Narrow win for Peebles at Longniddry in the opening match of the season

The golf season started early for the Seniors’ Team as they travelled to Longniddry Golf Club for a brand new fixture in the calendar.

New Team Captain, Brian Robson, took charge of a strong team which contained 3 debutants in Keith Dunn, Ian Stewart and Jim Cleland.

The new ballot system for team selection cooincidentally paired captain Brian Robson with past captain David Wright in the opening match and this proved to be the most exciting of the day. After winning the opening hole the Peebles players must have wished they had brought their buckets and spades as they virtually found sand at every hole on the front nine. Home pairing of Captain Willie Weston and Grahame Letchford capitalised and were 4 up after 10 holes. However the seasoned Peebles pair eventually mastered the fast greens and avoided the bunkers to make an astonishing comeback to secure an unlikely half a point with the match finishing all square.

Next out were Jim Lyle and Alan Jackson who fought hard against a Longniddry pair that contained a 4 handicap player. Although they kept the score close they eventually lost the match by 2&1.

Peebles achieved equilibrium again when Sam Walker and another past captain, Vic Roberts outplayed their opponents to secure a 2&1 victory. Vic is no stranger to playing at Longniddry and he made his ‘local knowledge’ count.

There was to be no fairy tale start for debutant Keith Dunn and his partner Brian Taylor. They found their opponents too hot to handle with the home pair securing an emphatic 5&4 victory.

The Peebles players now found themselves behind in the match with 2 ties still on the course. In game 5, Grant Bowie and newbie Ian Stewart played themselves into a commanding lead and had numerous chances to close the match out early . However they failed to capitalise but did manage to keep their noses in front to secure a 1up victory.

So, it was down to the last tie of the day to decide where the spoils of victory would go and the final pairing of Ken Davey and Jim Cleland did not disappoint. Ken and Jim gelled from the start and played some irresistible golf on a course they had never previously played. Their victory of 6&5 was the biggest winning margin of the day.

The final score in the match saw the PEEBLES team prevail by 3 1/2 points to 2 1/2 points.

The new fixture against Longniddry is a welcome addition to the Seniors’ calendar. The hospitality shown by our hosts was excellent and the Peebles players enjoyed a great day out on a very good golf course with excellent catering. We look forward to welcoming the Longniddry players to Peebles in June for the return fixture.

Quote of the day has to come from captain Brian Robson. “Thank goodness we managed to halve our match, David. I thought i might have got sacked after one match in charge otherwise”

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