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Long Marston's Captain's Report

I wish to pay tribute to my opposite number Dave Winkle, a good guy and great competitor, who epitomised the fighting spirit of the Rest of the World team.

He would not roll-over and in our match with John Mathews against Dave and 'Doc' we quickly went two up.. Thereafter it was 'nip and tuck' for several holes before they eventually pulled it back to level and even crept one up, until we managed to bring it all square on the 16th where I holed a 60 foot putt.
John then hit a beauty to the pin on 17 taking the match to 18th, where Doc had a great chip and putt from the back of the green for a par, that might well have squared the match. Well played boys a great tussle!

It was a bonus for both teams to have a squad of 14 for the event, which takes the pressure off the captains and I was especially delighted for Mick Cooper, who playing in his first event, drove excellently on the first morning..

Everyone in the Long Marston team played their hearts out and Terry Edmunds superb effort against Mick Jeffries has been mentioned already. It was even more remarkable when you take into context that he had lost by 18 holes in the warm-up game the day before. !

Brian Francis and Bob Beasley were both carrying serious injuries and their noble efforts, in pole position, set the theme for the last day. Brian, who had not played for several weeks, shot an 83 against Stevie Luker, which would have been good enough for anyone else, taking the match right to the wire. Bob again, without much practice and in great pain, came from 2 down to defeat Dave, a most crucial victory.

I apologise for the Hotel where the standards were not good enough and accept full responsibility, however Churston Golf club were magnificent and made everyone feel most welcome.

A final thank-you to my vice-captain Chris Holmes, whose canny pairings for the first day, gave Long Marston the initiative we never lost and good luck to him for next year.

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R.O.W. Captain's Report

We all arrived at various different times during the evening of England's game vs Macedonia and all the various handshakes and kisses ( me mostly ) and wishes of good luck were exhanged by everyone from both sides and I thought to myself this is what I'd been looking forward to for the last twelve months; the comradeship of a good honest sporting contest. England's victory over Macedonia rounded off the night and I went to bed a happy man.

Up the next day and the worry of the draw hit me. I had spent the previous six months arranging and rearranging my side every morning in the shower only to have all of my plans ruined at the last minute by the unfortunate exit of Richard Green with a bad leg. I knew this had put my side up against it as it meant I had two weak links in Alan MGlade and Mick Cooper ( no disrespect to either ) against a side that was strengthened from the previous year by the additions of Mike Whiteside and Malc Bluck. I had predecided all my pairings and typed them out on little sheets. Unfortunately I had a gut feeling in the morning that Mike Whiteside would go first and I wanted to take him on myself so I changed the order in which I set the pairings out. This proved to be the biggest mistake in Wyder Cup history. I had originally wanted to lead off with my strongest partnership and last years Captain and vice captain Dave Silvester and Mick Wassell followed by Andy Winkle and myself and then Alan McGlade and Mick Cooper. If I had kept to my original plan I am certain we would not have been 3 - 0 down after the first three. The difference would have been in the third group. Arguably Long Marston's best two players are Mike Pennington and Spencer Farrell and they were paired together in the third group. If I had not changed my order they would have played my weakest pairing instead of beating my strongest. I did not change from my preprinted sheets after that.

In those morning matches we had a bit of bad luck. Andy and I were unlucky to go down on the last hole. We had played well enough to keep the opposition in check and I thought we had the momentum going with us down the last. I have to take my hat off to Terry Edmonds who under pressure played his best drive of the day. We ended up with a fifteen foot putt for a half which Andy missed by only an inch to the left and we went down by one hole. ( Not for the last time for me). I was disappointed with only a half from Scott Walters and Malc Ward in the last group because they were two up with two to play and I was sure they would win from there. Again hats off to Chris Holmes and Bob Beasley for not giving up and earning there side a valuable half. The luck evened itself up in the last pairing as I'm sure Alan Hone and Steve Luker would agree that they were lucky to beat Brian Francis and Phil Garrod by one hole in a match that was full of more mishaps than any before in Wyder Cup ( now concentrate boys ).

So we came in 4 1/2 - 1 1/2 down and things looked a little glum and I was worried at that stage that my nightmares may come true and we could have effectively lost after the first day. Obviously I did not want to worry my team with my fears and wanted to gee them up so I asked Mike if he would do the draw early in the hope that we got a good one ( which we did ) and my team could see a way back. It worked.

As soon as I saw the draw I told my side we should win 5 - 1 in the afternoon and I believed it. The only result I doubted was Scott Walters and Alan Hone against Anthony Hodges and Malc Bluck but Scott came through in some style for our side to take the last hole to win by one. It proved to be Scott's last day in the sun. My dissapointment in the afternoon was Martin Winkle & myself against Mike Whiteside and John Matthews. The two performances that decided the result were Martin's and John's with Mike and myself playing pretty much to my expectations. Martin and I had considered John the weak link in the side and thought the match would effectively be us against Mike Whiteside which we expected to win. John proved us thoroughly wrong with excellent dovetailing on every single hole he was required. We were given nothing when we were expecting 3 or 4 holes gifted to us. Secondly I'm sure Mart won't mind me saying but if he played the first 14 holes anything like he played the last four ( or all 18 next day ) we could have wrapped up the game with holes to spare. But I wouldn't like to take anything away from the opposition and would like to thank them both for being part of the best, most exciting and sporting game I have ever been involved in. It was terrific.

