Midland Golf Union Limited 2024 Junior League Match Report

Warwickshire U16’s v Worcestershire U16’s

11^th August 2024 - Stratford Oaks Golf Club

The Worcestershire team made the trip to Stratford Oaks Golf Club for their final MGU League game of the season on what turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year. 

The morning foursomes were led off by the team captain, Oliver Badger, and Hayden Sarfo against a strong Warwickshire pairing.  The golf in this game was excellent but unfortunately the Warwickshire boys were always in control and ran out 5&3 winners.  The second pairing was a previously untried partnership of Harry Evans and Harry Fall, again the golf was of a very high quality. The Worcestershire pair dominated the match with Harry Evans taking advantage of an excellent tee shot to the 14^th, by sinking a 15 ft birdie putt, to wrap up the match 5&4 on the 14^th hole.

Another untried pairing, at this level, of Alex Perry and Jake Jeff-Johnston went out third to play out a match that ebbed and flowed throughout with the Worcestershire pair securing a battling half on the 18^th green after Alex’s excellent approach shot left Jake with a 3 foot putt to win the hole.  Unfortunately, the 4^th pairing of Euan Choi and Max Wesley were unable to come back from a difficult start losing 4&2, leaving the team 2.5 to 1.5 down after the morning foursomes session.

Oliver Badger led out the singles match and despite an excellent effort was unable to secure anything from a very good opponent.  Alex Perry’s match once again could have gone either way with another match that saw both players having the lead at various points throughout the afternoon with the match going down the 18^th Alex used all his experience to secure a crucial point.

Harry Fall went out 4^th and despite being 3 down early in his match battled back to secure a very well-deserved half on the 18^th.  Jake Jeff-Johnston was never down in his match securing a 3&2 win. Max Wesley came back from being down at the turn to win his match 3&1. This left the Worcestershire team needing a point from the final game to secure, which for most of the afternoon, seemed an unlikely draw.

Euan, with a one-hole lead, halved the 17^th to provide a tense finale. His excellent drive split the 18th fairway and applied pressure to his opponent; his drive found the right hand rough which forced a chip out onto the fairway handing Worcestershire the advantage. From this point Euan used all his experience to navigate the tricky hole and secure a 2Up victory and halve the overall match.  

The afternoon singles showed the character of this team with fightbacks from many of the players – at one point in the afternoon we were down in all but one match and facing a heavy defeat. The excellent displays of resilience and spirit give us a huge positive to take forward to County 6’s and next season.

Thanks go to everyone at Stratford Oaks for their hospitality and we wish Warwickshire well for the remainder of their season.  I would also like to thank all the players who have represented the U16’s in the MGU League this year; their attitude has been fantastic, and I have received many compliments on how polite and considerate they have been. Thanks also go to all the parents for their support.  Finally, I would like to place on record my gratitude to Kevin Fee and Luke Perry not only for their support at this match but for the entire season to date.

Mark Evans

U16’s Manager

Back to previous results