Match Report
Princes 3 V 2 Canterbury
With the winds gusting up to 45mph, the conditions were about as bad as they could be when Canterbury visited Princes for this EKL fixture.
The Princes team met for breakfast, a few laughs and shared a good half hour or so together before meeting Canterbury on the 1st tee as they declined the offer of food for reasons still unknown.
1st Match
Michael Hart / Darren Crabb
Crabbie : The unbeaten pairing led out the team today keen to get the early point in the bag. With a Slam Dunk chip in birdie on the 2nd we went 1 up and remained 1 up for the first 9 holes. After the break, we lost 3 holes in quick succession to go 2 down to in truth, nothing spectacular.
The fight back started on Bloody Point with Mike holing a birdie putt from range. We squandered a good opportunity on 16 to get the match back to all sq with 2 to go, then paid the ultimate price for our mistakes losing the 17th to a birdie to close the match out with a 2&1 Loss... The positive to come from losing is it makes you realise how losing makes you feel... We roll on and look to make amends... 👊🏼
Mike Hart : I wasn't a lot of help to my partner in a match that we really wanted to win. Would have been a heavier defeat if not for some very solid play from the Crab. Anyone ever slam dunked it for a 2 from pin high right of 2nd Dunes green, with a tight right flag, with a bunker in the way?
Great effort though today, let's get back to winning ways away to Chestfield!
Love this from Crabbie "The positive to come from losing is it makes you realise how losing makes you feel... We roll on and look to make amends... 👊🏼"
2nd Match
Lee Meakin / Steve Klosek
Klos and meaks were paired against the strong Canterbury pairing of John Coupe and Jez.
On one of the windiest days of the year, Jez hit his approach to the 1st of dunes to 6 feet and rolled it in for birdie to put the pair 1up.
The 2nd hole didn't go much better for us as John holed a 35 footer for par and another win, putting them 2up!
Meaks hit back with a cracking birdie of his own on the 3rd after holing a 25 foot putt.
The Canterbury pair soon got back to 2up after parring the 5th after we both hit poor chips and couldn't convert the putts. A run of pars on 6,7 & 8 kept the away team 2up.
Klosek's drive on 9 got a bit of the wind and ended up on the shores 1st hole, he subsequently went on to make an outrageous par, only for Coupey to roll in another lengthy putt of 35 foot for birdie to put the away pair 3up after 9.
With our heads down, Klos decided there was only one option, cloudy apple cider!! This was a great decision by Klos as he went on to roll in a 12 foot putt on 10 to stop the Canterbury pair going 4 up.
Both Canterbury players hit poor tee shots on 11 which gave princes a sniff of stealing a hole back! Meaks obliged and made a par to put us 2down.
Another solid par on 13 by Klos clawed another hole back to put us 1dn. Klos made a cracking birdie on 15 to make the match A/S and we could sense that this match could be won!
Meaks hit a world class 4iron into 16 to 8 foot, with Coupe left and long and Jez right of the green, both struggling to make par. Jez chopped long over the green and it looked like par would be enough for the win, Jez subsequently holed his chip from 60 foot which meant Meaks needed to hole his slippery down hill putt! A great read from Klos meant he holed it putting the Princes pair 1 up for the first time in the game.
Meaks decided to lay up in front of the water on 17 in some thick rough so Klos was forced to go safe with a 4 iron. This was blown by the wind off the left into the hazard on the right, Klos got lucky (no surprise there) and could just about get a wedge to it. Klos hit his ball to 35 feet and had a chance to win the match outright. A great putt from Klos which was tracking all the way only to miss on the right, hole halved in 4.
Down the last we go, dormie 1up! All hit good drives, Klos and coupey both hit shots to the green. Klos hit his putt to 6 foot and Coupey putted to gimmie range so it rested on this putt to win the match for Princes. Left lip Meaks said, Klos hit a decent putt but it bobbled and missed to the right. Match finished A/S which was a fair result for both pairings.
A great match to be involved in and it really got the juices flowing down the final stretch. Thanks to the supporters of Ryan, Mark and DJ!
Fantastic effort today lads, to come from 3 Down to get one up and almost win the match would certainly have felt like a defeat for the Canterbury pair.
A great half in the end, still an unbeaten pairing, well played.
3rd Match
Robin Orchison / Stuart Lane
Another tough match for us against Shaun and Mark who played solid all day in tough conditions. Robin and I didn't play our best golf but dovetailed great and if it hadn't been for some great clutch putts from Shaun on the front nine Princes would of been 3 up at the turn but we were all square.
On the back nine we all played better, Robin and I birdied 3 holes to be one up standing on the 17th.
Mark from Canterbury drove the 17th and two putted for a birdie, bang all square!
