Solid pars kept the opposition at bay despite their birdie at the 5th. Good tee shots on the 7th generated more pars and the lead began to creep up. W-S-M chipped in for birdie on the 8th, pulling one back. Darren finding fairways and greens in regulation took the bull by the horns to extended the Wells pair’s  lead to 2. Both players finding the 11th green maintained the pressure and they increased their lead, Justin easily birdied the tough par 5, 13th hole and got the visitors to dormie 5. More regulation play closed out the match at 6 & 4.  This pairing is in unstoppable form.

Group 2 saw a new pairing of Josh Higgs and Rory Passmore heading out.  Josh put out an impressive display with some power drives, imperious approaches and slick putting but sadly it wasn’t enough to pull the team through and sadly we succumb to Weston 4&3.

Group 3 saw another new player, Ian Burr, partnering with Chris Gladwell. The new pairing built a strong foundation with solid golf which saw Chris being 1 over par for his 14 holes. Dovetailing is another key element as Ian’s quality par on the 3rd whilst Chris was out of the hole showed.  Ian birdied the 12th followed by the downwind par 5 13th , which saw Chris putting for eagle - sadly missed, but the tap in birdie was conceded. This strong play from both Chris and Ian, together with excellent dovetailing showed what is needed to win holes and team points.  The Ian and Chris pairing were clearly a formidable force and strode to a comfortable 5 & 4 win. New paring for the season or even next year?

Group 4 was another stable pairing of Glen Crocker and John Parkhouse. John, deprived of his usual arboreal friends found locating a fairway a novelty until the 18th. John scrambled very well in what would be classed as a scrappy match with lots of errors interspersed with brilliance. Overall it would be fair to say with the strong wind and cool conditions the Weston golf course was the winner. No one really mastered the challenging conditions even though the greens were superb as usual. Glen played a Micklesonesque flop shot from a hopeless short sided position to win the 12th, a rare moment of pleasure for all 4 players. John, finally finding the 18th fairway (there are trees on the right so he might have felt more at home) had the pressure on being 1 down. He stroked a superb 5-iron the heart of the green winning the hole to make amends and halve the game. A fair result!!

Group 5 had Duncan Bratt back his with usual sparring partner, Bryan Ashton. The anchor pairing failed to find the 1st green in regulation and hence went one down.  The 2nd green was found with good ball striking but sadly lost to a nett birdie... 2 down and something had to happen - fast.  How Bryan’s T shot on the short third stayed out no-one knowns but was instantly conceded once the Weston players hit their 2nd shots. A poor run of holes saw Wells slump to 3-down after 7.  The long par 5 into the Northerly wind was challenging, but a driver and 3-wood combination saw Duncan start the fight back as he putted for eagle, tap in birdie.... The match stabilised until Bryan was the only one to find the green at the par 3 the 14th followed by another win on the 15th. Finally back to all square, 16th lost, 17 th halved meant Wells were coming down the 18th one down..... Bryan found the left side of the fairway, Bryan continued down the left flying the greenside bunkers to the back of the green, 2 nett 1 putting the pressure on Weston. The visitors reading the putt agreed the line, Bryan drew back his putter and a loud voice said “get in”. The damage was done, birdie – nett eagle and the final game was halved too.

Despite the cool wind, the Weston course was presented well and the aforementioned greens a delight to putt on. The reserves Dave Baker and Peter Cherry also got to enjoy the course and overall team result, coming home with 11pts maintains Wells strong position in the league. A matches between the first and third place team to come means that Wells should be able to cement a top 2 spot if they can maintain their form over the remaining matches... The carrot is the top 2 teams get promoted.

Return to News Page

Created by intelligentgolf version 10.1.2.