ROW Win for Third time in a ROW, but its by the tightest margin in Wyder Cup history.

Its a Big Battle in the singles as Long Marston come back to take the lead but then lose it on the final straight.

This is the blow by blow account of how the matches finished by the clock.

Wednesday Afternoon, ROW win 4 and half one match to take the lead in the Foursomes by

4½ - 2½

LM make great come back in the Fourballs winning 3 and halving 2 matches, and only a long putt from off the 18th green by Dave Winkle stops LM winning the 4th match out which would have made it 7 – 7 but this great half keeps ROW noses in front overnight at

7½ - 6½

So its all set up nicely for the Friday Singles

Pennington wins first point on Friday in Captains match to level it 7½ - 7½

A.Winkle puts ROW back in the lead before K.Scott levels it again at 8½ - 8½

Watson takes LM into the lead for the first time 8½ - 9½

Whiteside then extends lead 8½ -10½

Walsh then pushes it to a 3 point lead for LM at 8½ -11½

Spencer Farrell sees a long putt to half the match lip out on the 18th so Walters wins by a hole and pulls it back to

9½ - 11½

Luker reduces the lead further to 10½ - 11½

M.Winkle’s win draws ROW level 11½ -11½

Waugh get the lead back for LM 11½ - 12½

Glover takes it back again to a 2 point lead for LM

11½ - 13½

LM just can't get that vital final point as Ward comes in with another point for ROW followed by another by A.McGlade which brings it all level again at 13½ - 13½

Then the Final match coming up the 18th sees Sherratt up at Dormie 1 which means a certain ½ and ROW can't lose the cup.

Holing out a tricky 4 - 5ft putt on the final green Sherratt halves the hole to win his match by 1 Hole and win the Wyder Cup outright as the score moves onto the magical 14½ -13½

Long Marston Captain’s Report

By Mike Pennington.

The 2006 Wyder Cup – A memorable battle!

I felt that 2006 could be our year and that we had every chance of preventing a ROW hat-trick of wins after the two previous mediocre performances. Alas, it was not to be, and victory once again eluded the Long Marston team, but this time by the narrowest of margins.

With the LM team being historically weak in the foursomes and fourball better ball competitions, I planned to create a backbone of strong pairings in the hope of remaining in contention until the singles, where I know we would be capable of competing, especially with the new divisional system which hinted at some potentially tight games.

Alas, the first round voodoo struck again, and whilst the my cunning plan secured two points from the two pairs taken from the top division, little else followed until Kev’s magnificent pressure putt on the 18th secured a half for he and Anthony, preventing a near whitewash and keeping the LM teams hopes alive.

The (now traditional) opening Captains match paired Mick Wassell and I with rookie Mark ‘Harry the Fish’ Johnson and Mick Jeffries respectively. Mick and I got off to a good start with big Mick playing some very controlled golf and proving that maximum length is not the only way to ensure success – how often have we all had that quote levelled at us? Mick and Harry battled well and were a pleasure to play with but were always fighting to get back into the match and at three up on the twelfth, Mick’s second on the twelfth I think broke their hearts (not to mention the laws of gravity) and all but sealed our win with victory coming on the par three 14th after some entertaining approach play from both teams.

Unfortunately, Bobby and Jamie were the only other pair to return a full point for LM from their match against Alan McGlade and rookie Charlie Longbottom, who drove down to Newquay to represent the ROW and drove back after the match so that the team numbers remained consistent. Hopefully Charlie will be able to make all three rounds next year.

So with a 2 point deficit after day one and our ‘big guns’ in reasonable form, a decision was taken to abandon the defensive approach and risk a little more during the 4BBB in the hope of clawing back some ground. The result was a superb 4-3 win with impressive performances from the whole team.

Spence and Anthony were unlucky to come up against Mark and Darren who had one of those inspired rounds and were simply out of reach on the day, deserving their handsome win. On the positive side, Rob and Mark and John and Pete enjoyed solid wins, whilst Kev was a superb partner in my game against Stuart and Andy and set up our win after the ROW pair had threatened to come back from trailing early on.

Although ultimately defeated, Bobby and Mick Cooper put up a valiant struggle against a very solid pairing of the ROW skipper and the Doc, eventually going down on the 17th. I am sure Mick won’t mind me saying that Bobby almost took the honours but the opposition were just a little too strong. Big Mick J and Beeze secured a great half against Steve Luca and Alan McGlade and were slightly deflated not to have won – nevertheless, a valuable half.

The last game to mention was a corker – Jamie and Mike Whiteside paired against the irrepressible Ant and Dec of the ROW team, Scotty and Dave Winks. After Dave’s foray into a Lamb Jalfrezi the previous night, the wind was a little stronger on the Thursday but the pairs were never very far apart. With several positive LM results already in, the match came down the 18th, with Jamie and Whitey one up, needing just a half to secure a point to level the overall scores. Dave’s 3rd shot crept past the pin and off the edge of the green and with Jamie close, I thought we were about to complete a magnificent comeback and level the overall score. Dave and Scotty never surrender easily however and having as ever stalked the putt together, Dave sank a magnificent twenty footer from off the green to secure a deserved half. To me, that represented the magic of the event and was probably a defining moment in the competition.

