On
Saturday 10th June, the OD’s played their third consecutive fixture against the
ever-formidable Old Tonbridgians. The
match took place at the RAC in Epsom, and, as hoped, the weather turned out to
be near perfect – even taking into account the stiff 17mph wind that blew throughout
the round. The
OD’s were slightly disadvantaged from the get-go as there were a couple of
last-minute dropouts which had the OD’s playing 6 on 8. These sorts of
situations have never stopped us digging deep and trying to salvage a win.
The
Mallett/McDonald combination was rock-solid, despite Doug’s wildly errant tee
shot on the first. The pair successfully brought home the only win for the OD’s
on the day. Martin Calder and Stephen Suckling valiantly went out on their own
and were both beaten with a few holes to spare. A fight well fought. The
Price/Commins match also resulted in an unfortunate loss, even though they both
carded a pair of 38’s on the back 9. A world-class 19 handicapper was simply
too much to shake off, as he made some solid birdies coming home. There was
some consolation, however, in that Stuart Commins collected 3 of the 4 “Longest
Drive” and “Closest to the Pin” challenges that were running throughout the
round.
The
Old Tonbridgians now hold the lead and will go into next year’s fixture 2-1 up.
It’s safe to say that the group had a fantastic day out. With our usual thank
you speeches and drinks outside in the sun after the round, we concluded that
we would be back next year with a full team to take on the OT’s again – and
many more to come. All to play for!
The
ODs: Alex Price, Zandy Macdonald (F, 2007), Martin Calder (B, 1991), Steve
Suckling (F, 1976), Doug Mallett (M, 2007) and Stuart Commins (F, 2006).
The
OTs: David Walsh, Tony Monteuuis, Richard Marle, Robert Butlin, Chris Pettman,
Martin Colvill, Richard Dalzell and Robin Berkeley.
We
are very grateful for the tremendously friendly and supportive relationship we
have with the Old Tonbridgians and look forward to growing this (and improving
our golf).
Alex Price
(It's
worth mentioning that David Walsh (OT captain and former Second Master and Head of History at Tonbridge) is leading a party of ODs to the Western
Front in October where we will be dedicating a memorial plaque to the memory of
the 112 ODs who died in WW1).
Click on the photos to enlarge.
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| Martin Calder, Doug Mallett, Alex Price, Zandy MacDonald, Steve Suckling and Stuart Commins |
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| Alex Price and David Walsh |
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| The beautiful and imposing RAC Club |
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| Martin Calder, David Walsh and Steve Suckling |
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| Chris Pettman and Tony Monteuuis (OTs) |
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| Zandy MacDonald, Alex Price, Doug Mallett, Stuart Commins and Tony Monteuuis (OT) |
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| Alex Price and Martin Calder |
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| Martin Colvill and Robert Butlin (OTs) |
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| Stuart Commins, Doug Mallett and Martin Calder |
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| Alex Price, Zandy MacDonald and Steve Suckling |
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| Robin Berkeley, Martin Colvill and Tony Monteuuis (OT) |
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| Martin Calder, Zandy MacDonald, Rick Dalzell (OT), Chris Pettman (OT) and Doug Mallett |
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| The RAC in full bloom |
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| Souvenirs |
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| More souvenirs |
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| Tony Monteuuis (OT) Steve Suckling and Martin Calder at the Halway House (in the background the iconic Epsom Racecourse where the previous week the eponymous Derby had been run) |
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| Zandy MacDonald |
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| Stuart Commins |
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| Martin Calder, Zandy MacDonald, Alex Price, Stuart Commins, Doug Mallett and Steve Suckling |
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| Stuart Commins, William Marle, Robert Butlin (OTs) and Alex Price |
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| David Walsh and Martin Calder |
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| William Marle, David Walsh and Martin Colvill (OTs) |
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| Post-match warm-down: Alex Price and Stuart Commins |
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| The captains: Alex Price and David Walsh |
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| Doug Mallett and Zandy MacDonald |
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| Steve Suckling |
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| Alex Price and Stuart Commins |
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| Martin Calder |
