So after a stupid o'clock wake up alarm ( 2:00am) me an the illustrious mr Tony Lloyd load up the battlebus with the golfing equipment and what's seems like everything we own apart from the kitchen sink :-), and off we go,
Our destination is the beautiful AA St Omer Golf club in France, luckily just half hours drive from Calais.
We managed to get to Dover in time for our ferry and bleary eyed we made straight for the costa coffee franchise inboard our P&O ferry.
After a rather uneventful crossing and a quick nip down the French motorway, we arrived. It was only 10 am but we had been up since early and with the rain starting to pour down and the sky's turning a lovely shade of dark storm grey, we were not overly looking forward to going and playing and getting soaked !!
As the rest of the French and British team started to arrive, the sky's seemed to brighten slightly and hopes were high.
We were in France for an international matchplay competition where 8 French players would take on 8 British players over two days of, firstly foursomes then finally singles with the lowest handicaps teeing off first on day one and last on day two.
Our arrival day had been organised to include a 9 hole Texas scramble with teams comprising of 1 French team member, 1 British team member and 1 new golfer that is being brought into the sport via the great work of the French Handigolf organisation.
The brightening up of the weather though was a false sense of security and whilst we were playing the heavens opened and we all resembled drowned rats :-), we still had fun though and the new golfers all played extremely well and are a credit to their coach. My team had a steady game and we finished level par gross and -3 nett, we came 3rd or 4th :-) ( bandits )
After we had played it gave the teams chance to engage in some well natured banter, just to get the competitive juices going :-)
I had a feeling day ones foursomes were going to be tough. I was paired with Chris Foster, a high leg amputee from Essex that plays without a prosthetic. Fozzie can certainly hit a ball and has lots of power too so I was really pleased with the partnership. We were going to be playing French #1+2 Mathieau Caneau and Macimillian Puget, both great players and very steady too. It was always going to be a tough game and it certainly didn't disappoint !! With Matt and Max firing on all cylinders, they struck some heavy blows to us early and we were three down at the turn without doing anything wrong ! We managed a mini comeback and took it to 17 but were taken down by the better players on the day. Luckily for us, our other three pairings had all got results with 2 wins and a half so after day 1 the scores were
France 1.5
England 2.5
With a slight advantage going into the second day, we knew that the French Team were going to come out with all guns blazing in the singles.
The target we were looking for was 6.5 points for outright victory.
I was to be teeing off last and would be playing French #1 Mathieau Caneau
As i watched the others tee off I was feeling quietly confident that the guys in front of me would be able to secure the four points we still needed and it wouldn't come down to my match. Time would tell.
Matt didn't get of to a great start and I was striking the ball really pure, after the first 7 holes I was 6 up !!!!
Then things got interesting
Mathieau started what can only described as the most gutsy fight back I have ever seen and after playing superb shots and holeing some great putts , he started to eat back the advantage and by the time we stood on the 14th tee, my advantage was only 2. Still a good lead but certainly not a comfortable one with how Matt was playing.
14 and 15 are both par 5 and with my distance advantage, I was thinking that I could end the match with two well played holes. Matt had other ideas and after I only managed to scrape par par, the lead was down to 1 !!
I stood on 16 and was gob smacked. 1 up now and three to play.
We both hit tee shots to the right on 16 and Matt was blocked by trees. He then played a wonder shot and got on the putting surface through the trees and it was my turn. I had 140yrd in and played a 9 iron from the semi rough, it came out really hot but on a good line. It landed on the green but with not a lot of spin and went off the back edge leaving me a tricky chip. I hit a good chip to around 8 foot and Matt putted his ball stone dead. I looked at my putt for a half and I made a good solid strike but pulled it past the left lip !!!
No !!!!!!!!
All Square !
By now, me and Matt were the only guys left playing and both teams were following us play, along with French tv and course officials and watchers, a real entourage !!
Off to 17 we go.
A really tough par 3 uphill and set on the side of a hill. Nice
Matt had the honour and put his tee shot into the front bunker. I just concentrated in making a solid strike and hitting a good shot.
I managed to execute exactly what I wanted and was left with 10-12ft for birdie. Matt played his bunker shot but found the wrong level on the green and missed his par attempt.
I rolled my ball hole side and a gimme was to follow.
Get in
1 up 1 to play
After much whooping and a couple of high fives, off to the tough par 5 18th we went.
With the teams watching from the side, I asked Tony what the scores were, all he said was " it's up to you, Big Man "
The state of play was
France 5.5
England 5.5
If I tie my game, France win
If I win, England win
No pressure eh :-)
I didn't hit a good tee shot, I went right into the rough and trees, Matt went down the middle.
