Under clear blue skies, not unlike those at Hazletine National, 20 combatants representing LMEGA and the Bank of England, fuelled by the highs and lows of an exciting Ryder Cup, played out a very close contest at a beautifully prepared West Byfleet Golf Club.
Given the available hours of daylight, a series of morning fourballs was played over West Byfleet's closing 11 holes. Rob Draisey and Vice Captain Yang prevailed in their match, as did Martin Abbott and David Ratcliffe in the anchor game, whilst Dominic Boyle and Captain Ashok Singhania fought bravely to secure a halved match on the 18th. At lunch, the match stood at all square with everything to play for in the afternoon.
After ample sustenance courtesy of West Byfleet’s catering team, the afternoon was set for a series of 10 singles games. As the results began to come in, there was great anticipation of a famous victory: Jan Rommer halved his game in the battle of the single figure beasts whilst Dominic Boyle and Dave Farrar comfortably saw off their opponents. Rather like Sunday at Hazletine, the scoreboard was turning blue at the top. But then, the hammer blow from the Bank's middle order where games 5, 6 and 7 all finished in their favour by the slimmest of margins on the 18th. Despite David Ratcliffe and Martin Abbott again excelling in the two last anchor matches, the damage was done and the Bank squeaked home victors by 8 points to 7.
With almost all the LMEGA side contributing at least a half point, it truly was a team effort from which all should take great pride. As the sun began to set, all that was left was for the players to take refreshment on the terrace, determine how they would have done things differently if sitting in Darren Clarke’s shoes and cheer the Bank’s success as Captain Singhania handed the trophy to the Bank’s Peter Ross. By popular demand, the next match will be played at the same location a year from now.
David Hardy III
Non-playing Match manager
Given the available hours of daylight, a series of morning fourballs was played over West Byfleet's closing 11 holes. Rob Draisey and Vice Captain Yang prevailed in their match, as did Martin Abbott and David Ratcliffe in the anchor game, whilst Dominic Boyle and Captain Ashok Singhania fought bravely to secure a halved match on the 18th. At lunch, the match stood at all square with everything to play for in the afternoon.
After ample sustenance courtesy of West Byfleet’s catering team, the afternoon was set for a series of 10 singles games. As the results began to come in, there was great anticipation of a famous victory: Jan Rommer halved his game in the battle of the single figure beasts whilst Dominic Boyle and Dave Farrar comfortably saw off their opponents. Rather like Sunday at Hazletine, the scoreboard was turning blue at the top. But then, the hammer blow from the Bank's middle order where games 5, 6 and 7 all finished in their favour by the slimmest of margins on the 18th. Despite David Ratcliffe and Martin Abbott again excelling in the two last anchor matches, the damage was done and the Bank squeaked home victors by 8 points to 7.
With almost all the LMEGA side contributing at least a half point, it truly was a team effort from which all should take great pride. As the sun began to set, all that was left was for the players to take refreshment on the terrace, determine how they would have done things differently if sitting in Darren Clarke’s shoes and cheer the Bank’s success as Captain Singhania handed the trophy to the Bank’s Peter Ross. By popular demand, the next match will be played at the same location a year from now.
David Hardy III
Non-playing Match manager
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