As dawn broke on 20th March the Stoke players completed their stringent physical exercises and tuned their minds to the tough match they faced against the formidable opponents of Newton Green. It seemed fitting that it was the spring equinox.

The match was played on a dry day. The Newton players must have been shocked by the drenched state of the Gainsborough course but they were polite. The golf was secondary to the excellent banter and camaraderie between the two teams. Stoke edged a close match winning 4 1/2 games to 3 1/2.

Captain John Parkinson and Kevin Walsh lost 2 down to Newton Captain David Walker and Gareth Evans

Newton started with a birdie and finished with a net birdie. The rest was extremely close. Newton were deserved winners finishing two up.

Andy Higginson and Barry Hitchcock halved their match against Allan Wells and Nigel Neal

Barry, Allan and Nigel played some very good golf. Barry started par, par birdie to put Stoke three up. The Newton players fought back strongly with many net birdies and Stoke had to win the last hole to halve the match.

Tony Emms and Trevor Waterhouse beat Peter Warner and Mike Mullard 3 and 2

The Stoke players had a very enjoyable round with great guys from Newton. They took an early lead and saw it through to secure a win for Stoke.

John Jardine and Dick Lumsden won 1 up against John Hughes and Robert Bowles

A really good match played in a fantastic spirit with good banter given and taken. There was never more than one hole between the pairs with the lead changing hands regularly. John secured the win with a par on the last hole. Dick has gamely reported his tee shot on the ninth which hit the hotel roof and bounced back into play, apparently this was not the first time. A hotel guest has been heard asking about the loud crack which disturbed his morning slumbers.

Ian McKay and Richard Allen beat Nigel Gerrans and Hugh Norris 1 up

Stoke started well but the match was close as the players were on the ninth green. Ian put his shot out of the bunker to within one foot of the hole and was confident of a half particularly when a Newton player complained about the difficulty of his own bunker shot. Of course the player holed his shot to put Newton two up. Stoke slowly crept back into the match and went 1 up with a sneaky up and down on the 17th which they maintained by halving the last hole.

Dave Seymour and Brian Willsher lost 2 down to Peter Scott and Stuart Palmer

The Stoke players were confused by starting on the 18th hole and their mood was not improved by both opponents hitting the green and taking a one hole lead. The match was played in a very friendly spirit, the Newton golfers played very well (better than their handicaps) and won the match 2 up.

Jonathan Perry and Andy Cracknell won 2 and 1 against Kevin Smith and Peter Salt

Stoke ran out winners in a closely fought match. Jonathan and Andy shared the limelight against solid opponents.

Rob Swan and Mike Beale lost 3 and 2 to Brian Castle and Chris Folan

Newton played well and were worthy winners. Rob forgot to bring any recognisable golf game to the course (a rare occurence), Mike did his level best but could not prevent Newton prevailing 3 and 2