In general, a very enjoyable day with good company, and ultra-fast greens that had just been ironed that morning. It started off with a constant drizzle and finished with …..a constant drizzle.

Many thanks to our resident Mexican, Mick Henry for stepping in at extremely short notice.

Match 1​​​ John Parkinson & Rob Davies ​​Won 8+7

JP steered the ship wait a level par front nine. Rob contributed with 3 pars and on each occasion, had a shot and won the holes. Chris and David, the opposition were great company. They won most of the holes after victory had been declared. The greens were amazing.

Match 2​​​ Sir Robert Filer and KP​​​ Lost 3+1

From the start, this match always looked like it would be an uphill battle. Tony parred the first 6 holes to take Braintree in to an early 3 hole lead. Gritty determination saw 5 successive halves, followed by 3 wins for Stoke to level the match. However, this only fired up the opposition again who won 3 of the next 4 holes to close out the match.

Match 3​​​ Phil Brennan and Nick Wright ​​Lost 3+2

Good spirited game. Phil and Nick took the lead on the first hole and went 2 up at the turn, eventually moving to 3 up and looking good. However, some erratic golf on the back 9 did not help and the lead was slowly whittled away.

Match 4​​​ Eric Fisher and Kevin Walsh​​ Match halved

SbN took an early lead and were 4 up at the turn, but subsequently lost 10, 13 & 14 to reach the last hole only being 1 up. Braintree parred the 18th to win the hole and secure a half.

Match 5​​​ Dave Seymour and Iain Gault​​ Lost 5 & 4

Iain said, the triumph was, “we avoided a dog licence!” Super slick greens that proved challenging for the first 9, by which time, the game was nigh on done. Good company, shame about the weather.

Match 6 ​​​Andy Higginson and Mick Henry​​ Lost 5+4

No doubt Andy and Mick will receive much criticism for their apparent thrashing, however, they put up a brave fight, coming back from 2 down to all square after 9. The opposition then put on a dazzling performance to win the next 5 holes. A very friendly game with many laughs.

Match 7​​​ John Jardine and Ian McKay ​​Won 3+2

After an early promising start, Braintree pulled out to a 2 hole lead. Both sides were finding the greens difficult to read the speed. However, SBN fought hard to reach the turn at 1 up. Ian put on a showy performance for the crowd of greenkeepers who were watching keenly on the 10th as he hit a cracking tee shot, this in turn prompted a strong run to the SBN pairing that culminated in JJ rolling in a 20ft putt on the 12th to send Stoke 3 up, a lead they were able to keep until the match closed out.

Match 8​​​ Ross Jardine and Dick Lumsden​​ Won 4 + 3

Excellent match in lovely conditions. (Not sure where theses two were playing?) The greens were scary, but true. Apparently, Ross is being modest, he won 4+3, Dick enjoyed the food.