Hornsea have now confirmed their status as the East Riding’s top scratch team by winning both ERUGC Scratch League Finals at Ganton Golf Club on Tuesday 27th August 2019.

Drawn against Scarborough North Cliff in the main final, Hornsea’s team of three plus handicap players certainly on paper seemed to have the edge.

In the top match Jack Maxey (+2), this season’s Yorkshire Under-18 Captain, was up against his County colleague Tom Duck playing off one.

Duck has dual membership at North Cliff and Ganton and his knowledge of the nuances of the championship course proved to be pivotal as he got the better of his County Captain by 4 and 2.

That was close as North Cliff got to springing a surprise as Hornsea’s strength in depth saw them home.

In the second match this season’s Union Open Champion Nick Raybould prevailed over Andy Allcock (3), with the plus one man having to pull out all the stops before edging home on the 17th green by 3 and 1.

In the decider experienced County player Luke Robinson (+1) was up against 14-year-old Tommy Risker (4).

Risker has proved one of the success stories in this season’s Union Under 18 team and is one to watch for the future but at Ganton this week he was just outgunned by the hugely experienced Robinson, who won by 5 & 3 ensuring Hornsea added more silverware to their trophy cabinet.

Despite the defeat Risker will long savour his day at Ganton as on the par-three 158-yard fifth hole his crisply struck 8 iron shot flew straight and true into the cup for his first golfing career hole in one.

In the Plate Final Hornsea B faced Beverley A with the Westwood club having England Senior International Richard Norton (+2) playing at one in the order.

Up against Norton was Tom Broadley (2), who has this season proved his worth in East Riding’s Union team.

The disparity of four in the handicaps was never evident as in a ding dong match the pair shook hands on the 18th green with the match level.

In match 2 it was Beverley’s Ian Goldie (3) who just got the better of Andy Fox (4) winning on the last hole.

Match No 3 pitched Sam Middleton (5) against Beverley’s Theo Blake (4) and it was Middleton’s day as he proved too strong, the Westwood teenager winning by 6 and 5.

With the match tied a sudden death decider was required with Richard Norton and Tom Broadley heading down the first hole in fading light and a storm brewing in the distance, it was the Hornsea man who held his nerve, his birdie three enabling the seasiders to round off a memorable Scratch League season.

Alan took an early lead at the 1st hole with a par 4 when Nick failed to get down in two from the edge of the green. After halving the 2nd Nick levelled the match on the 3rd with a 4 after Alan had driven into one of Ganton’s huge bunkers.  Alan was in more trouble down the 4th and Nick capitalised on this and went one up with a par 4. Both players achieved par three’s at the 5th.On the 6th Nick hit a prodigious, drive well over 300 yards, leaving him only a wedge into this par 5 hole although he pulled his 2nd shot into a green-side bunker he hit a magnificent bunker shot to within 2 foot and record a birdie to take him to 2 up.

Down the 8th Alan got his driving back on track whilst Nick’s drive ended up in deep rough, although Nick hit a great recovery shot, he ended up in a greenside bunker and went on to lose this hole. The 9th saw both players hit long and straight drives, Nick hit a great 5 iron to within 20 foot of the pin but Alan’s response was a magnificent 7 iron to within 2 feet which was conceded for his eagle to return the match to all square after 9 holes.

The par three 169 yard 10th saw Alan’s 9 iron finish 5 foot from the hole but when he failed to hole-out for his birdie the hole was halved.

Alan’s poor drive on the 11th was lost in the deep gorse giving Nick a one-hole advantage. Alan’s woes continued at the 13th when he drove into another of Ganton’s deep fairway bunkers consequently giving Nick a two-hole advantage.

The 15th saw both players hit 300 yard fairway splitting drives but Nick took the advantage hitting a wedge to within 15 foot to record his par whilst Alan 3 putted to go 3 holes behind. On the 16th both players were in the same green-side bunker for two shots, Alan made a great bunker shot and holed his putt for par he reduced the deficit to two holes. So it remained until Nick holed out for birdie at the 18th to give him a 3 shot lead after the first 18 holes.

When Nick birdied the 1st hole of the second round it looked as if the game was all but over but the 2nd hole saw Alan fight back begin when he won the 2nd with a par 4. The 4th hole also went Alan’s way when Nick’s putter badly let him down with him three putting from no more than 6 foot. Nick’s putting touch returned on the 5th when he hold from 10 foot for birdie taking him back to 3 up.

Alan’s fighting spirit then saw him get the game back to all-square over the next three holes when he returned: an eagle, par and birdie over the next three holes. The 9th & 10th saw each of the players securing wins with pars. On the 11th Alan had an enormous piece of luck when his drive hit a rake which prevented the ball going into a deep fairway bunker, taking advantage of this and secured a half in par. On the 12th hole Alan’s luck ran out when he found deep rough with his drive gifting the hole to Nick. The 13th was halved in par then both players struggled at the short 14th hole with Alan’s scrappy bogey 5 winning the hole to make the match all-square again. The 15th saw Alan have more bunker trouble and he had to concede the hole to put Nick back in the driving seat.

After a wayward drive by Alan at the long par 4 - 16th hole the game looked to be heading back to Nick’s favour but a magnificent ‘Ballesteros’ type shot from the trees enabled Alan to secure a par 4 and win the hole when Nick missed a short putt. Back to all-square.

The drama continued. Nick birdied the par four 17th to go 1 up again and when Alan bunkered his second shot on the 18th the game looked to be all over but not to be. Nick had hit the green in two, albeit some 40 foot away, Alan then proceeded to hit his bunker shot to within 10 foot of the pin and then managed to hole out for his par.  When Nick missed an 8 footer to win the game it was all square after 36 holes and so the game went to sudden death.

