Round 2 of Simpson Cup and The Grange was playing Flagstaff Hill at Tea Tree Gully. It was windy and overcast with the threat, and eventual occurrence, of rain. The Grange lost the toss and were batting second off the 10th tee at 12:10pm. The team, unchanged from last week, was Alex Hendrick, Ross Steedman, Darren Baynes, Riley Marshall, Steve Maddaford, Nick Siegmund, and Mark Demasi (C).
Hitting off into the wind on the right-to-left sloping 10th hole had Captain Mark in his element. Playing at number 7 against Matt Tucker, he was off to a solid start and was 3 up at the turn and in cruise control to take the match out with a 5/4 win. This was a great foundation for the team.
Our number 6 player, Nick, was playing Tony Wotherspoon and also played solidly from the start. He was 3 up after 5 holes and 4 up after 9. With patient play Nick went on to win his match 4/3. This was a good, momentum-building result for Nick and gave us our second win for the day.
Also off to a good start was Steve, playing against Mike Kendell at number 5. Steve was 3 up through 6 holes and 4 up after 8. Six holes later he was back to 1 up and the Manager was getting nervous. When Steve stood up on the tee of the last hole (Par 5, 9th) with the match all square, the Manager was having breathing difficulties. Fortunately, Steve won the hole and his match 1 up.
Number 4 player, Riley, was pitted against Danny Ford in a tense match. Riley was 1 up or square through the first 9 holes of the match and was unlucky not to turn 1 up when his approach shot on the Par 4, 18th hole checked and rolled back off the green and he lost the hole, much to his displeasure. He won the next 2 holes to go 2 up and then 3 up after 15 holes (Par 4, 6th). A half on the Par 4, 7th hole gave him a 3/2 win and the team’s fourth win of the day.
Darren, at number 3, was playing James Mack. Like our earlier players, Darren played the first nine strongly. He was 3 up after 5 holes and went back to 2 up after 9 (Par 4, 18th). However, he won the next hole to be 3 up, was 4 up after 13 holes and won the next hole (Par 4, 5th) to win his match 5/4. The team now had 5 wins in but, of course, we were hoping for more.
Ross, our number two player, was up against Jack Williams a former Grange player and member of our victorious 2014 Simpson Cup team. This was expected to be a tight match and it did not disappoint. Ross was 1 up after 2 holes and square after 8. Like most of our team, he lost the 9th hole (Par 4, 18th) to be 1 down at the turn. He was back to square after 12 holes (Par 3, 3rd) and won the next hole to be 1 up playing the 14th hole of the match (Par 4, 5th). Jack’s approach shot found the left green-side bunker and Ross’ flew the green by about 10-12m. Jack played nicely to about a metre from the pin and Ross played a super pitch shot to about a half metre from the pin. The ball checked beautifully then slowly rolled towards and into the hole for a birdie! Ross was now 2 up with 4 to play. He lost the next hole (Par 4, 6th) to be back to 1 up and chipped in again for birdie on the Par 4, 7th hole to be back to 2 up with 2 to play. A half on the Par 3, 8th gave Ross a 2/1 win and the team its 6th for the day.
The other match expected to be tight was between our number 1 player, Alex, and Brad Manton. This was an arm-wrestle to the end with both players playing some very good and not so good golf. Alex had things under control early being 2 up through 7 holes. After 14 holes (Par 4, 5th) Alex was 1 down. He got back to square with a win on the next hole (Par 4, 6th) and then played a sensational second shot from the 1st fairway to within a couple of metres of the pin on the 7th green to set up birdie and win the hole to go 1 up in the match with 2 holes to play. Unfortunately, on the next hole (Par 3, 8th) Manton chipped in for birdie from the back of the green to take the match back to square. So, it was all square going into the last hole which was the Par 5, 9th. The hole is a dog-leg left with a finish to an elevated, 2-level, ski-slope green. Both players played poor drives and Alex ended up in the fairway bunker for 2. His third shot clipped the bunker tongue and remained in the bunker, and his fourth shot was up just past the back of the green where it checked up and slowly rolled down onto the green, kept rolling slowly down both levels to finish 15m off the front of the green! Alex played back up onto the green for 5 and left himself with 2 putts. Meanwhile, Manton was high up behind the green for his third shot and gingerly chipped onto the green to set up a two putt for 6 and win the hole and the match. Alex ended up with a 1 down loss.
So, the results were Alex lost 1 down, Ross won 2/1, Darren won 5/4, Riley won 3/2, Steve won 1 up, Nick won 4/3 and Mark won 5/4 for an overall 6/1 win. This was a great team win putting us at the top of the table in the early part of the season. Drives by Alex on the Par 4, 7th and Par 3, 8th were entries in the order of merit for season 2022.
Thanks to caddies Jeff Green, Ron Marshall, Luci and Paul McDonald for coming out to support their players. Thanks also to Michael Siegmund and Kayla Dolman who came out to watch the team.
Next Sunday, May 22, The Grange takes on Royal Adelaide at Glenelg from 8:25am on the 1st tee. Caddies and gallery welcome.
John Thomas
Captain and Simpson Cup Team Manager