I had to play my second shot over trees back to the fairway and managed to clip a tree an finish 60-70yrds right of the fairway with 138 yrd to the pin.
Matt hit his second shot straight down the middle of the fairway and was in perfect position for his approach.
I was in the rough by the front of a tee box for another hole. I had to carry a bunker guarding the pin and get it to stop before it runs off the back.
It ran off the back, into the semi rough on a down hill lie on a bank at the back of the green.
Brilliant. Not
Matt hit a very solid approach and was left with a medium length birdie attempt.
I was looking at a tricky chip and run to put the pressure on.
I looked at the shot from every angle, I could feel the eyes of the English team on me, willing me to hole it or at least leave it dead and the French team hoping I repeat hunter mayhans chip.
I addressed the ball an picked my line, played a nice crisp shat and watched the ball start on its way,
Checking on the second bounce and feeding towards the break,
On towards the hole
And on
And
It follows a perfect line and stops by the hole
Yes !!!!
But wait.......
It's not over yet, Matt still has his putt for a birdie and that would half our match.
I nearly couldn't watch, Matt hit a great putt and I was convinced it was going to drop but.... Whew, it just goes past the left lip and finished 2-3 foot away.
That was it, the match was ours !!
England 6.5
France 5,5
Cue celebrations, back slapping and palpable relief !! :-)
I don't think I have ever been so emotionally drained after a round of golf and I would like to thank Matt for the toughest match I have played so far. He just would not go away, a true competitor.
The England team
Andy Gardiner
Chris Foster
Mike Wraight
Richard Willis
Kevin "Grampy" Cook
Ian Dixon
Tony Lloyd
Richard Saunders
I would like to thank the french handigolf association and BALASA I would also like to thank the French team for a great couple of days if competition and for their fantastic hospitality. St Omer golf club for providing a brilliant venue and our hotel accommodation and for more than looking after us :-)
Also xavier for his organisation and had work and all the other staff and finally Mr Durand, the owner of saint Omer for being the most generous an friendly host.
As you can see , it was a great weekend if competition and great practice ready for the British championship in 4 weeks before heading back to saint Omer to attempt to qualify for the European your French open at the saint Omer club on may 27th.
So with lots of practice still needed, lets get this season started.
Till the next update my lovely blog followers
Monk out xx
Our destination is the beautiful AA St Omer Golf club in France, luckily just half hours drive from Calais.
We managed to get to Dover in time for our ferry and bleary eyed we made straight for the costa coffee franchise inboard our P&O ferry.
After a rather uneventful crossing and a quick nip down the French motorway, we arrived. It was only 10 am but we had been up since early and with the rain starting to pour down and the sky's turning a lovely shade of dark storm grey, we were not overly looking forward to going and playing and getting soaked !!
As the rest of the French and British team started to arrive, the sky's seemed to brighten slightly and hopes were high.
We were in France for an international matchplay competition where 8 French players would take on 8 British players over two days of, firstly foursomes then finally singles with the lowest handicaps teeing off first on day one and last on day two.
Our arrival day had been organised to include a 9 hole Texas scramble with teams comprising of 1 French team member, 1 British team member and 1 new golfer that is being brought into the sport via the great work of the French Handigolf organisation.
The brightening up of the weather though was a false sense of security and whilst we were playing the heavens opened and we all resembled drowned rats :-), we still had fun though and the new golfers all played extremely well and are a credit to their coach. My team had a steady game and we finished level par gross and -3 nett, we came 3rd or 4th :-) ( bandits )
After we had played it gave the teams chance to engage in some well natured banter, just to get the competitive juices going :-)
I had a feeling day ones foursomes were going to be tough. I was paired with Chris Foster, a high leg amputee from Essex that plays without a prosthetic. Fozzie can certainly hit a ball and has lots of power too so I was really pleased with the partnership. We were going to be playing French #1+2 Mathieau Caneau and Macimillian Puget, both great players and very steady too. It was always going to be a tough game and it certainly didn't disappoint !! With Matt and Max firing on all cylinders, they struck some heavy blows to us early and we were three down at the turn without doing anything wrong ! We managed a mini comeback and took it to 17 but were taken down by the better players on the day. Luckily for us, our other three pairings had all got results with 2 wins and a half so after day 1 the scores were
France 1.5
England 2.5
With a slight advantage going into the second day, we knew that the French Team were going to come out with all guns blazing in the singles.
The target we were looking for was 6.5 points for outright victory.
