The first round of the Leslie Wood Plate saw us drawn against Stock Brook Manor, with four singles matches being played at home and four matches being played simultaneously away at Stock Brook.
Team Captain Chris Hopkins took charge at Stoke whilst Men’s Captain Norman Davidson oversaw proceedings at Stock Brook.
The matches at Stoke saw some exceptional golf being played by our boys with resounding victories in three of the matches. In the 4th match, an injury sustained on the 16th by Phil Barber, whilst the match was poised for a close finish, put paid to a Stoke whitewash, but despite the injury, Phil insisted on trying to finish the match but in the end to no avail and Stock Brook managed to get an important point. 3 – 1 to Stoke.
Meanwhile, at Stock Brook Manor, a last-minute withdrawal led to David Nixon being persuaded to fill the gap. Playing an unfamiliar course for the first time gave the opposition an advantage with early leads being taken in a number of matches. With two matches already secured by the home team, an exciting finish ensued, and Ian McKay narrowly missing out for a win on the last hole but securing an important half point.
When the result from the Stoke matches were added, it meant we needed a half point to win. Sam Nixon, having at one stage been four down, fought back to the final putt on the final hole to be in with a chance of a half…but alas, his putt edged past the hole and we ended up with a scoreline showing a 4.5 to 3.5 win for Stock Brook.
Well done to our Stoke lads, you put up a great effort and we were unlucky on the day. All to play for next year…..
