Day 1 Wiltshire vs Gloucestershire

The matchplay series between Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Gloucestershire, Dorset and Wiltshire got underway on 5th June as Wiltshire took on Gloucestershire in their opening match. Down 5-3 from the 8 morning singles but with the afternoon foursome scounting 1.5 points for a win, we needed to win three to overcome the deficit.

Ali James and Josh Loughrey won the top match 3 and 1, the second, Paul Green and Tom Ruddle went down 2 and 1 but Ben Stow and Jordan Smith brought home another 3 and 1 win to leave the result hanging on the final match.

Dormie 3 up, 2 up the match then went to the 18th with both teams following the players. Tom Burley hit the Wiltshire drive into the fairway, Gloucestershire followed suit and then put their second on the green, 15 feet past the hole. Going at the pin, tight to the right of the green, Wiltshire Captain, Kevin Phillips, hit the Wiltshire second into the greenside bunker leaving Tom a tricky downhill bunker shot to a tight pin. The spectators watched in awe as Tom splashed out, the ball landing on the fringe and releasing down to the hole for a conceded four. When the Gloucestershire putt slid past the edge of the hole Wiltshire had held on to win the match and with it the series, 7.5 to 6.5.

Follow the action on the SWCGA website here.

The Wiltshire team at South West week at Saunton. Front l-r Yoshio Takeuchi, Jordan Smith, President, Geoff Titt, Kevin Phillips, Dave bauer, Ben Loughrey, Tom Burley. Back row, Paul Green, Josh Loughrey, Ali James, Tom Ruddle, Ben Stow.

Day 2 Wiltshire vs Cornwall

A comfortable lead at lunch of 5 points to 3 after the morning singles left Wiltshire needing a win and a half from the afternoon foursomes to secure victory. In the top game, Ali James and Josh Loughrey won 2 and 1 and in the second, Ben Loughrey and Tom Ruddle overwhelmed their opponents by . With the final match also halving Wiltshire were comfortable winners by 8 ¾  to 5 ¼ .

Day 3 Strokeplay Championships

This was the big one. As well as the individual championship a nominated team of 6 players competed for the team title with the winners going on to represent the South West in the English County Finals, played this year at Ganton in September. The Captain nominated Ben and Josh Loughrey, Ben Stow, Jordan Smith, Ali James and Tom Burley as the Wiltshire 6, combined handicaps of +13 and, on paper, the strongest side in the field. The aggregated scores of all 6 players would determine the winners.

Brutal conditions, with strong winds and heavy rain showers pushed the scoring up and at lunch only one player had broken par, Ben Stow, with a superb round of 69, 2 under par. With Jordan Smith in at 72 and all the other scores in the 70’s Wiltshire held a halfway advantage of 10 shots over nearest rivals, Gloucestershire.

With the wind even stronger in the afternoon the Wiltshire team battled to keep the scoring low and maintain their advantage. Ben Loughrey produced the team best of 72 followed by Ali James with 73, Ben Stow adding a 74 and Jordan Smith a 75. Josh came in with 77 but the final player in the six man team, Tom Burley, was still out on the course and had developed the golfer’s nightmare of the shanks including an approach to the 11^th which went out of bounds. As Tom came into view on the 18^th we watched a drive to the middle of the fairway and a 6 iron to twelve feet. Two putts later and Tom was in with a 79 to ensure the team had all 12 scores under 80, the only team to manage this and extend their lead to a winning margin of 20 shots over Cornwall and Gloucestershire.

An amazing result! Never having qualified for the County Finals in their history until 2007, Wiltshire were winners again for the fourth time in five years!

As the last scores came in it became clear that no one could overtake Ben Stow’s 143 and Ben was a 1 shot winner of the individual title and winner of the Youth’s competition as well. Jordan Smith was 5^th overall and runner up in the Youths...a great day for Wiltshire golf.

Full results here.

Day 4 Wiltshire vs Devon

With Ben Stow leaving to travel to the British Amateur and Ben Loughrey only playing singles before also leaving, the Wiltshire side were weaker on paper but some fine individual performances left us 5 ½ to 2 ½ up at lunch and only needing a win and a ½ to secure victory. It all got very tight at one stage with the top match of Ali James and Josh Loughrey 2 down with three to play but a brilliant birdie at 16 and par at the difficult 200 yard 17^th, straight into the wind, got them back to level. A great 6 iron approach to twelve feet put the pressure on Devon who missed the green short right and chipped up to 10 feet. Josh had a putt to win but just shaved the hole leaving Devon to bravely hole out and secure a half.

In the following match, new pairing of Paul Green and Yoshio Takeuchi produced a fine performance to win 4 and 2 and secure the team points and with Jordan Smith and Tom Ruddle also victorious Wiltshire were 8 ½ to 5 ½ winners.

A clean sweep so far...Dorset and Somerset to follow on Thursday and Friday.

Jordan Smith and Josh Loughrey with 5.5 and Ali James with 5 points from a possible 6 are the three leaders in the individual race for top point scorer for the week. 

Day 5 Wiltshire vs Dorset

The only side to beat Wiltshire last year, denying us the Matchplay Shield, the team was bent on revenge. Wins in the singles from Ali, Josh, Yoshio, Paul and Jordan ensured a 5-3 lead at lunch and the team produced again in the afternoon, winning three of the four games to secure a comprehensive 9.5 to 4.5 victory. 

As the other results came in it became clear that the nearest challengers were 2 points behind Wiltshire so we could not be caught on the final day. 

Day 6 Wiltshire vs Somerset

A day of heavy early morning rain made play difficult but the quality of the golf was outstanding. Ali James, in the top match, lost 10 and 11 to birdies and 12 to par to go 3 down before a birdie on 13, a win with par on 14, almost an eagle on 15, birdie on 16 and an incredible birdie from 4 feet on the 200 yard 17th closed out his match by 2 and 1. Quite a turnaround. The side though, perhaps a little jaded, were 5-3 down at lunch.

Wins by Ali and Jordan had ensured that the trophy for most points in the week would be decided between them by the afternoon results. Jordan, half a point ahead lost his only game of the week while Ali got a dramatic half on the last with new partner Yoshio. Only countback could decide the winner and that was Jordan on matches won.

At the end of a quite incredible week Wiltshire have won the Matchplay Shield, the Stokeplay Team Championship, the individual Strokeplay Championship, the Colts Championship and the Clifford Burden Trophy for most points by an individual with Wiltshire palyers filling 2nd and 3rd places. The most successful year in the history of Wiltshire golf and congratulations to Captain Kevin Phillips and all his team.