Father and son duel at Southbroom matchplay
There were some exciting matches played during the course of the knockouts.
It’s a rare thing for a father and son to contest a matchplay final, so it was a special occasion for Gavin and Graham Sole to go head-to-head at Southbroom Golf Club last Sunday. In the end, Old G Sole (52) needed one extra hole to beat Young G Sole (19), clinching it with a birdie. It’s his twelfth in a row.
Both players shot 72, with Young Sole certainly having his chances. He’s shown tremendous improvement in the past few months, so being in the final was not unexpected.
Gavin has also stopped ‘coaching’ Graham now that his son hits the ball just so much further than him, and just about everyone else as well.
Gavin beat Grant Richards in the morning, despite Grant making life interesting for the first 10 holes or so. Gavin then beat Cyprian Xolo in the semi-final.
Graham meanwhile, halved with Gary Purtell in the quarters, who then conceded not fancying extra holes. “Don’t want to humiliate one of the senior stalwarts,” he said, knowing his opponent would be David Rush.
In a tight battle against David, Graham made five birdies during the round, including a near eagle on the 18th, to win 2-up.
In the B division, Bruce Begley beat Norman Jeffery, after they had beaten Stefan le Roux and Det Wichmann respectively.
In the morning round, Howard Kelly provided the highlight (despite losing to Stefan) with a hole in one on the 4th. “Had some highs and lows,” he said, typically understated.
In regular club news, the ladies Aggregate Stableford last Wednesday was won on 62 points by Sandy FitzGerald and Lynne Blackstock, counting out Sue Kupisiewicz and Heather Anderson. In third place on 60 points were Shelley Myers and Heleen Hissey.
The men’s format was the same, won by Bruce Matthew and Bob Clark on 67 points. Two behind were John Neaves and Don Osbourn, counting out Dylan and Phillip Knibbs.
The Saturday alliance was won on 93 points by Roger Phillips, Roger Hissey, Emil Hierhold and Joseph Stoellinger.
In second place on 90 points were Nick Dreyer, Graham Volck, Alex and Ken Crawford. Third place went to Sue Kupisiewicz, Sandy FitzGerald, Shelley Myers and Janet Lehmann on 88 points, counting out Phil Verwey, Martin Hutton, Nicky Smith and Mark Surtees.
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