The Shirdale Cup..........

On some Sundays it is simply better to stay in bed and let the day pass you by - last Sunday was such a day. Not only did the Summer weather come to an abrupt halt but in the distinctly winterish conditions we were given a golfing lesson by Avondale.

The only bright spot on an otherwise dull, dreary, dank, damp and drizzly day was our Junior team of Jack Harling, James Nunan, Tom Pearson & Sam van Hulten who managed to half their match and retain the trophy by dint of being the current holders. The top pair of Sam & Jack won their foursomes match in the morning and Sam followed that with an individual win in the afternoon as did James. Overall it was a strong performance away from home in difficult conditions and at least got us on the score board.

We were not so fortunate in either the Seniors or Masters competitions. As the players dried out for lunch both teams faced an uphill battle trailing by 3/1. A sterling effort by Steve Hicks and Garry Forward had seen them squeeze to a one up win for the Masters while the top Senior combination of Jordan Bakermans and Andrew Caldwell had a solid 3/2 victory.

After lunch as the weather continued to deteriorate so did the overall Christchurch position. In the Seniors Andrew Caldwell followed the morning round with a half while wins were recorded at 7 & 8 by Simon Yorke 2/1 and Mitchell Vincent 4/2. While the other matches went at least to the 16th we were unable to score any more points so in the Shirdale Cup it was a decisive 8.5 to 3.5 win to Avondale.

That scoreline was mirrored in the Masters section where Garry Forward and Andrew Gillespie recorded wins with a half to ever steady Tony Park but it was again a disappointing result.

Congratulations to Avondale they played better on the day and were deserving of their victory and certainly they knew how to celebrate such an auspicious occasion as the wine, beer, and food flowed freely. We will have to wait 12 months to seek revenge at home and recover the silverware.