obs.org.uk A quick lunch and next up were Radley – more rethinking of the order with Shields and Hargreaves now the basement dwellers at number three pair and finding inspired opponents. Pressure on the top two to come through and it was clear that the Adams’ cannon was making his opponent’s driver look like a peashooter. A rifled iron on the tenth hole from Adams and a raking 3 iron into the 14 th from Stam had Radley under serious pressure and they were forced to concede the match on the 15th – 4/3 Birkenhead. Barnes and Archer were now an unstoppable force and controlled their game to win 3/2, being under par at the finish. Back-markers Shields and Hargreaves birdied 14 and 15 but were matched by Radley and were still 3 down – fortunately with the overall match over by that stage , Radley were pressganged into offering a half, Birkenhead 2.5Radley 0.5. So Sunday golf in the main event for Birkenhead for the fourth time in six years. Moderation needed at dinner and Carl’s advice that he and Dom had discovered the secret of feeling good in the morning (4 large gins after dinner in the downstairs snug) was ignored by the older team members.
‘We looked in serious difficulty’ We faced Stowe at Hunstanton in the semis – they were on a great run – having already accounted for Eton and Clifton and we knew that they had one particularly strong pair. The short straw, this time at number three, went to Marcus and Carl and in spite of some massive hitting they were down fairly early. Kris and Dom, out first, looked in control all the way so the key match appeared to be Anthony and John. This game started very badly for us – poor putting from John on the first and mediocre play from both Birkenhead players on the second saw us two down. When we went out of bounds from the third tee, we looked in serious difficulty. However, this Birkenhead team is made of stern stuff – a birdie with the second ball on the third gained us a half and we steadily pulled away – winning 3/2. Dom and Kris won at a canter 5/4 – the last stroke of the match being Barnes nearly holing his tee shot at the par three 14th hole. Marcus and Carl had learned quickly the art of negotiating a half from a losing position so the eventual result was another 2.5 – 0.5 in our favour.
Rugby or Uppingham in the final – both formidable golfing schools with gargantuan school fees to match, Uppingham (2012 winners) prevailed, so we knew a tough match was in prospect. Carl and Marcus out top, starting with out of bounds from the first tee and a lost ball at the second – omens not good, but a great recovery starting with a birdie into the wind on the par four third. The game ebbed and flowed but the Birkenhead pair put together a superb 2 under par run between the 9th and 14th to stand 2 up. We threw away the 15th with another lost ball from the tee but then Stam holed bravely from 20 feet on the 16th hole to be 2 up with two to play. The seventeenth again proved to be a good hole for Birkenhead – neither side on in two but the Stam putter was now hot and he holed from ten feet to win the match 2/1.
‘A certain tension existed in this game’ Kris and Dom, second pair, were involved in a very tight match and were behind for the first time in the tournament after two holes, then square after five following a good par into the wind. A Birkenhead putting blunder on the 8th (later described as a ‘brain fart’) put us one down again against opponents whose sole topic of conversation appeared to be the Rules of Golf. A certain tension existed in this game and in spite of a solid run of sub-par golf we remained one down with four holes to play (special mention to Kris for holing out on the 13th from 7 inches after Uppingham rather ungraciously seemed to ‘forget’ to concede). The fifteenth hole
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looked promising with Birkenhead exactly 158 yards ahead of their opponents from the tee – credit to Uppingham who then hit a majestic 3 wood to secure a half in birdie fours. The pivotal moment came on the 16th – Uppingham in an awkward lie in the left hand bunker from the tee and Birkenhead in the centre of the green, following another Barnes rapier- like iron. Uppingham were then somewhat hoist with their own petard – their ball moved in the course of taking their stance and they honestly conceded the hole – only to attempt to retract the concession moments later – unfortunately for them, Barnes had also been doing some night time reading and he pointed out that once a concession has been made, it cannot be retracted (Beati Mundo Corde!)). We marched to the 17th tee all square. A massive drive from Archer on the seventeenth left Barnes a pitching wedge to the green which he placed to 20 feet. Uppingham struggling, left in two, were unable to match our par so we had a precious one hole lead going down the last.
‘A half on the 17th would win us the Grafton Morrish’ Anthony and John were fighting hard and after two excellent shots to 15 feet on the par 5 15th looked like going one up – hopes quickly extinguished by a fine up and down from Uppingham. John then hit a weak tee shot on the 16th - nearly on the front of the green and puttable, but with the line interfered with by a hump. It was tempting to take the ground route but Shields summoned up the courage to chip his second shot to 3 feet and Uppingham (bunkered from the tee) made a mess of their second shot to lose the hole with no further play needed by Birkenhead. 1 up with 2 to play meant a half on the 17th would win us the Grafton Morrish. Both pairs drove safely into the right hand rough with Uppingham a little further and enjoying a better lie. Hargreaves thrashed a 7 iron thirty yards short and below the green on the right, Uppingham played a good shot, leaving a putt from about 40 feet. Shields first – a brilliantly thought out and well executed shot to 8 feet, Uppingham putted, slightly weakly, to 10 feet. We expected them to miss the next one and for us to have two putts for the trophy but to their credit, the putt went straight into the middle of the hole. Anthony and John consulted on the line and allowing for Hargreaves’ customary ‘dead weight’ style went for a right edge read. John’s putt did not start on the agreed track but carrying a little more than his normal pace, it grabbed the left edge of the hole and went in – we were home. Kris and Dom meanwhile were still fighting for the full point being unaware of events behind. A very solid par on the eighteenth (another gutsy 3 footer from Archer) saw them win one up and preserved their 100% record in the tournament. It matters not that John and Anthony lost the last and halved their match – the important business was done and Birkenhead’s shield was going back on the top of the Hunstanton Clubhouse wall – placed there by the solid figure of Captain Kris ‘Cool’ Archer atop a sturdy ladder.
‘It is a team affair with close golfing friends’ It is hard to explain to a person who has not played in the Grafton Morrish or Halford Hewiit how intense the golf and team spirit is in these competitions. This is partly because it is a team affair with close golfing friends but also on account of the competition being the game in its most esoteric format – scratch foursomes on a links course where luck often plays a significant hand. We now have a pool of players which should enable us to produce a competitive team for many years ahead but the delight of victory is made even greater by us all realising that fine margins determine success in this superb event.