Thethrill on the hill.....

OrsettCadets made sensational club history at theweekend by winning the Youth Shieldfor the first time everrrrr! A titanic tusslewith Chelmsford at neutral course Boyce Hill sawnone of the shenanigans we saw on TV last weekour lady members saw at the Solheim Cup. (Moreabout that later) Played in a great atmospherewith great conditions spectators were served upsome spectacular play culminating in a nailbiting finish. You can forget Miracle atMedinah, The War on the Shore, this was way morethrilling. With the matches 2-2 with Orsettlosing one to a birdie on the last it seemedonly a world class shot would win the title foreither side! Impressive wins for Captain WillPercival and HarryRobson meant ZachChegwidden needed to get itdone.

All square on 17 he holed a sneaky 8 footer toremain tied. Would the 18th in front of theclubhouse and the 100 spectators watching bringit to a conclusion? No, a par each meant suddendeath for the title. Two pars at the first andtwo great drives at the 2nd meant thetreacherous second shots could play it out.Chelmsford hit onto the green only 20 feetaway. 

Zachfollowed with an adrenalin long and left ironand from a squishy lie just got it on the green,advantage Chelmsford. Inexplicably Zach'sopponent putted 8 feet past the hole, nerves oradrenalin, who knows but Orsett had a lifeline.Zach suffering with the samehad a rush at his 18 footer and went 6 foot by,Chelmsford buoyed by the miss only had to holetheir putt, but agonisingly the ball alwayslacking speed (thankfully) missed by thenarrowest of margins. Cometh the moment, here itwas and Zach was up to it from6 feet. Straight in the middle, a quick fistpump and on it went. Hole 21 was halved againwith 2 near misses. Hole 22 a long par 3, 210yards. Chelmsford's honour and hope for Orsettas they miss the green, left with an awkwardpitch. Zach finds the greenwith a solid iron to 35 feet, feeling a littlemore confident, Orsett spectators surround thegreen only for Chelmsford to CHIP IN startingscenes of excitement and their own expectation.Apart from Zach's chin hittingthe floor you could have heard a pin drop in the"Orsett camp". Routine is everything and withcomposure Zach reset and setthe ball rolling toward the hole. 25 feet itlooked short, 20 feet it looked short, 15 feetit looked short, 5 feet it still looked shortand 5 inches it was short but somehow that ballgot to the front of the hole and fell over theedge to noise and excitement more akin to 1000people watching. A dramatic half! 

Composed, both boys hit good tee shots butChelmsford were unable to risk the carry overthe water. Zach hit his shotof the day (apart from the earlier putts) a 3wood just off the back of the green, a realhammer blow to the opposition. A good iron shotto 30 feet needed to be better especially afterZach's chip was conceded. Alook and relook and the putt was on its way tosave the match, it had to go in but ittantalisingly slid by the hole and Orsetthistory was written. Despair for one team andrealisation for another.

Thecelebrations were muted as it could have easilygone the other way. None the less a fantasticeffort with huge congratulations to all thesquad for getting to the final. Captain, WillPercival, BaileeCurran, ZachChegwidden, CassidySteffens, HarryRobson and AlfieButtle did a great job. Thefuture looks bright for Orsett golf at alllevels and a huge thanks goes to CadetOrganiser, Mark Whitefor the achievement. His words of encouragementbefore play inspired his team to victory (or wasit the threat of making them walk home if theylost.)

Whichever, it worked and from the looks on facesthey enjoyed every single moment. 

Well done boys you deserved it. 




Solheim madness....

Enough has been written about that putt and youropinions have been divided in the poll from lastweek. I've been asked what would I have done andthe answer is, I would have conceded it and beatthe hell out of them on the last!

   

The bigger picture was missed and many Europeansactually switched sides after it and pulled forUSA. Orsetts ladies went to watch for the firsttime. 

Sevenladies experienced the first tee singing,moments of euphoria and despair and evenaccepted the offer of dressing as a Minion,didn't they…. Margaret? If AlisonNicholasasks! Who are they to refuse? They had a ballout there, except for the result and "that"moment it didn't put them off getting ready forEurope's next defence in 2019. 




Playerof the year....

Who else could it be? 22million dollars, 2majors and top 4 finish in the other 2, JordanSpieth has no equals this year. The Texan wonderkid has putted everyone off the park, just askDustin Johnson in June, Henrik Stenson last weekand the hole field at Augusta in April. At 22,Spieth, Rory and Jason Day are the new breed andare heads above the next layer that all arestriving to reach. Fowler, Watson, Rose,Johnson, Stenson, need to find more if they areto get at the new Big Three. Golf is in goodhands with these boys let's hope they caninspire 100s of youngsters to put down the gameconsoles and get back out playing golf. Sevemanaged it with his style of play, like Arniebefore him, Woods, Els and Mickleson did theirbest but the exactness, power and skill of theseboys is at another level and Spieth has been thePrince of it all year. Next season will beexciting and with teenager Lydia Ko golf has abundle of talent leading the way.





Just arrived some of our winter wear fromProQuip and Sunderland, already it`s being wellreceived so why not take a look as there isnothing worse than being wet through when tryingto play.




Talking of leading how about the rugby, surelyyou didn't expect me to not mention it? What aperformance from Wales against strongly favouredEngland and with a decimated team.

Just goes to prove belief in your ability ispowerful. Many are questioning the decision totake a line out and not kick! I'd question thecoach making so many substitutions when totallyin control. Clive Woodward could barely containhis anger and remain neutral when asked for hispost-match opinion? What was Lancaster thinking?It could cost him his job. Still it gives littleold Wales the opportunity to get out of thegroup of death and maybe get to the final theyso deserved last time bar an untimely sendingoff against France in the semi-final. A big askI know but why not? After hearing Japan hadbeaten notoriously slow starters South Africa,anything could happen. Even the western bit ofSamoa beat Wales once.

Having text many of my English rugby friends. Iwas a little disappointed with their lackcongratulations after the game although many didreply with words that had lots of Fs and symbolsin!





It`s maintenance week this week and as you cansee, the approaches are getting the sametreatment as our greens. The greens have beenheavily scarified and have now been cored. Thiswork helps to reduce thatch, green compactionand allows new nutrients to get back into thesoli for better growth. They will be getting topdressed and over seeded as well ,which willcreate firmer, faster surfaces and of coursehealthier, stronger grass over time.

   

Perry, our Head green keeperhas been very pleased with how it`s all going."Conditions couldn`t be better, last year weweren`t so lucky and the course had definitelygot better, so this work will take it on again,I wish it could be quicker but you just can`trush nature."