2nd team v Cambridgeshire

Buggies and Birdies

Northamptonshire 2nds  v Cambs 2nds

A cloudless sky welcomed both teams to Priors Hall Corby fore the opening round of the Anglian League 2025.

Proud new captain Ben Hawkins picked a well-balanced  team of youth and experience , with young Ryan Statham making the step up from junior to senior team to make a well-earned debut.

After coffee, bacon rolls and general chit chat, the match commenced at 8.27 precisely.

1st out , Alec Francis and Jon Harris didn’t have the best of starts going 2 down early on, however form is temporary in this case very temporary as they fought back winning 2 and 1 whilst making 5 birdies 

Young stallions  Liam McNeela and Ryan Statham galloped into an early lead  racing to 4 up after 8 a steady few holes later they finished off their opponents with relative ease winning 5 and 4 , including 4 birdies. 1st back to the clubhouse for much needed nosebags

The experienced Dalton and Barker out 3rd  were faced with a tough start to the season, the youngster they faced included a Bryson length hitter , one of his drives estimated to be around 380 yards. Despite their best efforts the veterans succumbed to a narrow 2 and 1 defeat despite the 4 birdies

Last out Skipper and Sam Bird, endured a tough encounter but ground out a well earned half after being down for a good amount of holes , a nap hand of birdies showed how tough their match was .

Lunch, chips and sandwiches , nice.

 Afternoon temps topped 26 degrees, with rapidly drying greens and fairways made for some interesting  bounces 

The coolest guys in the team Jon Harris and Sam Bird made the game look easy with wins of 4and 3 and 4 and 2 respectively ,shame the ‘cool’ box wasn’t as cool.

Yellow card for the team manager on 6th hole for parking the buggy in line of sight of Cambs player teeing off, despite being 30 yards away next to the 7th tee. He was not a happy bunny and let me know !! I swear I saw him berating the cuckoo in the woods as it hooted as he was stood over a putt later on .

Ryan Statham making his singles debut went 3 down very early, however fought back brilliantly to 1 down to suffer a narrow defeat, he will learn from this match, a great debut and a bright future in county golf lies ahead.

Evergreen stalwarts Dalton and Barker showed great stamina on the day . both came in with vital  wins , both would be content waking up for school next day.

A win for Alec Francis, who played my personal ‘shot of the day’ about 160 yards out on 16 managed to pitch the ball into the buggy parked up greenside left, containing  Cambs vice president and his wife, apologies all round and no harm done (although the vice president being an RAF man having a tudor rose embossed titleist rattling around his head wouldn’t have helped his PTSD)  a quick drop , up and down for a win gave Alec the moment to win the next hole and gain a well-earned victory

Liam McNeela, great talent , but enough about his eating. Down for a good part of his round fought back valiantly to 1 up , just falling at the final hurdle to finish all square. Unbeaten over the weekend.

Captain Fantastic  Ben Hawkins fresh from a wedding on Saturday and an early start on Sunday, ran out of steam at the last despite a lost ball and lost hole still managed a to half the game. Not sure he could have asked for a better result, excellent selection and organisation for his 1st game as skip .

MATCH RESULT

Northants 8.5  Cambs 3.5

On a personal note , thanks for support from New county secretary Gerald Pearce  for your support throughout the day and Jamie Milligan for popping over to add support . 

Mostly the players , top lads and great company , a credit to Northamptonshire Golf