Thumping victory for Men's team

 On Saturday we welcomed Lancashire to Seascale Golf Club for our third Men's Northern Counties League fixture of the season.

The visitors were coming into the game following a comfortable victory on the road against Northumberland last time out whereas Cumbria were hoping to bounce back from their recent defeat at Durham.

The home side had an injury scare on Friday evening with Rob Spence (Furness) suffering from an abdominal issue. For a while it looked like Cumbria Secretary Gary Watson may have needed to get the clubs out which, based on current form, nobody needed to see. Thankfully, Spenner passed a fitness test on Saturday morning and was deemed fit to play!

The links at Seascale was in fantastic condition but a stiff breeze that was forecast to blow all day would provide a stern test for both teams.

In recent times, the morning foursomes session has proved difficult for Cumbria, too often they have gone into the lunch interval trailing, leaving an uphill task in the afternoon singles. There have been signs of improvement, and a lot of work and thought has gone into selecting pairings that will be able to give us a fighting chance going into the singles.

As usual, Lancashire's line up was strong from top to bottom. In the top match Spence linked up with big hitting Will Coxon (Carus Green) to take on England international Jamie Van Wyk and Luke Kelly. The visitors raced into a 3 hole lead after only 5 holes before Little & Large won the par 5 6th following a stunning 2nd shot from Spence and a 2 putt winning birdie. However, 2 further losses left the Cumbrian duo 4 down through 11 holes. With fighting spirit evident, Coxon & Spence won 3 of the next 5 holes before finally going down on the 17th green.

Cumbria's experienced second pairing of Craig Morrow (Seascale) & Martin Hand (Eden) had over 100 appearances between them, and they would need to call on all of that experience up against Lancashire's Kenwright & Holmes. Morrow & Hand took the early initiative and were 2 up at the turn. However, the Lancashire pairing fought back with some excellent golf on the back 9, claiming 5 of the next 7 holes to run out victors by 3&2.

With losses in the first 2 foursomes’ games there seemed to be a familiar feel, but the remaining pairs out on the course were playing some superb golf and all were ahead in their games midway through the back 9.

Will Bowe (Workington) & Andrew Wolstencroft (Carlisle) had gone behind to an unlikely birdie 2 on the 8th by Tom Prescott & Tom Watson (not that one) but had fought back with some birdies of their own, winning 3 consecutive holes from the 10th. Bowe & Boom Boom clinched their match by 3&1 after winning both the 16th and 17th holes.

The closest match in the foursomes saw Ian Robinson (Kirkby Lonsdale) & Lee Sturrock (Brampton) head down the 18th hole 1 up in a game where there had never been more than 1 hole in it throughout the game. With the Cumbrians in the fairway and their opponents in the left bunker from the tee it seemed another full point would be heading to the home side. However, Cumbria overshot the front flag and left an incredibly difficult 70 foot putt back up the hill. When Lancashire produced a stunning shot from the bunker to around 12 feet it looked less comfortable. Cumbria's failed to get their putt for birdie inside their opponents’ approach shot and when the par putt slid by Lancashire took their 2 putts for the hole and salvaged a half in the game.

Captain Simon Young had again opted to pick himself for the team, encouraged by his team mates to do so, particularly as the match was being played on Young's home course. He again paired himself with young Brad Quayle, another Seascale member, making his first home appearance for the men's team. To onlookers, the pairing resembled an adult grizzly bear guiding his young cub through the wilderness. But the young cub more than held his own as Brad produced some quality golf that dovetailed beautifully with his Captain. Despite losing the first hole, they eradicated that deficit at the very next hole and were never behind again, racing into a 3 up lead at the turn before closing out the game with an emphatic 5&3 scoreline.

Newly crowned County Strokeplay Champion Jack Hunter (Workington) led out the anchor pairing. With regular partner Kieran Waters on paternity leave Ulverston's Kerry Morrow made up the pairing. Their match with Lancashire veterans Gareth White & John Carroll was nip & tuck throughout the front 9 helped by some wedge wizardry from Morrow but the home pair were behind by a hole at the turn. Jack & Kez found a second gear and played some outstanding golf on the back 9 winning 4 holes out of 5 before closing out the game by 2&1 on the 17th green.

And with that, Cumbria had won a morning foursomes session for the first time in over a year.

Cumbria 3.5 Lancashire 2.5

The big guns of Coxon & Van Wyk headed the singles line up and took part in a great tussle. The golf played in conditions getting harder by the hole was of the highest quality and evidence of why they had top billing. It was England international Van Wyk who just edged it, making birdie on the last when 1up, preventing Coxon who was closer in 2 having a chance to snatch a half.

