The four teams assembled at lunchtime on Monday in the RPGC clubhouse in glorious Spring sunshine with hardly a breath of wind. Following a light lunch, XLGS defeated MCC relatively easily in the first semi-final, then the Grancogs joined them in the final by overcoming the Free Foresters in the other match. The Grancogs arrived short of a couple of players and their team was made up by some willing local members, which gave them a total of 4 RPGC members which proved to be quite an advantage.
The traditional relatively abstemious dinner was held in the clubhouse that evening but with an unusual lack of after dinner stories – possibly due to the weather that was forecast for us the next day?
Sadly the forecast was correct; Tuesday dawned very wet, windy and much colder than the previous afternoon. In spite of the hearty Porthcawl breakfast enjoyed by our team, we were no match for the local knowledge available to the Grancogs. However, our fighting spirit meant that most games reached the final two holes. MCC defeated the FF’s in what our American cousins call the “consolation match”.
Therefore the Decanter went to the Grancogs (see image below) with the FF’s slipping from being last year’s winners to holding the Wooden Spoon, much to the relief of the MCC Captain.
Next year’s match is booked for March 25th & 26th.
More images of the day can be found in the gallery section of this website.
Stuart Bowden, Match Manager
