Our intrepid band of golfing greats headed to Felixtowe's lovely links full of optimism, only to see our dreams shattered in a stiff breeze by a comprehensive 7-1 thrashing. However,  there were a lot of close matches and some sterling, if unrewarded, performances by our gallant crew.

Match1: Graham Cork & Andy Cracknell -  Lost 3&1
Pretty close affair but we found ourselves 2 down at the turn. However, wins on 10 & 11 levelled it up. Very tight again until the last few holes where their shots made the difference & Felixstowe eventually ran out 3 & 1 winners. Captain Cork saved his best for last with a birdie on 18 . Sadly the match was already over.

Match 2: Graham Vandervord & Tony Emms – Halved

Stoke pair birdied the first - sailed into a 3 up lead by excellent dovetailing- then hit the buffers in the form of a man receiving 13 shots. However despite being pegged back to all square after 12 the Stoke duo secured a half against foes that were very adept at using shots. Very keenly contested and enjoyable game.

Match 3: Kevin Price & Mark Clark - Lost 1 hole
We were robbed, or rather, Ronned! 76 year old Ron scored in excess of 40 points and was the difference. His partner Dave was a bit below average. Mark persevered, as usual, to keep us in touching distance. Sadly, Kevin was not enjoying his finest moment and only made the odd contribution. After Ron’s par on 18, yet another one, Mark needed a birdie for a half, but finished a couple of inches shy.

Match 4: Pete Hele & Nick Wright - Halved
A very enjoyable match with Tony and Francis, after halving the first four holes, we found ourselves 2 down after 6, however birdies on 7 from Nick and a kick in birdie on the par 3 9th, from Pete, found us all square at the turn.
After losing 10, another birdie from Pete on 11, had us back at all square, where we stayed until 15, when 2 squandered drives saw us 1 down once more. However, we managed to win the tough 17th, and although never ahead in the match we held out at 18 to secure a valiant half.

Match 5: Malcolm Norton & Ian Bickers -  Lost 2&1
Our match today was a very tight affair, Ian and Malcolm both gelled well and used their shots wisely.Despite a very good try, they just couldn't overcome the home advantage that their opponents presented. A narrow loss of 2 and 1 seemed fair

Match 6: Kevin Walsh & Tony Emms - Lost 3&2
Felixstowe used their local knowledge (and Gary's shots) to good effect and moved steadily ahead of a struggling SbN pair! 5 up after 12 was briefly pulled back to 3 (after 3 successive VC pars), but it couldn't be sustained and we shook hands on the 16th An enjoyable match in very pleasant weather on an excellent course!

Match 7: Roger Davies & Mick Henry - Lost 2&1
Roger spent the day admiring “Masterful Mick”, who played a blinder and used his 15 shots well.Despite Magnificent Mick’s best efforts, your favourite(?) duo lost 2/1 (it might have been 3/1 but Clarkus says that that would be pure ungentlemanly conduct so 2/1 it was).A lovely time was had by all except when one of our opponents wrenched the door off the drinks fridge in the portacabin!!

Match 8: Iain Gault & Richard Allen - Lost 4&2
Iain had changed his driver in an attempt to hit more/any fairways bit alas to no avail! Heroic scrambling by both kept us to 1 down at the turn, but we promptly gave Ian & Stephen 2 holes through poor positional play (i.e. OBs) and never recovered. This was largely due to 23 handicapper Stephen holing everything inside 10 feet, including, rather unsporting, on the 16th when Ian had already secured the match with a half. Good game and good company, but 13 shots too much to overcome away from home.

Many thanks to Iain Gault, reporting on the Felixstowe away match under extremely testing circumstances - last one out and very, very limited time to collect reports. Thanks Iain - appreciate your commitment.

Team …………..

     1st    Graham Cork (Captain) & Andy Cracknell

     2nd     Graham Vandervord & John Parkinson

     3rd     Kevin Price & Mark Clark

     4th     Pete Hele & Nick Wright

     5th     Malcolm Norton & Ian Bickers

     6th     Kevin Walsh & Tony Emms

     7th     Roger Davies & Mick Henry

     8th     Richard Allen & Iain Gault (Reporter)