Ben Lynch – Matt Miller – Lewis Beer – Mike Doyle
Arriving at our venue, the British version of Pebble Beach according to Peter Alliss I think, it was obviously going to be a very fine day, light winds and blue sky Thurlestone, a pleasure in waiting. It is easy to not appreciate the golf course when presented with the ever changing seascape. The course was in excellent condition with the greens running well and in good condition for relatively early season. A warm welcome always assured returning to the club after some time was keenly anticipated to contest our young opponents. Unfortunately Grahame Moore, the boys manager, was unavailable he’s currently experiencing some challenging health issues. Grahame has served Devon Golf in many capacities over the years and all who have known him wish him well and look forward to seeing him back in action, get well soon! Meanwhile his ‘understudy’ and long time member of Devon Golf in varied capacities Dave Roberts (Staddon Heights), is a more than capable substitute, thank you Dave!
So to the match, Captain Ben Lynch set forth together with current club Captain Mike Doyle, five matches in total. At this point my personal thanks to Joan and Glen in the Pro shop for arranging a buggy for yours truly at very short notice. It has to be remembered that all our opponents are under sixteen in the main and giving shots to most. In my match, with good friend Lew Easter, we received 12 and 18 shots however, the age difference 128 years somewhat creating a ‘balance’ ?
As is always the case these young men are a credit to their clubs, Junior Organisers, parents and of course themselves. They are courteous, generous in their compliments and play the game as intended, fairly but with good competitive spirit. On this occasion the ‘senior’ players were to provide unusually stiff opposition with some decent golf played generally. I’m sure current Devon Golf President, Richard Pascoe, will have been extremely pleased in the manner that his young ‘Colts’ presented themselves on the day. On this occasion an unexpected result was to be revealed, whilst hoping for the best but expecting the worst, Devon Captains prevailed and graciously received by our young adversaries. If my memory reflects correctly the last time we were successful in this match was under the stewardship of John Burrow (DGC Captain 2003), and currently our DGC President. In closing the day with speeches from both Captain’s, after a very nice three course meal, Ben presented Mike Doyle with a cheque in favour of Thurlestone Junior section as a token of our thanks to the committee and members for the pleasure of their course. Finally, as Brian Rice commented, what better name for an aspiring young golfer than Noah MULLIGAN ?
Malcolm Jordain
