It was a big day for Matchplay yesterday and, while we all tried to maintain separation, there was not a great deal separating the members who fought it out in their first (and one second) round matches. There was a little confusion on how to use the score card but basically, you write the respective stroke scores in the first two columns and the result (win [+], square or loss [-]) in the third and then the progress total in the fourth. Notionally, Player 1 is the person on the top row of the fixture as he is the person responsible for arranging the match and recording and reporting the score. We would prefer not to use two cards per match so the person managing the card should make his opponent aware of the index on each hole, particularly where strokes are given or received. Enough of that!
Dale seemed a little perplexed that he had to concede Trev twenty-two strokes in their match. As it turned out, that was exactly the right number because right throughout the scoreline hovered around the even mark and eventually finished all square after the 18th. The match then went to a chip-off that Dale managed to win and take the match.
Chrispy and Craig, on the other hand, were separated by only the single stroke. This match never diverged more than one hole either side of square until it went dormie one in Chrispy’s favour at the 17th. A pair of pars on the 18th handed the match to Chris. There was a slightly larger margin in handicap separating MattH and Daniel and once again the honours were reasonably evenly divided, particularly on the front nine. Matt’s grip loosened a bit in the early stages of the back nine and Daniel opened up a small lead before Matt started to make a come-back. It was just a bit too little and a bit too late when the match fell to Daniel 2 and 1 at the 17th.
Pepsi also had to give a few strokes to Gordo and Gordo had slightly the better of the front nine as Pepsi searched around for his ‘lost’ touch. He must have found it on the track between the 9th green and the 10th tee given the contrast in the stroke scores carded for the two halves. However, despite the two under par back nine, the best that Pepsi could do was to bring the match to all square after the 18th and so they repaired to the green for a chip-off. Pepsi succeeded in the first round.
Dave was on record as saying that his match against Peter would be all over by 10 (o’clock that is). Now, if he had meant, by the 10th hole, he might have been forgiven for thinking that he was getting close. But Peter is not one for lying down and he fought back to bring the match to square by the 15th. However, easy wins on the next two holes gave the result to Dave 2 and 1. In the final match, JQ and Targe slugged it out (almost). The match was very evenly balanced right through the front nine and was all square at the turn. Targe reckoned his new glasses were making the ball look egg-shaped which seemed to make some of his shots go a bit astray or maybe the ball really was egg-shaped and there was nothing wrong with his glasses. In the event, John got the upper hand and looked set to romp it in. A couple of ‘duffed’ chips by John on the 16th and a ‘miracle’ putt by Targe on the 17th brought them to the 18th to decide the match. A half gave the match to John, one up, and avoided yet another chip-off.
There are three matches left to play in Round 1 and two weeks left to complete them. Get your skates on guys! In the meantime, Round 2 matches can be played next week if both players agree but after that (04 April et seq.) the present/play rule will be in force for Round 2.