This was a very special year for the Halford Hewitt Tournament seeing that the first one was played in 1924 (with Eastbourne joining in 1932).  The Centenary Dinner was held in London in January, there were a series of special events at Deal during Hewitt Week and all 64 schools had their flags flown down the side of the first fairway at Deal.

In the first round Eastbourne were drawn against a strong Haileybury team and we went down by 3 games to 2.  Our winners were Ben Dawson and Peter Walker by 5 & 4 and Ben Twine and Jack Hughes by 2 up, the latter against a pair of young Italian brothers off scratch and plus 2.

In the Prince’s Plate we beat King Edward’s Birmingham 2-1 and then only narrowly lost to Epsom 2-1.  Ben Dawson and Peter Walker, as a pair, remain undefeated in the Hewitt and Plate.

Epsom went on to lose in the final of the Plate to Forest.  In the Hewitt itself, Eton beat Bedford in the final – a wonderful performance by Bedford for going so far.

Peter Walker acted as our captain in the absence of the injured Adrian Sharpin.

My thanks to all those who played.  And we are as always very keen for other low single figure handicap OE golfers to join the society and potentially play for Eastbourne in the Hewitt.

Chris Walker

Pre-match preparations in the Premier Inn, Manston.

The College flag at Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club.

The majority of the team prior to our first round match against Haileybury.

Adam Walker, Ben Dawson and Jack King.

Our (still) undefeated pair of Ben Dawson and Peter Walker.