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.

East Riding came into the match with a much changed side, as eight regular players were unavailable through other commitments and injury. Making their first appearance of the year were three former players, Steve Pybus, Jamie Gregory and Steve Bennett, plus two of the Under 18s squad, George Clark and Tommy Risker.

The top four foursome matches all went the distance, unfortunately, Bradford winning games 1 and 3 whilst Matt Raybould & Rich Webster at 2 and Tom Duck & Dan Swales at 4 halved. The fifth match, featuring Bennett and Phil Scott, got off to the worst possible start with a wrong ball penalty on the first hole and the match was soon over by the 12^th hole. However, the two youngsters, Clark and Risker, showed off their credentials, by closing out the final foursome match by 3&2.

Foursomes Score: Bradford 8, East Riding 4

As the singles got under way, the mood was positive and six of the later games got an early lead. However, in the top four games, where East Riding was looking to win three of them to eliminate the lunchtime deficit, Bradford was in control throughout, with only Leigh Gawley taking his opponent to the final green, losing 1 down. The other three matches were lost 3&2.

The next two matches brought some relief to East Riding with Gregory winning by 5&3 and Pybus securing a half but the next four all fell to Bradford. In the final two games, Clark, having been 2 up with 5 to play, finally ran out of steam and ended with a half but the scoreline of the day belonged to Scott, who triumphed by 8&7, meaning he didn't play any of the last six holes during the day!

Singles score: Bradford 18, East Riding 6

Overall score: Bradford 26, East Riding 10

Nick Raybould, despite missing the match, retains his position at the top of the Order of Merit on 30 points, with Tom Duck, Leigh Gawley and Luke Robinson all on 25 points. Assuming Raybould plays in the final match, his challengers will need to score maximum points to stand any chance of overhauling him to the Player of the Year Title.

The final league match is against the Sheffield Union at Hessle on 1^st September.

Day two gave the early starters a big advantage as they got the best of the weather, but all of the Hull boys all improved on their round one scores. Jacob made four birdies in his excellent 39 points and George came back in one under gross for his 36 points. Jude’s 35 points was based on some fantastic driving and iron play, but his putter was ‘lukewarm’ at best.

Hull’s 75 points was only bettered by four teams and pushed them up from 14th overnight to 8th in the country! Somerset, represented by Saltford Golf Club, roared through the field with 81 points on day 2 to finish one clear and take the title of English Junior Champion Club.

Full scores can be found here.

It was quite an achievement to finish in the top ten, but credit must go to Charlie Milner for helping get them through the East Riding round and of course Will Borman and Sam Frankish for their great golf at Wath to become Yorkshire champions.

Thanks must go to Hull member Steve Start who generously donated a substantial some of money to kit out the team and indeed the whole squad (kit coming your way soon boys!!). The team looked a million dollars – you can see some photos of the boys in action on my twitter feed @jgiclark 

Written by Jonathan Clark, Hull Golf Club.