The Halifax, Huddersfield & District Union of Golf Clubs senior team started this seasons campaign in the YIDU golf league yesterday with an away defeat against a strong Leeds side at Wetherby Golf Club.
The Leeds track has recently undergone several alterations, including the building of three new greens, and with the lengthening of some holes the course now provides an impressive test at just over 6,500 yards. The first hole in particular, a par four playing into the wind, really tested the elite golfers and at 468 yards was only reached in two shots by a handful of players.
The foursomes started badly for our local side with Richard Broadley & Andy Shaw, Jim Fairhurst & Iain Powell and Sam Bridges & Steve Martin all going behind in their matches early on in the round. The West End pair of Bridges & Martin rallied but eventually lost 2&1 whilst Broadley & Shaw lost 4&3 and Fairhurst & Powell went down 5&4.
However in the lower order Graham McLean & Chris Ingham were able to turn their match around with birdies on holes 16 and 17 to win by one hole plus Frank Greaves and debutant Brad Tupman also turned their game on its head after being three down after three to also win by a single hole. In the final game of the morning Ben Crowther & Danny Stocchero gained control of their match around the turn, after losing the first two holes, to score a victory to leave the foursomes shared at six points each.
The Leeds Union put their top three players out first in the afternoon singles and former Yorkshire champion David Appleyard beat Broadley 5&4 in a one sided contest. Richard Law, the current Yorkshire champion, had a much tougher match against Shaw but eventually won on the 17th green.
Despite the early setbacks for the Halifax, Huddersfield team at one point they were up in five matches; Bridges, Powell, Martin, Crowther, and Stocchero were all ahead and with Fairhurst level and Greaves just one down an away victory was on the cards.
Mear admitted, "As the afternoon unfolded a win by Powell against county player Simon Coumbe and a victory for Bridges beating Ashley Smith I felt that we were in with a chance of creating a shock result once we got back on level terms."
However, as the day progressed matches began to swing in the Leeds Unions favour. Fairhurst lost on the penultimate green whilst McLean, Ingham, Greaves and Tupman all fell well behind. Martin secured another two points for the HHDUGC when he closed out the Leeds Union Captain Andy Wiltshire 2&1 but McLean, who has been playing well, was out of sorts with his game and eventually lost 5&4. Ingham also lost by the same margin and whilst Greaves battled, as he always does, he still went down 3&2.
Tupman lost by the margin of 4&2 and although Crowther was battling away, and got into a winning position of three up with four to play, a bogey on the par five 15th and a visit to water on the last meant that he had to settle for a halved match. Stocchero (pictured) was two down with four to play but fought right to the end only to make the same error as Crowther on the 18th by visiting the water to eventually lose two down.
The final result was a 23-13 home win for Leeds. Order of Merit Table & Full Scorecard to follow.
The Leeds track has recently undergone several alterations, including the building of three new greens, and with the lengthening of some holes the course now provides an impressive test at just over 6,500 yards. The first hole in particular, a par four playing into the wind, really tested the elite golfers and at 468 yards was only reached in two shots by a handful of players.
The foursomes started badly for our local side with Richard Broadley & Andy Shaw, Jim Fairhurst & Iain Powell and Sam Bridges & Steve Martin all going behind in their matches early on in the round. The West End pair of Bridges & Martin rallied but eventually lost 2&1 whilst Broadley & Shaw lost 4&3 and Fairhurst & Powell went down 5&4.
However in the lower order Graham McLean & Chris Ingham were able to turn their match around with birdies on holes 16 and 17 to win by one hole plus Frank Greaves and debutant Brad Tupman also turned their game on its head after being three down after three to also win by a single hole. In the final game of the morning Ben Crowther & Danny Stocchero gained control of their match around the turn, after losing the first two holes, to score a victory to leave the foursomes shared at six points each.
The Leeds Union put their top three players out first in the afternoon singles and former Yorkshire champion David Appleyard beat Broadley 5&4 in a one sided contest. Richard Law, the current Yorkshire champion, had a much tougher match against Shaw but eventually won on the 17th green.
Despite the early setbacks for the Halifax, Huddersfield team at one point they were up in five matches; Bridges, Powell, Martin, Crowther, and Stocchero were all ahead and with Fairhurst level and Greaves just one down an away victory was on the cards.
Mear admitted, "As the afternoon unfolded a win by Powell against county player Simon Coumbe and a victory for Bridges beating Ashley Smith I felt that we were in with a chance of creating a shock result once we got back on level terms."However, as the day progressed matches began to swing in the Leeds Unions favour. Fairhurst lost on the penultimate green whilst McLean, Ingham, Greaves and Tupman all fell well behind. Martin secured another two points for the HHDUGC when he closed out the Leeds Union Captain Andy Wiltshire 2&1 but McLean, who has been playing well, was out of sorts with his game and eventually lost 5&4. Ingham also lost by the same margin and whilst Greaves battled, as he always does, he still went down 3&2.
Tupman lost by the margin of 4&2 and although Crowther was battling away, and got into a winning position of three up with four to play, a bogey on the par five 15th and a visit to water on the last meant that he had to settle for a halved match. Stocchero (pictured) was two down with four to play but fought right to the end only to make the same error as Crowther on the 18th by visiting the water to eventually lose two down.
The final result was a 23-13 home win for Leeds. Order of Merit Table & Full Scorecard to follow.
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