Stoke have gone out of the John Day Trophy in a tough away fixture at Royal Epping Forest – but the match was closer than the 6.5 / 2.5 score suggests.
Team Captain Ian MCKay sends this report.
“It was challenging to get this match match arranged, and doubly challenging with the traffic down the A12, but everyone arrived in time in the new team kit, ready to do battle.
“It was a bright sunny day, but surprisingly chilly with a strong wind, helping on the first hole. Each Stoke team member left the first tee in good shape and negotiated the hole safely.
“The first few holes are a bit tricky and we went down early in many games, mainly because we had to give shots in the majority of the pairings. After seeing most groups to the 8th hole, I jumped over to the 11th hole, where the shots given were ending. At this point a few matches had turned our way and some excellent ‘fight backs’ were evident. As I moved to the 15th hole, I had hopes that the match was close.
“But as I walked with a few groups towards the last few holes I saw a number of long putts go in from the opposition and our players just missing out. In the end, this putting was the difference, despite the score, which didn’t truly reflect how close we came.
“I would like to thank all of the Stoke players and those SbN members at home for sending good vibrations”.