The 37th hole saw Alan take driver from the tee but his slightly pushed tee shot saw him impeded by one of Ganton’s many gorse bushes. In the meantime Nick had played iron for safety which certainly paid off when he managed to secured his par to win the hole, the match and title East Riding Union of Golf Club’s Match-play Champion for 2019.

At the after match-dinner the President, Mr. Chris Clarkson presented Nick Raybould the Trophy.

The day started off bright with a slight breeze, however during the afternoon it changed with light rain, but playing conditions were still reasonably good. Those spectators were in for a treat with some spectacular golf being played by all the players from the white tees. At half-way it was obvious that it was very close between Hull and Scarborough NC so it was all going to be down to the tough back nine of Ganton!

What a climax we had in store with the players gathering along with the spectators at 18 green to watch the final group of Will Storr (Hull), Jack Northgraves (Scarborough NC) and Cooper Becks (Cottingham Parks) coming down the 18th. Will’s drive was central fairway with a good shot to the green, however he left it short. Jack was tight left blocked out slightly by the trees so had to draw his second round the trees which he did again about 30 yards short of the green. Both chipped onto the green within putting range, Jack sadly missed for a 5 and Will holed his putt to tie the scores. This culminating in the final scores as follows:

The best gross went to Tom Benson with 40 points, this was a terrific score around a very tough course at any time.

The winning team was decided on the team back nine with Hull GC coming out the winners with 51 points to Scarborough NC 45 points.

Congratulations to Hull Golf Club on retaining the Rob McLeish Trophy for the second year, but also congratulations must go to all players on making the final a memorable one with some brilliant golf shots being witnessed.

The foursomes were closely contested with East Riding holding a small advantage through the 12th, being up in three and down in two but Sheffield had the stronger finish, forcing a half in the top match against Jack Maxey & Steve Lynch and winning the bottom three games. For East Riding, Leigh Gawley & Tom Broadley managed to hold on for a 1 hole win and Nick Raybould, partnering debutant 15 year old Jake Sowden, won by 2&1. This match had a significant turning point at the 12th, when, with Sheffield close in for a birdie opportunity, Sowden holed out from the greenside bunker and won the hole to be 2 up when it looked like the match would go all square.

Foursomes score: East Riding 5, Sheffield 7

In the afternoon singles, Maxey, who was playing his third 36 hole competition in four days, was not at his best in the top match and lost on the 16th.  Also, Gawley and Broadley, at matches 3 and 5, could not match their opponents' games and lost by some margin but Raybould at match 2 turned his game around to win on the last.

This left Sheffield needing three more wins for victory and they were ahead in three and all square in two of the remaining eight games, so there was still a chance for East Riding to pull off a stunning recovery. Sadly, that prospect quickly faded as Lynch, playing at number 4 and leading all the way, lost the 17th and then the 18th to go down by 1 hole.

Rich Webster and Andy Woodhead duly won their games by 3&2, the latter gaining revenge for his morning foursomes defeat, by beating his good friend and former East Riding player, Mark Woodall. Defeats for Sowden and Steve Pybus saw Sheffield over the line before Tom Duck and Dan Swales came home with full points, leaving Phil Scott to complete the match, sadly losing on the 16th.

Singles score: East Riding 10, Sheffield 14

Overall score: East Riding 15, Sheffield 21

The Order of Merit was won by Nick Raybould, who receives the Player of the Year award.

At the top of the order Jack Maxey and Tom Duck whilst not playing their very best golf battle their way round the course to record scores of 77 and 79 respectively.  Next in were Jake Sowden, Charlie Milner and George Clark who between them dropped just 2 shots against the par of 71.  Our final man, Tommy Risker, shot a better than field average of 76 to put the East Rinding 5 shots behind a much stronger Halifax/Hudderfield team.

With 4 players playing well and the top two with much room for improvement it felt as though a challenge was really on the cards.  Both Jack and Tom were playing much better golf in the 2nd round, but seemingly getting very little reward.  A lost ball down the 16th from Jack and a disapointing finish from Tom meant that both player scored higher than the morning round.  Jake and Charlie battled away but could not getting things going and again, could not match or better their morning score.  With Hope fading it was left to the final two to give us a much needed lift for a high finish as George and Tommy scored 79 and 78 to give the East Riding a 2nd round total of 477.

In the end East Riding finished in 3rd place some 25 shots off the lead as we could not quite keep up the morning form.  The East Riding did claim one prize on the day with Charlie Milner's morning score of 70(-1) winning the best morning prize.  The team gave its all and those who will be available for next years 6-man team will take a lot from this experience.

The morning foursomes could not have gone much better for the East Riding team with tried and tested pairings doing the job with comfortable victories.  An 11-1 lead going into lunch meant it was our match to loose.

Our foursomes performances have improved over the course of the year and this set the basis for a relatively comfortable afternoon singles.  Early losses at the top of the order were quickly offset by victories in the final 9 matches giving the East Riding a 30-6 victory.

All eyes then turned to the Player of the Year competition Tommy Risker held a 2 point lead over Captain Tom Duck, but with 4 other players just in the mix, the trophy was up for grabs.  Tommy was in outstanding form again as a half in the top foursomes match and a comfortable victory in the singles giving him a 3 point victory.  2nd place went to Will Storr and 3rd place to Matt McDonnell.

The team have made great strides since the first 2 games with lots of handicap reductions and with only 1 person leaving the team from todays match the future looks very bright for this East Riding team.  Thanks must go to all the players that have represented the East Riding this and in previous years, all the volunteers who kindly give up their time to help with organising and running the fixtures and to the parents who ferry their golfers around... none of it would be possible with out you.