County Stars of the future beat a strong Kings Norton GC Seniors Team

The Worcestershire U14 Boys Development Team at Kings Norton GC - Friday 16th August 2019.

Pictured (back row l-r) Lewis Tolley (Captain), Nathan Wood, Sonny Priestley & Ewan Smith, (front row l-r) Joe Meads, Oliver Badger, Josh Thorp & Callum Jones.

The annual match between the County U14 Boys Development Team and the Kings Norton GC Seniors Team was held on Friday 16th August 2019 over the testing Blue/Red loops at Kings Norton GC. Whilst the weather forecast was for rain all day long, neither the boys nor the Seniors were daunted, and the match started in squally conditions at 9.00am.

The format of the match was to be 4 x 4BBB matches over 18 holes, with strokes given at the standard 90% rate.

First out for the Boys were Lewis Tolley (Worcester G&CC) & Sonny Priestley (Gaudet Luce), who fell behind early to the wily pairing of Tony O'Hare (KNGC Senior Captain) & Pete Evans (KNGC Past Senior Captain), and were 3 down after 6 holes. However, the boys fought back well, winning 7, 8 & 9 to turn all square. Unfortunately, the home advantage and 50 years experience was to prove the difference on the back 9 and the Seniors went on to win 2&1.

The Boys second pairing of Nathan Wood (Gaudet Luce) & Oliver Badger (Hagley) played Bob Reid and Phil Smyth-Maidment, with Nathan giving shots to all the other players. The pairing of the big hitting Nathan, and the ever steady Oliver, was to prove difficult to beat. They were up most of the day, but had to deal with a late surge by the Seniors before winning 2up on the last. 

Thus the overall match stood at 1 - 1 with two more matches out on the course. The weather was deteriorating as both of these matches reached the critical holes, but all 8 players were determined to play to a finish.

In the 3rd match out, the Boys pairing was Joe Meads (Blackwell) & Josh Thorp (Redditch). They played Norman Oseland (another Past KNGC Senior Captain) & KNGC President, Alan Cowin. The boys played steady golf all day, using their shots very effectively, and finally ran out 2&1 winners 

In the 4th and final match the Boys were represented by Callum Jones & Ewan Smith (both Bromsgrove), and played against Ron Colebrook & KNGC Captain, Steve Ianson. Once again the boys used their shots well and led for most of the day, and headed onto the tee at the tricky 16th hole (7th Red) 2 up, and both with a shot. Despite a heroic effort by the Seniors, the boys were to win the hole to complete a 3&2 victory.

Thus, the Boys completed a fine 3 - 1 win. Click here for full scorecard.

All the boys who hadn't played for the County before, were given their County Ties, before heading into the club restaurant for a well prepared and substantial two course meal.

In his speech, Tony O'Hare (KNGC Senior Captain) welcomed the boys to KNGC and hoped they had enjoyed the day (despite the weather) and the course. In response, Lewis Tolley (Team Captain), made a fine speech thanking Kings Norton GC for hosting the event, the KNGC players, his playing partners, and the organiser.

On behalf of Worcestershire County, Stuart Pritchard thanked Kings Norton GC for hosting the event, and thanked the KNGC players for looking after the boys, helping them around the course, and passing on some of their hard earned experience. The fact that the club Captain and President played for the KNGC Seniors Team was not lost on the boys, and was testament to how important the club had taken this fixture. The event is a huge benefit to the Boys and we all hope the fixture will continue in the coming years. 

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