St.Austell Win CTC Plate Semi-Final
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On Sunday 19th February the CTC side were involved in the semi-final of the plate competition against Falmouth at Perranporth. The match commenced at 12 noon in chilly but sunny conditions with a stiff (for Perranporth) breeze coming off the sea.
The early exchanges saw all but Shaun Harvey and Billy Couzens struggle to come to terms with the bare fairways, fast greens and the opposition.
By 3 pm things were looking dire. Despite Billy's comprehensive 7&6 victory Falmouth had the first two matches in the bag following defeats for Simon Harper and Neil Oakes while matches four, five six seven and nine all saw Falmouth with the lead.
What followed was one of the most remarkable turnarounds in recent St Austell CTC history. Firstly, Dan Olver and Chris Bailey clawed their way back from three and two down respectively to force halved matches then, following PJ Lund's 3 & 2 defeat, Gary Johns, making his debut for St Austell following his recent move from Carlyon Bay, came back from two down with four to play and one down with two to play to win the last two holes for a great one hole victory.
Shaun finished his match off on the 17th green for a 3&1 win which left the match all square with one match still on the course. This match included another St Austell debutant, Dave Johnson, who only came into the team late on Saturday afternoon.
Dave struggled early on and turned two down but a birdie on the 10th halved the deficit. Some great play over the next few holes saw him board the 16th tee dormy three up. His opponent's 40' birdie putt across the par-3 16th green saw the match go to the 17th where another great Falmouth 'up and down' saw this see-saw match go down the 18th.
Great drives saw both players at the foot of the slope up to the green debating whether to chip or putt their seconds. In the end both players chipped but, downwind, neither could get close and when Dave lagged his bridie but from 20' stone dead it was left to his opponent, from a similar distance, to force extra holes.
Agonisingly for the Falmouth team but to our great relief he left the putt 3" short to give Dave a well deserved one hole victory and see St Austell through to the final of the last ever CTC Plate competition.
Once the date and venue of the final are confirmed these will be posted on the website and club notice boards. It would be great to end our centenary season with some silverware and your support would be welcomed by all the players.
The Final
The final is on Sunday 11th March at St Enodoc Golf Club versus St Mellion. Starting at the 1st at 08.35 a.m. Supporters are very welcome, enjoy a stroll around the links while watching competitive golf.
The weather is forecast as good - see you there!