The final hole we all missed the green and had tough up and downs that no one managed, in all fairness a half was a good result for both sides as no one really deserved to lose. Was also great to see the team all at the 18th which shows our great team spirit.
Well played again today! Another great result in tough conditions.
4th Match
Mark Bennett / Simon Reed
Benno: Paired together for the 2nd league match in a row, Reedie & Bennett were determined to not lose their match against our biggest rivals ! For some reason I was nervous on the first tee but managed to follow Simon down the middle of the fairway with us giving away a shot already! A 4 for us proved decisive in halving the first thanks to a 70 foot 2 putt from Benno.
Nobody hit the green on 2 and I missed it again putting from one side of the green to the next (downwind) - somehow a 4 from me was good enough for the win 1 up.
Somehow Simon faded the ball with wind hard off the right to go out of bounds, thankfully I cracked one down the left edge of the fairway but pulled the approach into the waste area left of the green. I did manage to find the green with the 3rd and a 2 putt par was enough for the half.
With the 3 of us receiving a shot off Simon Reed on the 4th the hole was halved in 4's. Simon then decided to join the party after I found sand from the tee, a gutsy bogey saw the hole halved. Simon then made a great up and down on the par 5 6th to to halve the hole in birdies.
We then decided to both turn up on the same hole with me securing a par leaving the stage clear for the club champion to sink another birdie and send us 2 up much to the delight of the watching crowd although DJ missed it ! (Sorry Reedie, DJ)
2 solid tee shots on the long 8th saw us halve the hole in par 3's. Reedie decided he try and drive the green on the next and nearly did thanks to 100 yard roll down the road ! With mistakes from the opponents Simon delivered a par to send us 3 up at the turn.
Not taking our foot off the gas another par at the 10th sent us 4 up which we quickly gave back on the dangerous 11th thanks to 2 drives in the water ! No harm done as a Benno birdie on the 12th quickly restored our 4 hole advantage.
Another shot hole and with everyone in some sort of trouble off the tee Benno holed a tricky 4 footer to halve the hole. A solid shot to 20 ft at bloody point saw Simon seal the match with a winning birdie to get the job done 5&4 !! Overall this was a great result against a strong side and I'm confident we will turn them over at their place. We go again next week let's go big lads
Reedie hit a great drive down the 9th of Dunes which gained an extra 100 yards as it skittled down the road!!!
His next shot went through the green but in true Reedie fashion he made a great up and down to win the hole which was superb as Benno's drive was almost in the sea!
Well played again lads. Just want to say an extra thankyou to Reedie and Tony Davis for sticking with us and our team selections, there are some (Not in our team I want to add) that would frown at playing in the handicap match and having to give shots when playing off 2!
Respect to you for just getting on with it and getting the job done for the team!!!
5th Match
Paul Copley / Tony Davis
Well after my loyal partner stood down to bring in the big Gun Tony Davis we were giving a shot on the 1st hole. Tony's super approach shot straight down the middle of the green then 2 putts, one up!!
Our lead was short lived as we lost the 2nd but Tiger Tony hit 2 great shots to the 3rd, sublime chip, one putt and back to one up.
I then managed to sink a 25 ft putt on 4th to put us 2 up,
All going well. Slight blip as we lost the 5th but then managed to halve the next 4 holes Tony chipping on from the path off the 7th to 4 ft and I sank a 30 footer on the 9th.
1 up at the turn.
On to the Hims, solid pars on the first and then Tiger Tony had a great par on the 2nd ,back to 2 up and advantage us. Now in full stride we were taking no prisoners winning the 4th with a par to go 3 up. Tony had a great par on the new par 3 to half the hole.
Then came our best hole of the day. We both hit good drives, Tony's 3 wood found the bunker up the left but a superb shot in to 4 ft and he gets a birdie. I banged my trusty 5 wood up the right and nice wedge to 15 ft and bingo another solid putt for birdie (and with a shot) was good enough 4&3!!
A great day, some great golf and another win for the team.......Not sure DJ will get back into the side with Me?....Watch this space !!
Last but not least, thankyou to the whole team for a fantastic performance against a very very good Canterbury side. With our results thus far, it shows we are more than capable of mixing it with the best that the East Kent League has to offer.
I have also received a couple of texts saying what a fantastic team spirit we have this year. People have commented on how great it was to see the whole team stay to see in the final few groups, all crowded around the 18th showing our support then moving onto the clubhouse for a couple of beers to celebrate what a great win this was.
Many thanks to the Canterbury team who also stayed after the match to have a couple of beers. Well played you guys, to come to Princes and play like you did shows what a very very good team you are.
Look forward to the return fixture!
