OB Golf Match Reports 2012

G. L. MELLIN TOURNAMENT

Held at West Hill Golf Club
Thursday 12th to Saturday 14th July 2012.

Peter Burles Salver and Plate (for Gentlemen over 65)

We had the misfortune of playing Loretto, who have won for the past two years. Robin Maris and Simon Bevan got off to a slow start and never recovered, going down 6/5. Chris Everett, the best player for the Old Bedfordians at 74, partnered the President of the Society, Anthony Ormerod. They very nearly brought down the holders losing on the 18th green.

In the plate in the afternoon we had the misfortune of playing Downside, the Salver runners up for the past two years. Martin Murray and Michael Bevan snatched defeat from the jaws of victory going down 2/1. All was not lost; Robin Maris partnered Chris Everett. On the 16th tee they were coasting to a memorable victory at 2 up with three to play. Likewise the jaws of victory snapped shut again with Robin and Chris performing some amazing golf on the last. Chris’s bunker shot was one of the most beautifully played shots of the trip – what goes on tour stays on tour!

G. L. Mellin Salver (for Gentlemen over 55)

Had Martin Murray and Michael Bevan played to their potential in the top game they should have given the OB’s a whitewash in our favour against Loretto. It wasn’t to be as they were easily beaten 6/5. Simon Kimber partnered the Captain of the Society, Chris Johnson. They as well as the partnership of Jeremy Mytton and Hector Paterson played some very sound golf. Both sets winning out in the country 4/3 and 6/5 respectively.

Guess what! In the afternoon in the quarter finals we had the misfortune of playing Haileybury, the current holders. Richard Kemp took the place of Martin Murray and with Michael Bevan gave their top pair a fright, narrowly losing 2/1. Simon Kimber and Chris Johnson met their match in the second match going down 4/3. Their opponents, with a combined handicap of 8 currently play in Haileybury’s Halford Hewitt side (who are not as good as Bedford). Jeremy Mytton and Hector Paterson were credited with a half although they were just about to go 1 up with one to play.

Next year could be the year of our transformation. Please make sure you reserve the competition dates now. They are Thursday 11th to Saturday 13th July 2013.

We could well field 4 players in the Bunny Millard (for over 75’s) and stand a good chance of success. At the younger end of the scale with one or two new young bucks coming into contention our sides for the Mellin Salver and the Peter Burles will be as strong as anyone else.

Martin A. Murray

July 2012.

HALFORD HEWITT REPORT 2012

Bedford have been playing in the Halford Hewitt since 1937 – not once in 74 attempts had the team made it to the Saturday of the tournament……until 2012.

Played over the links of Royal Cinque Ports & Royal St Georges, the Halford Hewitt has been described by the golf writer Nick Tremayne as 'the greatest of all truly amateur tournaments'. Founded in 1924 it is competed for today by the old boys of 64 English and Scottish public schools which each field five foursomes pairs, making 640 competitors in all. The sheer size of the "field" - plus the hundreds of supporters who routinely turn up - is part of what makes the "Hewitt" a unique sporting event. The tournament has a rich history, frequently pits average golfers against famous internationals, and produces moments of golfing pressure simply not experienced by amateur players elsewhere.

Over the past few years the team has been getting stronger as a result of the School Golf Foundation programme but it had not translated into results. In 2012 Bedford arrived on the Kent coastline without captain Dan Mules and best player, George Wilson, who were both abroad. Remarkably the Kent coastline was blessed in sunshine all week and the team headed into Thursday’s opener against Downside having practiced well and in form.

In Round One, Bedford defeated Downside fairly comfortably 4-1 with notable mention to Oli Hopgood and Mark Orchart at pair three winning 2 up in a tense match. Hopgood was making his debut alongside seasoned competitor Orchart and is the latest product of the Bedford School Golf Foundation. Top pair Tom Langley-Poole and Simon Blundell won their match 4&2 whilst Colin Beesley and Tim Henderson began their 100% winning record for the week by dishing out a 6&5 thrashing. Emotions ran high in the anchor pair where Ed Kent partnered Adam Wilkinson to a 2&1 victory – the latter of whom had won a recent battle with cancer.

Friday was Round Two at Royal Cinque Ports against Merchant Taylors – seeded 10 on the recent Anderson Scale and 2009 Finalists. The Hewitt was appearing to be a doddle for young Hopgood as he and Orchart won again 4&3. Beesley and Henderson handed out a 5&4 beating to Merchant’s fourth pair but a narrow loss for Langley-Poole and Blundell left the match at 2-1 with matches two and five in the balance. At pair two, Iain Pratt & Brian Gillett stood on the par four seventeenth 1 up have just lost two holes on the bounce. Pratt managed to hold his nerve sending a peerless six iron to 8 feet from the pin. The Merchant Taylors pair missed the green and were unable to get up and down leaving Gillett to roll the putt to the hole to send Bedford into their first ever Saturday by 3 &1/2 to 1 &1/2.

Bedford’s first ever Saturday game was against Cheltenham at 8.20am at Deal. There were easy wins for Langley-Poole & Blundell at pair one (9&7!!) and also for Kent & Wilkinson 6&5 at pair five. Cheltenham had put their strongest pairs out at two, three and four and won matches two and three and with match four finely poised. After a fine up and down at the 17^th to keep the match going, Beesley and Henderson managed to win the 18th to send the heated contest into extra holes to decide the whole match. Both pairs found the green in two but Bedford were only 10 feet away from the hole, after a smooth wedge from Beesley. Cheltenham took three putts leaving an unsympathetic Henderson to gleefully take Bedford into the quarter finals!

Bedford then learned that a positive from reaching the quarter finals is a professionally taken team photo (still to receive copies).

After a quick lunch the quarter final commenced against Eton. Beesley & Henderson rounded off their 100% week with another 6&5 win whilst Pratt & Gillett took out Eton’s top pair 4&3. Pair three (Hopgood & Orchart) and Pair five (Kent & Wilkinson) suffered big losses leaving Langley-Poole and Blundell to try and take Bedford to the semis. Blundell’s Mickelsonesque short game on 17th took the match to 18th with Bedford one down. Unfortunately Bedford could only make bogey and Langley-Poole and Blundell reflected on a match they thought they should have won. But that says something – the Bedford team were disappointed at losing to Eton on a Saturday afternoon quarter final.

This was a very satisfying and memorable week for Old Bedfordian golf – Mark Orchart quoted that the week had ‘made his Hewitt career’ after competing for 30+ years. The team played good and sensible golf all week and realized at long last that we can compete at this level.

Special thanks go to Chris Johnson as non playing captain and for his needlework in providing the team t-shirts (sponsored by Paragon – if this gets into Golf Quarterly!) Thanks also to Simon Kimber for supporting all week and for being non playing captain on the record breaking Friday. The team sports psychologist, Dr Charles Coker, also deserves an honorable mention for his words of wisdom all week.

The team is now looking forward to 2013 and the future with the addition of further players who have benefitted from the Bedford School Golf Foundation programme.