Craig Morrow took on Luke Kelly in match 2 with the Lancashire player proving too strong for Morrow who was unable to make any inroads, going down by 3&2.

In match 3 Spence was up against arguably the best golfer of the season’s national amateur events in Holmes. Having recently won the Scottish Amateur Championship along with some other very credible performances, Holmes is being tipped to get an England call up soon. Even carrying the injury that was impeding his backswing slightly, Spenner put up a good fight but sadly to no avail as the match went Lancashire's way on the 15th green.

3 singles matches concluded and all had gone the way of the visitors. And now the torrential rain was sweeping in. Things weren't looking great for Cumbria, until those spectating refreshed the scores on their app. There was a lot of Cumbrian red on the leaderboard in the remaining matches.

In match 4 Will Bowe, who can always be relied on when things turn nasty, was taking on old foe Ian Kenwright. Although behind early on in the game, as the weather took a turn for the worse, Bowe came into his own with some shots that seemingly defied the conditions. His putter was also hot as he fought back to take a lead that he never relinquished running out a winner by 2 &1. This was the first singles point secured but amazingly Cumbria were ahead in the remaining 8 games. Word from the clubhouse reached the on-course scorers that it was looking very good for Cumbria. We had been here before in recent games only for victory to be snatched away from us. Hopefully this wasn't the kiss of death.

Points were shared in matches 5 & 6 as Hand & Wolstencroft secured halves. Both games had been topsy turvy and a share of the points was probably a fair reflection.

Although the final 2 games were very tight, Cumbria had seemingly comfortable leads in the other 4 out on the course. If these all went our way we would achieve the required 9.5 total points to win the game. The weather was horrid now so there were no chickens being counted but Cumbria were showing their mettle.

Local boy Bradley Quayle had been all square through 9 holes but then won 5 consecutive holes from the 10th to see out his match 5&3.

Playing in the group ahead, Ian Robinson produced a similar burst, winning the 12th, 15th & 16th to close his match out 4&2.

The match score now stood at 7.5-6.5 in favour of the hosts with 4 matches still out on the course, Cumbria ahead in 3 and all square in the other.

Despite a wayward drive on 15 due to his driver slipping in the wet conditions, Sturrock looked to be in control of his match a couple of holes to the good.

Kerry Morrow produced an eagle 3 on 14 to move 4 up with 4 to play. just short of the par 5 in 2 Morrow holed out with a chip shot that watching supporters felt may have missed the green had the flag not been in the way. Kez would later say he played it perfectly although witnesses would find this hard to believe. When his opponent drove into trouble on 15, the match went our way by 5&3.

County Champ Hunter, playing in the final game, boarded the 15th tee all square in his match but after finding the fairway, produced a lovely wedge shot that resulting in a hole winning birdie to get his nose in front once again.

Up ahead Captain Young was 2 up with 3 to play.

It fell to Sturrock to seal the winning point when he closed out his match against Gareth White on the 16th green. The 3&2 win meant Cumbria had got to the magical 9.5 with 2 matches still out on the course.

For good measure both Young and Hunter held on to secure 2&1 wins and underline an outstanding team performance that produced a score-line that reflected how well the home side had played. The afternoon singles session had been won by 8-4.

Final Score Cumbria 11.5 Lancashire 6.5

Prior to the game Simon had emphasised the point that the ball had to be kept in play to be able to win holes. The Seascale course was in fabulous condition, but wayward shots would be punished by the fearsome rough if they strayed from the fairway. By and large the team followed these instructions to the letter, although there were many searches for balls, these usually belonged to the Lancashire players. The Cumbrian team were incredibly disciplined in their approach and reaped the rewards for this. The team spirit was again there for all to see as players who's matches had finished headed back out onto the course in foul weather to support their teammates in the final stages of their games.

Well played Team Cumbria, Players, Executive Members, and Supporters. You all played your part in a fantastic performance.

Special thanks to Seascale Golf Club and their members. The course was presented in outstanding condition and the hospitality shown to representatives from both counties was absolutely superb.

Our attention now shifts to match week 4 when we take on Northumberland at Furness GC on Saturday 15th August. Saturday's win moves us up to 3rd in the league table, behind Durham & Yorkshire who meet each other next. A win at Furness could push us into a fight for the title going into the final weekend in September. Game on.