It was a very cold and windy day, a big contrast to the delightful weather we had at Rookery Park the previous day.  However, it stayed mainly dry with only a little bit of drizzle at times. The course was in great condition.

Captain John Parkinson and Vice Vice Captain Graham Cork were first out.  The Brett Vale Senior’s Captain went home sick before the start and was substituted by their VC.  Despite a heroic last six holes, it was all too late as their match had been lost by then and they were beaten by what some people know as a Dog Licence – 7 & 6.

Next out were Tony Carman and Richard Allen.  One of the Brett Vale players was a 26.8 handicap index and played more like a low-teens handicapper.  The opposition got off to a good start winning the first 2 holes.  Despite this SbN fought back to be level at the turn.  But 4 straight wins on holes 10-13 gave Brett Vale an unassailable lead with the game being lost 2 & 1.

Jonathon Perry and Phil Boyland were the next to be beaten by Brett Vale 4 & 3.  In Jonathon’s words “Phil had a blinder, but was let down by himself”.  I’m sure Jonathon was just being modest!

Pete Hele and Tony Denmead were next up.  After an introductory debate about shot allowances, they settled into the match giving one of their hosts 17 shots, which proved to be quite a challenge as he generally hit most tee shots straight and had a tidy short game. Two Net Birdies from 17 shot man Steve, saw our hosts 2 up at the turn.  Tony and Pete gradually came to terms with their lot on the back 9, and gross birdies from the sand by Pete on 14, and Tony on 17, saw SbN 1 up standing on the 18th tee. However, 17 man Steve, had one last net birdie up his sleeve for Hole 18, which meant a more or less honourable draw was achieved. Match Halved.

Peter Jay and Andy Cracknell at last gave SbN their first win. Apparently everything Brett Vale did well, SbN did better!  They won 6 & 5.

Another win for Brett Vale against Malcolm Norton and Kevin Walsh.  Again it was down to a dodgy handicap and ended up SbN losing 6 & 5.

Brian Roloff and Nick Wright gave SbN their second win. The first 7 holes were halved, they then went 3 up, then back to 1 up.  A good game was had winning 2 & 1.  Notably the SbN team’s shots on the first tee were Out of Bounds for one, and 10 yards for the other.  Remarkably they still halved the hole!

Finally, Andy Higginson and Phil Brennan had a close game.  At one stage they were 3 up, but finally lost on the last hole, last putt.

We were all fed well with home made Steak Pie, Chips and Peas.

Despite the result, Brett Vale were very hospitable, and I think everybody had a good day even though we all came in somewhat frozen on this spring day!

Many thanks to Richard Allen for taking on the responsibilities of reporting on todays match -  thanks Richard