What a beautiful day for a game of golf. The Clacton team looked primed and Stoke felt confident. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, the 1^st hole to begin with. The fairway was running so swiftly that just about every team had problems with the trees on the right and that was a continuing theme as the ball seemed to run forever, normally in the wrong direction! It did help Phil Hickley who managed to eagle the 11^th! Well done Phil!

Capt. Kevin and Trevor led the way and came home with a 3/1 win. They said that they dovetailed nicely. Isn’t that a carpentry term? Note – must ask Malcolm.

Barry and Mick had a very sporting half though they did complain about one of the opposition who consistently hit trees only to bounce back into the fairway. Mick sent me a WhatsApp message with quite a detailed account of the game. It was a half.

Your scribe and Gordon fought bravely in a match in which there was never more than one hole in it. The ball from my excellent tee shot on the 17^th with a 20 degree recovery club was never seen again and that was enough for the Clacton boys to sneak ahead and come out winners 1 up.

Tony said that Malcolm let him down. He had a 4ft putt on the last to win the match but he missed it! Match halved.

I’ve mentioned Phil’s eagle (yawn, yawn) but it was indicative of a match that saw Stoke cruise to a 5/3 win. Ray was at pains to point out what excellent fellows the Clacton boys were.

Someone normally loses quite heavily and in this case it was Bob and Bill. Bob was most put out that Bill’s dodgy handicap, that he clearly couldn’t play to, allowed the opposition so many shots that one of them was regularly on the par 4 greens for 1. Bob said, ‘Get some cards in Bill!’. I didn’t comment. They lost 7/6 (isn’t that a Dog’s Licence?).

Simon supported Del well. I think he carried his clubs! Del had 3 blobs but would still have scored 40 points (40 What?!!). Well done Del. Stoke won 3/1.

Ian and Dave walked in early, the heat and the effort of winning exhausted them. They didn’t start well, losing the 1^st hole but didn’t look back and won 6/5.

All in all, it was an excellent match played in the proper spirit, with too much chicken!

Stoke came out the winners 5/3.

Many thanks to John Williams for what must be the speediest report ever on an Inter Club match - thanks John.

Team ……..

     1st      Kevin Price (Captain) & Trevor Waterhouse

     2nd      Barry Hitchcock & Mick Henry

     3rd      John Williams (Reporter) & Gordon Bryan

     4th     Tony Carman & Mal Jones

     5th     Phil Hickley & Ray Ludham

     6th     Bob Filer & Bill Kemter

     7th     Simon Merriam & Del McWilliams

     8th     Iain Gault & Dave Drew