Avalon Match Report Wells v Vivary Park (away)

Wells Avalon Team recent run of from came to an end at Vivary Park on Sat 11 Jun. 

For a majority of the team this was the first visit to the compact layout that is Vivary. Added to the challenges Da Management had securing players for the match, the fresh team layout warmed up on fairly quick putting green

Group 1 made up of solely of Rory Passmore. Rory being first out hoped to win to inspire the Wells team to another away victory on the short tight (ok very tight) layout. Sadly the dream didn’t materialise despite being very quick out of the blocks. Rory raced to a 3 hole lead after 3 only for the Vivary paring to find their groove overturning Rory’s early lead. Bu the 11th Rory was 2 down but far from out of it. Rory countering with win on 12  and 14 recovered to all square. Two long birdie putts on 15 and 17 saw the dream finally fade as Rory lost 2&1. Rory playing on his own mounted an admiral battle and worthy of note at the seasons review in the Autumn. 

Group 2 saw a new pairing of Freddie Lovell and Darren Barnett. Freddie firing first sent his 4 iron on the first testing hole finished so close the birdie and 1 up lead was inevitable. The visitors ball striking maintained the high quality leading to a 3 hole lead by the 8th. The opposition were not pleased least said the better. Nevertheless the course at Vivary began to bite back and a few missed putts the hosts back into the game. The thinned chip on the 14th that found the pin and subsequently the cup recovered the hosts to all square. The long putt again finding the pin/cup combination saw the visitors down for the first time. A Vivary drive to 2ft on the 17th saw the host close out for a 2&1 win. 

Group 3 was another new player Mike McGrath and Glen Crocker, despite the attempts of the elder members of the squad taking on the young players of Vivary. The home team made up of a Cat 1 player and his partner taking every tiger line he could, sadly Mike and Glen came third, not sure who came second though? Not an enjoyable day for the elder statements men, bring on Weston.

Group 4 was Chris Gladwell with the final new player Lloyd Katz, both players trying for form a new pairing played a steady game with predominately no more 1 hole in it starting with Lloyd’s huge putt on the 7th for birdie nett eagle. Chris sank a noteworthy putt for birdie on the 12th only for the opposition to chip in for nett birdie cancelling Chris’s good work out. The home team crept ahead by 2 holes through 14, after the Wells team began their recovery. Chris missed the 18th green, subsequently holing a lovely long putt to salvage not only a par but a drawn match. Well done Chris and Lloyd, a hard days effort earning Wells 1 ½ pts, the only takeaway from the visit.

Group 5 Duncan Bratt combined forces with Ben Barnett. This should have been a high quality ball striking partnership and started strongly with Ben finding the green with his drive on 1st. The opposition being both left and right of the fairway recovered well and used their local knowledge of the slow greens to half the first hole. This seemed to set the trend for the match, despite the shot quality neither Ben or Duncan could really get a foothold in the game and were 4 down after 7 holes. Another stinking long putt on the 8th held out the Wells pairing. The long 11th hole par 5 seemed to the first opportunity for either player to use their power and the tap in birdie resulted. The home team again saved par on the 12th to counter the Wells play. Finally having to try anything on the 14th the Wells team sadly succumbed to a 5&4 loss.    

Vivary is a tough course to visit for the first time and try to extract any points from the home team, so the 1 ½ pts gained were useful for the season long efforts and still keep Wells in 2nd place in the league. Maybe Long Sutton still hurting from their loss to Wells can hold out against Vivary thus assisting Wells to maintain 2nd in the league. The visit to W-S-M beckons as the summer heat wave arrives, bring on links golf.  

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