So first day over and we're still in it. Only 6 1/2 - 5 1/2 down and we only needed the draw. Everyone was upbeat and although my feet were killing me I was looking forward to a good drink with both sides that night. It was not to be...

We did not see much of anyone from the Long Marston side early on that night except for Mike Pennington who was great company as ever. My team though wanted to have a chat with me. They complained that I was keeping them in the dark about team selection and informed me that the opposition had been playing an ineligible player in Phil Garrod ( who had not been to Mallorca as we'd been informed ). We also knew that there was a doubt over whether captains would play each other and whether the two best players Mike Pennington and Steve Luker would play each other in line with tradition. I did not want to create any animosity with the opposition so did not want to raise the Phil Garrod issue with them but my team requested that I insist we remain with tradition and I said I would.

I made the mistake of buying a take out of two bottles of red wine and having a soiree at about 2 in the morning on the patio of the hotel. Mike came back and I offered him a glass of wine ( mistake ) and broached the subject of tomorrows team selection ( big mistake ). It was clear Mike's team had also requested that he insisted on breaking with tradition and we had therefore come to an impass. So I mentioned the ineligibility of Phil Garrod and told him I was prepared to claim the cup on the grounds of Long Marston cheating ( a hollow threat ) but Mike said fine ( it was clear he had been told not to budge ). So I offered the compromise of not playing Phil Garrod tomorrow and breaking with tradition. When Mike refused this as well I lost the plot with him and would not listen to anything he had to say. This ended up with him throwing red wine all over me which in turn ended up with me throwing him arse over tit into a bush. I apologise for my part in this action but feel I was unduly provoked. Anyway, we then agreed on the compromise and went to bed.

Final Day - All to play for - The draw crucial. I decided that I was not going to break with tradition ( or my little typed sheets ) and played myself first and Steve Luker second and the rest of my team in the order I had hoped would be lucky for us. Draw complete I was not disappointed. It could have been better but could certainly have been a lot worse. It was now up to us. - So what happened ?????????????????

Well me first. No excuses but I was drunk for the first five or six holes when Bob gave me the only chances he was going to give me. I came off the sixth all square but knowing the water I'd been drinking ( two and half bottles ) had done it's trick and I was sober. I quickly moved to two up by nine and then a bit of bad luck and some of the most consistent golf I've ever seen set in. I think Bob Beasley bogeyed every single hole on the back nine ( may have even parred a couple ) and in the end this proved to be too good for me. It was all square by the eleventh and then a three of the tee six on the twelfth and a lost ball six on the thirteenth went down to two bogey fives from Bob and I found myself two down with five to play. This moved on to Bob being dormer three. Bob finished with bogey bogey bogey. I finished with par par bogey to go down by one hole ( I hope for the last time ). I would like to thank Bob for another close game and his sportsmanship and apologise to him for the lack of mine during my tantrums. Anyway I think I set the seed for the days poor results.

When I saw the draw I was hoping for results from myself, Alan McGlade, Scott Walters, Andy Winkle, and Mike Jeffries in addition to the ones we got ( You can always rely on Steve Luker and Mick Wassell ). I was disappointed with Scott to go down by such a big margin when reportedly he had beaten Malc Bluck AND Anthony Hodges single handedly the day before when Alan Hone was not playing well. I was also very disappointed with Mike Jeffries half with Terry Edmonds when he was 7 shots up on him. I wish to take nothing away from Terry who almost snatched Player of the Tournament for that result but if you are 7 shots up there is a way to play to make sure you grind out the victory and I suspect Mike did not play that way. As it happens it did not matter but if it did then Mike would not be very popular amongst our side.

On a high note I was not expecting points from Malc Ward and Alan Hone and would like to congratulate them in their fine performances to beat Chris Holmes and Mike Whiteside respectively. I would also like to thank Alan for standing in as cover and performing excellently to score all three points along with Steve Luker for our side and promise to call him by his new nickname of "triangle".

I would also like to mention the match between Martin Winkle and Mike Pennington. This match for me was the epitome of Wyder Cup and shows what it should all be about. Mart played the best golf he has ever played in his life against an opponent on average probably 20 shots a round better than him. Martin did not give up. I am more competitive probably than any other member of my side but as Mart's captain and brother I would like to say how proud of him I am for competing - I'm not sure I could. Taking Mike to the last hole is a huge achievement for any of our players and a brilliant performance by Mart - probably the best of the tournament for my side which is why I would also like to thank Mike Pennington for his generosity and sportsmanship in offering Mart an honourable half. Thank's Mike - your attitude is an example to all of us on both sides.

It only remains for me to say good luck to our new captain Dave Silvester. I'm happy to hand over the reigns to what I consider is the best man for the job. I'll be right behind you Dave.

David Winkle
Wyder Cup ROW Captain 2003