Two small but perfectly formed teams met on 25th September to do battle in the annual OEGS vs Common Room fixture, turnout no doubt impacted by the rearrangement of the fixture from its original Platinum Jubilee weekend slot (we thought we’d better give priority to HMQ). One team was in fact slightly smaller than the other, which obviously affected its perfect formation, as the Common Room emerged as runaway winners, despite the best efforts of your match manager to gerrymander the complicated scoring regime.

We sent out our two low handicappers as OEGS sole representatives in the first two 3-balls but Ben Burrows was up against a very strong pairing of Alex Wingfield Digby and Julian Tutt, who posted very decent Stableford scores. Though Tony Dunn thought he might have a bit of a sniff in the second 3-ball, noting the occasional golfing skills of Callum Kyle (9 points), his partner Matt McVeigh weighed in with another strong Stableford number to ensure victory for the CR there.  Our first 4-ball pairing of Peter Henley, carried through a nightmare 8-blob round by Iryna Photiou, had a good battle with James Wooldridge and College Director of Sports Mike Harrison but Mike’s drive of over 300 yards on the SI-2 10th, followed by a similar length on the 11th (this one onto the 10th fairway, mind you) put paid to any hopes of an OEGS victory in that group. Bringing up the rear in the final 4-ball was Patricia Seath and your match manager, up against Dan Fathers and opposing match manager Ian Sands, both on superb form, as evidenced in the 30-point scoring differential!

So, not quite the nail-biting finish in the sunshine of last year but nevertheless a most enjoyable day out and a great opportunity for the OEGS to strengthen its ties with the College. My thanks as ever to both teams for supporting this fixture and to Ian Sands for arranging everything at the REGC. We look forward to returning the fixture next year to its midsummer slot.

For the record (and whisper it quietly), the adjusted team Stableford score was OEGS 148: Common Room 178.5.

Ian Henley

Callum Kyle, Matt McVeigh, Tony Dunn

Dan Fathers, Patricia Seath, Ian Sands, Ian Henley