Tuesday, 13 August 2019

ODs vs THE OLD HAILEYBURIANS 2019 GOLF MATCH


Blow, winds! Blow until your cheeks crack! Rage on, blow!

Shakespeare might not have been present to watch the ODs take on the Old Haileyburians last Saturday, 10th August on the Old Course at the RAC in Surrey, but he must have been somewhere similar to have described the weather conditions our warriors endured in the words he gave poor King Lear. Of course, not even foul winds prevented another most enjoyable outing against the OHs. This is the second of our matches against them and we drew 1-1, but still remain 1-0 down in the competition.

Alex Price our tireless captain, convenor, masseuse, motivator and master golfer reports:

Wind. Wind. And a hole in one...  

With gusts of up to 50mph, this was going to be tough day for everyone. 

Out first, Doug Mallett & Alex Price. Not wanting to go into too much detail, this was one of those matches that you want to put to bed shortly after the round. Alex found no rhythm the entire day (barring a 7ft par putt on the 7th hole), which made it difficult for Doug to bare the weight of two very handy golfers (one of whom is the current director of golf at Haileybury, Mr Ian Sanders). They both played some solid wind golf. Match finished 6&5 to OH - Bishops 1 down

Second pairing was Graham Llewellyn & Gordon Robinson. With some doctoring of Gordon's handicap by the opposition on the first hole, this match was looking to be in a steady position coming down the 8th hole. The Haileyburians put up a huge fight coming home and secured 3&2 victory over Bishops. We were 2 down at this point. 

3rd out the blocks: & Eric Allan & Greg Campbell. With a hole-in-one 3-wood on the third hole by opposition, this was definitely the game of the day to be involved in. Eric out-nipping Doug for longest driving on the 6th - coming in at 356yds, and Greg's pinpoint accuracy with his newly purchased irons, they managed to fight back for an amazing 3&1 victory. OD 1 - OH 2

Last out: the young masterful cricketing combo of Seb Golding & Dan Linegar. With some clear golf prep over the last year, this anchor pairing brought it home in a big way, with a 7&6 victory over their competitors, which leveled the scores for the day at OD 2 - OH 2. 

A huge thanks to Haileybury for coming out and making the second instalment  to our roster such a success. We look forward to continuing this relationship and levelling the playing fields next year!

The OD team are in the photo below:

Graham Llewellyn (G, 2010), Eric Allan (S, 2010), Alex Price (c, M, 2008), Doug Mallett (M, 2007), Seb Golding (F, 2011), Gordon Robinson (F, 1990), Dan Linegar (K, 2010) and Greg Campbell (K, 2005)

In the rest of the photos, the OHs are indicated as such; the ODs are not marked


Click on the photos to enlarge:


It's the journey not the destination. Eric Allan and Alex Price sleepily en route to Surrey courtesy South Western Railways

Pre-match strategising and carbo-loading


Peter Kenyon-Muir (captain, OH), Graham Marley (OH), Damian Urwin (OH), Patrick Curry (OH) and Gordon Robinson

Doug Mallett and Alex Price

Graham Llewellyn, Eric Allan, Greg Campbell and Doug Mallett

Doug Mallett

Doug Mallett and Mark Courage (OH)

Seb Golding, Dan Linegar and Gordon Robinson


Mark Courage (OH), Seb Golding and Dan Linegar

Greg Campbell and Alex Price

Seb Golding and Dan Linegar

Eric Allan and Graham Llewellyn

The two captains: Alex Price and Peter Kenyon-Muir (OH)

Mark Courage (OH), Peter Kenyon-Muir (OH), Greg Campbell, Alex Price and John Palmer (OH)


Gordon Robinson and Mike Blythe (OH)


And then into battle:


Doug Mallett

Gordon Robinson and Eric Allan

With the captain's confidence, Alex Price

Dan Linegar

Doug Mallett and Greg Campbell




Greg Campbell and Doug Mallett


Seb Golding and Eric Allan


Mark Courage (OH)

Dan Linegar, Seb Golding, Eric Allan and Greg Campbell

Dan Linegar, Seb Golding and Greg Campbell

Eric Allan, Graham Llewellyn and Gordon Robinson

Doug Mallett and Alex Price

John Palmer, Mark Courage and Patrick Curry (all OHs)

Mike Blythe, Damian Urwin and Ian Sanders (all OHs)

Peter Kenyon-Muir and Graham Marley (both OHs)


Alex Price

Doug Mallett

Alex Price and Doug Mallett

Alex Price

You should know by now!

Damian Urwin

Graham Llewellyn

Graham Llewellyn and, briefly, a triumphant Gordon Robinson

Eric Allan

Greg Campbell

Eric Allan, Mike Blythe (OH) and John Palmer (OH)

Our one and only hole-in-one. On the 3rd. Well done Patrick Curry (OH)

Seb Golding


Dan Linegar and Seb Golding

Dan Linegar




Then, thankfully, the halfway house:


Alex Price, Doug Mallett, Ian Sanders (OH) and Peter Kenyon-Muir (OH)
Graham Llewellyn, Gordon Robinson, Mike Blythe (OH) and Damian Urwin (OH)



Mark Courage (OH), Dan Linegar, Seb Golding and Graham Marley (OH)

Patrick Curry (OH), John Palmer (OH), Greg Campbell and Eric Allan


Then it was (almost) over:










And then it (really) was over:



Back, Graham Marley (OH) and seated, Patrick Curry (OH)






Mike Blythe (OH), Ian Sanders (OH), Graham Marley (OH), Patrick Curry (OH) and Seb Golding


Graham Llewellyn, Mike Blythe (OH) and John Sanders (OH)

Captains, our captains