We welcomed our friends from Warwickshire unfortunately a man down, one of their team was hospitalised a couple of days prior to the match at Churston. Despite efforts by both counties no replacement could be found. Welcomed by Churston Captain Derek Smith, who joined DGCs on the day, some friendships from our previous matches, renewed, not least John Loynton who has filled virtually every office for Warwickshire Captains overtime. John had journeyed down for the day to provide a late replacement and the next day was off to Lords, a real trouper! Unfortunately, to enable a less demanding round trip, Warwickshire had organised their first tour, playing Gloucester Captains on the way home. This was seemingly a splendid solution to break their journey into smaller pieces, sadly not, for Gloucester had to cancel the match at Lansdowne GC.
However our match was very much on at Churston, welcomed by Derek Smith with sandwiches and chips to follow and sitting with our opponents prior to play enabling pre match chats in order to familiarise within the group. Unfortunately John Mitchell and I were drawn to play against the necessary single Mike Hughes, who was excellent company and was scheduled to provide shots to John and myself. In order to try and provide a more level playing field we decided to play flat, with no shots given or received. Churston is currently, as are the majority of all golf clubs, arid and requiring some gentle rainfall to turn the brown areas back to lush green. The greens are in excellent condition but unusually of moderate pace for this time of year, careful management by Head Greenkeeper Kelvin Millar a must until this apparent drought is over. In spite of some extraordinary distances from the tee some good golf shone through and a number of matches were very close.
As is the norm, subsequent to combat in the sun cool libations awaited and the banter continued until dinner and thereafter. Unfortunately Derek Smith could not join us for dinner, his wife had been recently hospitalised and of course he needed to be with her, I’m sure we all wish her well and a speedy recovery. A few of the Warks boys were staying locally and within walking distance of the accommodation therefore continuing re-hydration with local ales. Many of the visiting players commented on the views across the bay and beyond, mainly because mostly they live many miles from the seaside and water experience coming from the many canals nearby. Final speeches giving thanks to all concerned allowed our visiting friends to commence their onward journeys and we look forward to meeting up next year, somewhere in Warwickshire!
Malcolm Jordain
