A Team
Captain's Report
Our fixtures for 2007 have now finished, it’s been another successful year for the A team, winning 9 and drawing 1 of our 15 fixtures. The highlight of the year was undoubtedly retaining the Worcestershire A Team League title with a new record points total, however, both the double win, home and away in the scratch fixture with Herefordshire GC and the setting up and overall victory in the new scratch foursomes match with Forest of Dean GC were notable achievements during the year. Sadly we were handed very tricky away fixtures in both the Mail on Sunday Classic and the GGU Presidents Cup, leading to early exits in both competitions.
One of the most pleasing aspects of the year has been the emergence of many new faces playing for the A team, in particular some of the juniors who have performed magnificently. Their enthusiasm is infectious and gees up everyone to give that little bit extra. My thanks go out to everybody who has turned out for us over my 2 years in charge, it’s been a pleasure but it’s time to pass the reigns on. Hopefully we can build on our recent success in the future.
James Morgan
A Team Captain 2007
A Team - League Table
| Club | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ross | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 38 |
| Droitwich | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 31 |
| Evesham | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 29 |
| Kidderminster | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 28.5 |
| Worcester G&CC | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 27 |
| Worcestershire | 10 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 26.5 |
A Team - Results
| Club | Evesham | Droitwich | Kidder- minster | Ross GC | Worcester G&CC | Worcester shire |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evesham | X | 4-2 | 3-3 | 4.5-1.5 | 6-0 | 4.5-1.5 |
| Droitwich | 5-1 | X | 5-1 | 4-2 | 2-4 | 4.5-1.5 |
| Kidderminster | 4.5-1.5 | 3-3 | X | 4-2 | 2.5-3.5 | 4-2 |
| Ross | 6-0 | 5.5-0.5 | 4.5-1.5 | X | 5.5-0.5 | 4-2 |
| Worcester G&CC | 3-3 | 2-4 | 4-2 | 2-4 | X | 5.5-0.5 |
| Worcestershire | 4.5-1.5 | 5-1 | 3-3 | 3-3 | 3.5-2.5 | X |
A Team - Fixtures and Results
| Date | Against | League | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 March | Cotswold Hills (a) | Mail on Sunday | Lost 4-1 |
| 31 March | Droitwich (a) | Worcestershire League | Lost 4-2 |
| 12 May | Herefordshire (h) | Scratch Friendly | Won 5-1 |
| 19 May | Worcester G&CC (a) | Worcestershire League | Won 4-2 |
| 17 June | Evesham (h) | Worcestershire League | Won 6-0 |
| 23 June | Shortwood Lodge (a) | CGU Presidents Cup | Lost 3-2 |
| 29 June | Forest of Dean (h) | Scratch Friendly | Won 5-1 |
| 30 June | The Worcestershire (a) | Worcestershire League | Drew 3-3 |
| 8 July | Evesham (a) | Worcestershire League | Lost 4.5-1.5 |
| 15 July | Kidderminster (h) | Worcestershire League | Won 4.5-1.5 |
| 22 July | Kidderminster (a) | Worcestershire League | Lost 4-2 |
| 29 July | The Worcestershire (h) | Worcestershire League | won 4-2 |
| 4 August | Herefordshire (a) | Scratch Friendly | won 3.5-1.5 |
| 10 August | Forest of Dean (a) | Scratch Friendly | Lost 4-2 |
| 8 September | Worcester G&CC (h) | Worcestershire League | Won 5.5-0.5 |
| 22 September | Droitwich (h) | Worcestershire League | Won 5.5-0.5 |
| 29 September | B Team | Friendly |
Player of the Year Leaderboard
| Name | Played | Won | Halved | Lost | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gwynne Morgan | 18 | 13 | 1 | 4 | 13.5 |
| Jeff Davis | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 10 |
| Andy Crispe | 13 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 9.5 |
| Steve Wallbank | 15 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 8.5 |
| Neil Lancett | 9 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
Match Reports
19 May - Worcester G&Cc (Away)
Ross-on-Wye A team continued their good form with a 4-2 win away at Worcester G+CC. There were good wins for Gwynne Morgan/Stuart Tier 4&3 and Martyn Walker/Andy Crispe who held their nerve in a tight game to win 1up. Brian Macnamara/Alan Bebb were struggling at 2 down with 2 to play but Alan displayed, what he described “soft hands” to chip in out of deep rough for birdie on the 17th and Brian secured the half with a crisp long iron to 4 feet on the 18th, James Morgan/Nick Ellis also secured a half with a gritty comeback over the closing holes and Nick Pomeroy/Chris Burford appeared to be cruising at 4up with 6 holes remaining, however a vicious attack of the “Uncle Franks” lead them to stand on the last tee all square before Chris produced a pitch from what can only be described as “deep clag” to within 6 inches to secure a nervy win 1up. The only pairing who came away empty handed was, surprisingly, 2006 player of the year Steve Wallbank and Andy Stephens.
12 May - Herefordshire (Home)
“The Ross on Wye” A team had a resounding home victory at the weekend against “The Herefordshire” A team, winning by 5 games to 1.
There were winning margins for Ross of, 8&7, 7&6, 7&5, 6&5 and 6&5, with only one match losing by the narrow margin of 3&1.
The Ross pairings were, James Morgan and Nigel Montague, Gwynne Morgan and Brad Ainslie, Phil Green and Neil Lancett, Jeff Davis and Nick Pomeroy, Tony Howells and Gareth Webb, Malcolm Sosna and Martin Walker.
The Herefordshire team captained by Will Weaver included well known county stalwarts such as former county captain John McQuillan, two time county seniors champion Neil Bell, Neil Greening and current Three Counties Golf Society Chairman Nigel Winney but they were no match for an on form Ross team who made full use of their home advantage. A closer match is expected in the return fixture at “The Hereforshire” later in the season.
31 March - Droitwich (Away)
The traditional early season fixture with Droitwich is always one where the clubs need dusting off after winter, and so it proved again this year. Club Champion Phil Green/Andy Smart were the lead off pair and after their winter hibernation they were sent packing back to the practice ground after a comprehensive 6&5 defeat. Ross were confident of a result from the pairing of James Morgan/Steve Wallbank and they were in a strong position at dormy 2 up but a strong fightback from their opposition reeled them in for a half. The same was true of Malcolm Sosna/Gwynne Morgan, whose form faltered over the final two holes to grasp a half from the jaws of victory. It looked like a devastating defeat was on the cards when Andy Crispe/Paul Rivett and Jeff Davis / Ian Brotherston lost their games "out in the country" but Charles Houlbrooke / Chris Burford succeeded where their teammates had failed and held on for a 2&1 victory to make the result 4-2 in, what is always, a tricky early season fixture.
25 March 2007 - Cotswold Hills (Away)
Ross-on-Wye Golf Club were given the toughest possible draw in the first round or The Mail on Sunday Classic, away at Cotswold Hills, Gloucestershire champions for the past 3 years. It was always going to be tough and so it proved. 2006 player of the year Steve Wallbank led the team out, but came unstuck in the windy conditions, eventually losing 3&2. The team were given a fighting chance, with James Morgan and Paul Rivett grinding out halves in games 2 and 3, alas it wasn’t enough with Gwynne Morgan and Tony Howells finding their opponents in top form and sadly they went down but 2&1 and 6&5 respectively.