Thus to the singles, with the deficit cut to a single point. I thought that with the right draws and our confidence high we were still capable of reversing the trend of the trailing team never managing to complete a comeback.

As the ROW vice captains headline report shows, it was probably the tightest and most competitive final round over the six years of the event and certainly one of the most dramatic for all those watching games come in.

In terms of pure timeline, Long Marston at one point actually took a handsome three point lead, but were constantly being pegged back. My own singles draw once more saw the captains drawn together, with Mick taking the first two holes with steady and accurate play. After a brief comeback by myself to level the scores, Mick stepped in with a beautiful par to retake the lead and nearly doubled it on the sixth with a near miss. After that, Mick couldn’t quiet make it happen and narrowly went down over the course of the following holes with me eventually breathing a sigh of relief to take the match on the 13th , posting first blood for the team.

In the same game, Rob Walsh and Dave Silvester fought a great battle, with Rob playing some inspired golf to open an early lead which was never relinquished. Dave reeled Rob back in, only for Rob to dig deep and move three up after 10. On the eleventh tee, whilst I was crouching in the rough with Mick’s ball, Rob teed off only to put his ball next to Mick’s. It transpired that some educated passer by in rubber and carrying a piece of polystyrene en route to the beach had shouted ‘fore’ as Rob drove off – Dave then caught one out of the middle leaving a short pitch to the green and immediately gave Rob the chance to replay his drive. At three down and almost assured of the hole, I would like to thank Dave for showing the kind of spirit for which the Wyder Cup is becoming known – it was with huge relief to the four of us that Dave sank a superb six foot downhill putt to secure the half and live to fight on. Dave did reduce the deficit at the next, but Rob eventually took a deserved point with a win on the 16th. It was a great game to watch and I am sure the two would like to face each other again.

From there on in, it was a rollercoaster of a ride with Andy Winkle overcoming Beeze who never quite recaptured his previous days form and Kev (playing for an agreed half) destroyed Jason, who plays off half of Kev’s handicap and demonstrating that anything is possible on the day.

Pete Watson struck form to record a comprehensive victory over Harry the Fish (your day will come Harry) and Whitey secured a great win a against Alan Hone before the aforementioned win from Rob put us three points to the good and a mere three points from the win.

The run in then made the event at the K Club look tame – Big Mick took Stevie Luker almost to the wire, whilst Spence lipped out on the eighteenth, meaning Scotty took a single hole win. The ever smooth Marty Winkle played some solid golf to take a point from his match with John Matthews before our rookie Jamie Waugh completed an impressive LM debut with a victory over Stuart on the 16th. It must have been impressive because it took me 18 holes to squeek past Stuart last year – well done Jim!

Mark Glover continued his impressive second day form to beat former hero Dave Winkle four and three to put us just one point from the win.

As the captains stood by the 18th, the game was on a knife edge but the balance tipped back towards the ROW as Alan narrowly saw off Mick Cooper in a very tight battle, Malc overcame Anthony and Bobby Blair eventually went down in a titanic battle against the unbeaten Mark Sherratt. Well played both of you for capping a superb battle.

In summary, it was the perfect team event - in the balance right until the end and played in the greatest of spirit. I am proud of the LM team and their combined efforts after a disappointing first day and equally proud of the ROW team and the manner in which they secured their victory.

Many thanks to Dave and Mick for their superb organisation and excellent choice of venue.

Good luck to Bobby and Stuart in their roles of respective Captains for 2007. I am convinced that the ethos of the event is alive and kicking and we can look forward to more of the same next year.

Finally our thoughts and best wishes are with Arthur.

Thanks to all ….. Mike.

A Rookie’s impression of his first Wyder Cup

By Darren Marshall R.O.W

What can I say, I have worked and played golf with Dave Silvester for a number of years and having heard countless stories of the 'Wyder Cup' as his enthusiasm for the event is uncapped. So when the chance came for me to actually play how could I refuse.

To keep my nerves at bay on the 1st day 'El Capitan' - Mr Wassell paired me up with Mark Sherratt with whom I have enjoyed many a casual round. After a shaky start having hoiked Mark's ball into the graveyard we soon settled down & enjoyed a solid round of golf with Spence & Rob.

Owing to our success on the 1st day, Mick paired us up again and much to Spence's dismay he was drawn again to play us

(I hope because of our golf and not because he just didn't like us...lol). I thoroughly enjoyed the 2 days I spent down in Newquay and the only regrets that I have from the trip were that I didn't get to know most of the guys as well as I could have and that I couldn't make the last day which culminated into quite a tight and no doubt memorable event. Hopefully the offer to play in the future will be there and I can enjoy the full Wyder Cup experience!

Player of the Tournament - Kevin Scott for The Long Marston Team with 2½ points from 3 and beating his ROW singles oponent with a 10 stroke handicap difference playing off scratch to win by 7 & 5