I was to be teeing off last and would be playing French #1 Mathieau Caneau
As i watched the others tee off I was feeling quietly confident that the guys in front of me would be able to secure the four points we still needed and it wouldn't come down to my match. Time would tell.
Matt didn't get of to a great start and I was striking the ball really pure, after the first 7 holes I was 6 up !!!!
Then things got interesting
Mathieau started what can only described as the most gutsy fight back I have ever seen and after playing superb shots and holeing some great putts , he started to eat back the advantage and by the time we stood on the 14th tee, my advantage was only 2. Still a good lead but certainly not a comfortable one with how Matt was playing.
14 and 15 are both par 5 and with my distance advantage, I was thinking that I could end the match with two well played holes. Matt had other ideas and after I only managed to scrape par par, the lead was down to 1 !!
I stood on 16 and was gob smacked. 1 up now and three to play.
We both hit tee shots to the right on 16 and Matt was blocked by trees. He then played a wonder shot and got on the putting surface through the trees and it was my turn. I had 140yrd in and played a 9 iron from the semi rough, it came out really hot but on a good line. It landed on the green but with not a lot of spin and went off the back edge leaving me a tricky chip. I hit a good chip to around 8 foot and Matt putted his ball stone dead. I looked at my putt for a half and I made a good solid strike but pulled it past the left lip !!!
No !!!!!!!!
All Square !
By now, me and Matt were the only guys left playing and both teams were following us play, along with French tv and course officials and watchers, a real entourage !!
Off to 17 we go.
A really tough par 3 uphill and set on the side of a hill. Nice
Matt had the honour and put his tee shot into the front bunker. I just concentrated in making a solid strike and hitting a good shot.
I managed to execute exactly what I wanted and was left with 10-12ft for birdie. Matt played his bunker shot but found the wrong level on the green and missed his par attempt.
I rolled my ball hole side and a gimme was to follow.
Get in
1 up 1 to play
After much whooping and a couple of high fives, off to the tough par 5 18th we went.
With the teams watching from the side, I asked Tony what the scores were, all he said was " it's up to you, Big Man "
The state of play was
France 5.5
England 5.5
If I tie my game, France win
If I win, England win
No pressure eh :-)
I didn't hit a good tee shot, I went right into the rough and trees, Matt went down the middle.
I had to play my second shot over trees back to the fairway and managed to clip a tree an finish 60-70yrds right of the fairway with 138 yrd to the pin.
Matt hit his second shot straight down the middle of the fairway and was in perfect position for his approach.
I was in the rough by the front of a tee box for another hole. I had to carry a bunker guarding the pin and get it to stop before it runs off the back.
It ran off the back, into the semi rough on a down hill lie on a bank at the back of the green.
Brilliant. Not
Matt hit a very solid approach and was left with a medium length birdie attempt.
I was looking at a tricky chip and run to put the pressure on.
I looked at the shot from every angle, I could feel the eyes of the English team on me, willing me to hole it or at least leave it dead and the French team hoping I repeat hunter mayhans chip.
I addressed the ball an picked my line, played a nice crisp shat and watched the ball start on its way,
Checking on the second bounce and feeding towards the break,
On towards the hole
And on
And
It follows a perfect line and stops by the hole
Yes !!!!
But wait.......
It's not over yet, Matt still has his putt for a birdie and that would half our match.
I nearly couldn't watch, Matt hit a great putt and I was convinced it was going to drop but.... Whew, it just goes past the left lip and finished 2-3 foot away.
That was it, the match was ours !!
England 6.5
France 5,5
Cue celebrations, back slapping and palpable relief !! :-)
I don't think I have ever been so emotionally drained after a round of golf and I would like to thank Matt for the toughest match I have played so far. He just would not go away, a true competitor.
The England team
Andy Gardiner
Chris Foster
Mike Wraight
Richard Willis
Kevin "Grampy" Cook
Ian Dixon
Tony Lloyd
Richard Saunders
I would like to thank the french handigolf association and BALASA I would also like to thank the French team for a great couple of days if competition and for their fantastic hospitality. St Omer golf club for providing a brilliant venue and our hotel accommodation and for more than looking after us :-)
Also xavier for his organisation and had work and all the other staff and finally Mr Durand, the owner of saint Omer for being the most generous an friendly host.
As you can see , it was a great weekend if competition and great practice ready for the British championship in 4 weeks before heading back to saint Omer to attempt to qualify for the European your French open at the saint Omer club on may 27th.
So with lots of practice still needed, lets get this season started.
Till the next update my lovely blog followers
Monk out xx