As you may remember from a previous post, Glenalmond were drawn to face Harrow (again!) on Royal St Georges (again!), but this time starting on the Friday and not the Thursday. The hon secretary had his hands full for a while as the team changed several times from the original announced team. Andy Frey was unable to extract himself from work commitments, and was replaced by Sandy Gray and Niall Watson suffered a shoulder injury, requiring a recall for the experienced John Bushell. We also welcomed back Karl Frey to the team and Llew Porter made his debut this year, another welcome addition to the team given his age (a low number), his handicap (another low number) and his swing speed (a very high number!).
After last year’s centenary event encouraged some supporters to venture down, we were delighted to have a few more supporters down this year. Some managed a game at Royal St Georges on the Tuesday, the Peter Kenyon Bowl at Princes Golf Club on the Wednesday (no scores were made available to me for some reason, I won’t ask!) and then Rye on Thursday. As the team did not start on Thursday, the team, Sandy Gray excepted who was on Halford Hewitt committee duties, and a handful of supporters took the hour drive to Rye for what was a fantastic day at a tricky and quirky course on the Sussex coast in glorious weather, highly recommended! We even managed a game (and a 2-1 victory) against St Bees and that team was as follows
- John Gordon and Russell Crighton – won
- Mike Thomson and Niall Booker – lost
- Jim Patrick and Stephen Titterington – won
Apart from Wednesday, which was a bit cold and windy, the weather in Kent was excellent, sunscreen and hats required for sure, which made a welcome change to recent Hewitts. On Friday, this was most certainly the case, as we started our campaign hoping to avenge the loss against Harrow last year. Sadly it was not to be, as our Harrow opponents, several of whom are Royal St Georges members, putted us off the course and we went down to a 4-1 defeat (again!).
- Karl Frey & Cameron Grieve – lost 3/2
- Tom Simmonds & Llew Porter – lost 4/3
- John Bushell and Campbell Gibson – half (but were going to win the 19th)
- Richard White and John Laird – half – shaking hands on the 18th tee with the match all square
- Mike Thomson & Sandy Gray – lost 3/2
Unfortunately, as we started on Friday, we had to rush over to Princes to start our Princes Plate campaign that same afternoon, which turned out to be against St Bees, who lost to Fettes in the morning. However, we were more successful there with 2.5 – 0.5 victory.
- Tom Simmonds and Llew Porter – won
- Karl Frey and Cameron Grieve – won
- Mike Thomson and Campbell Gibson – half – all square on 18th tee when game finished
We were surprised to find that our 2nd round plate opponents on Saturday morning were to be Tonbridge. They were by no means the only big fish in the plate, with Eton (last years winners), Loretto (who’ve won 3 out of the 4 last Hewitts), Watsons and Radley all joining us in the plate, so we were in good company. The Tonbridge team happened to contain a certain Tom Bushell, son of John Bushell. We were hoping to meet them in the third round of the main event, which could have allowed John to play Tom. This would have been unique in Hewitt history, as John’s father attended Bedford and they have played against each other in the Hewitt, so if John were able to play against his son (as well as his father), that would have been very special indeed.
Saturday morning saw a slight tweak to the team and the results against Tonbridge were as follows
- Mike Thomson and Karl Frey – lost 1dn
- Campbell Gibson and Cameron Grieve – lost 3/2
- Tom Simmonds and Llew Porter – half (but were one down going down 18, and Tonbridge were 6 feet from the pin in 2)
The stats have been updated and can be found on https://oldglenalmondgolf.co.uk/halford-hewitt-heritage/
For the record, Bradfield, having beaten Harrow in the semi finals went on to beat Winchester in the final. In the Plate, Radley, having beaten Tonbridge in the semi finals went on to beat Eton (last year’s winners) in the final. It wasn’t a successful campaign for any of the Scottish schools, with Merchiston, Fettes, and Accies all going home after round 2, and Loretto and Watsons were both in the plate, and neither made it to Sunday.
Despite the results, it has been a wonderful week again. The team is gradually refreshing and I’m pleased to say that 5 of the team are younger than 30, and of them the highest handicap is 1. Along with some good golfers not available this year, and a heap of experience around the team, there is hope for the future, and hopefully a fair draw after a few years of tough ones that we can go deeper into the tournament. The addition of more supporters really adds atmosphere to the week and the players welcome the extra help and support and especially captain Stephen Titterington’s jokes at the dinner table!
Next year the dates are 9th to 12th April 2026, noting that Easter Sunday is the 5th April. We hope you can join us.
