Sidmouth Gets a Sunday Roasting
Annual Picture Match
On the hottest day of the year so far 12 intrepid golfers from East Devon headed for Sidmouth Golf Club for the first leg of the annual Picture Match on Sunday 24th May.
The game reverted to its traditional format with 6 foursomes in the morning, followed by 12 singles after a light lunch, so playing 36 holes on such a hot day meant there were a few tired bodies at the end of the day.
The team were boosted by some words of wisdom (!) and support at the start when our Men’s Vice Captain, Grant Hawes, came over to see all the early tee shots as the match got under way on a balmy morning.
The foursomes were closely contested with two matches halved and 2 wins for each club so as the players returned to the cauldron of the first tee there everything to play for with match in the balance at 3 - 3. The result ebbed and flowed with Sidmouth winning the top two singles, but 2 wins and two halved games saw East Devon move into the lead.
Sidmouth then surged back in front with wins from two of their regular Picture Match players ‘Nobby’ & ‘Stonky’. However, East Devon finished strongly with a half and three wins from their ‘finishers’ which led to a final result of 9.5 to 8.5 in favour of East Devon.
The catering provided by Sidmouth for both teams was excellent. However, a hot and spicy chilli as an after match meal made it harder to cool down at the end, so cold beers were essential for the overheating players.
The second leg takes place on 11 October at East Devon, where we will need 9 points to win the match overall and retain the “Picture”. Hopefully many of this weekend’s victorious team will be available, and we can be boosted by the availability of a few of our lower handicappers.
Neil Sear
The game reverted to its traditional format with 6 foursomes in the morning, followed by 12 singles after a light lunch, so playing 36 holes on such a hot day meant there were a few tired bodies at the end of the day.
The team were boosted by some words of wisdom (!) and support at the start when our Men’s Vice Captain, Grant Hawes, came over to see all the early tee shots as the match got under way on a balmy morning.
The foursomes were closely contested with two matches halved and 2 wins for each club so as the players returned to the cauldron of the first tee there everything to play for with match in the balance at 3 - 3. The result ebbed and flowed with Sidmouth winning the top two singles, but 2 wins and two halved games saw East Devon move into the lead.
Sidmouth then surged back in front with wins from two of their regular Picture Match players ‘Nobby’ & ‘Stonky’. However, East Devon finished strongly with a half and three wins from their ‘finishers’ which led to a final result of 9.5 to 8.5 in favour of East Devon.
The catering provided by Sidmouth for both teams was excellent. However, a hot and spicy chilli as an after match meal made it harder to cool down at the end, so cold beers were essential for the overheating players.
The second leg takes place on 11 October at East Devon, where we will need 9 points to win the match overall and retain the “Picture”. Hopefully many of this weekend’s victorious team will be available, and we can be boosted by the availability of a few of our lower handicappers.
Neil Sear