Ryder Cup – Wychwood Park Golf Club

Day 1 (Captain – USA – Steve Davies)

Captain Covid arrived to rally the troops on day 1, full of enthusiasm sporting a specially purchased USA top from Amazon, the boys seemed up for it even though half of my dream team turned up in European blue. 

I should have realised I was ill when I was encouraging Dave Hadden to hit his drive into the trees left on the first only to then realise he was on my team. 

The Foodie brothers vs the Davies seniors was on the red button, some splendid play and fist bumps from the foodies on the front 9 and it was 1 point to Europe at the turn. Col disappeared at half time, came back and played majestic, beating everyone on gross and winning the first 4 holes on his own. 1-1 the share of points. 

A big shout out to the rest of the squad for day 1, my picks worked a treat 7-3, a special mention to the Clarkey/Nelson combo, a 2-0 white wash laden with birdies and pars. 

I did the picks for day 2 from bed so I will pass over to josh to finish the write up.. USA!! Josh you owe me £50 I haven’t forgot. 

Day 2 (Vice Captain – Europe – Josh Hadden)

Going into day two my team were bruised and behind but we weren’t beaten. I woke up feeling surprisingly fresh after a fair amount of ale consumption and speaking to my teammates over breakfast the confidence was returning to us. We still had something to fight for and a few early points could change the outlook of the whole match. I set my line up and as the singles games were revealed my mindset quickly flipped and I couldn’t see us losing. We were also generously gifted the first point of the day due to captain Ste Davies being unable to play (hope you’re feeling better captain). It was 7-4 and game on. I swiftly started thinking of monikers for our comeback akin to the Miracle at Medinah. The Comeback in Crewe? The FFGS Fightback?

Sadly, that last shred of optimism didn’t last very long…

If anything, our loss was even more thorough on day two. Team USA not only underlined the first day’s score line but added a few exclamation marks for good measure. We lost the days matches 6.5-3.5 and that includes a point from the match that didn’t even start! Thank god for Phil Draper, Simon Davies and Frank McGlynn getting us something on the board. Well played chaps.

I had a personal battle with Les Hurst that went all the way to the last hole. Les played the hole perfectly almost making a gross birdie to close out the game. Well played Les. Shame you turned down the offer of playing our match play semi-final hey? We both had the joy of watching Dave Hadden and Dan Foode play out an FFGS classic in which they barely scored double figures between them for the back nine. We still managed to lose it which was a nice way to sum up our team’s weekend, cheers Dan.

As if my day couldn’t get any worse I then realised I had to announce Simon Davies as the winner of the stableford. Thanks for finally contributing to the team Si it certainly took you long enough. Hopefully we play this event again next year as I for one really enjoyed the format. I look forward to taking on whoever becomes my vice-captain. Probably not as much as they look forward to taking on me after that performance!

A final score of 13.5-6.5 and I think I have landed on that name now. The Walloping at Wychwood

Winners’ View

Never played the Ryder Cup format before but when I was partnered with Evan I thought not much could go wrong. Playing a 23 handicapper and a 15 handicapper I assumed over the course of 18 holes they would make a few mediocre shots, how wrong I was. On the front 9 I think Steve Clarke and John (Computer Game) Nelson were about 3 over gross and firmly stuffed me and Evan into the ground. I went to the restaurant to get some water and compose myself for the back 9, only to be stuffed again. Covered in sweat and with zero points to my name, I was a proud man informing Josh of our successes and ensuring we had no chance as a team. The next day after 1 hour sleep and heading back out into the oven, I was excited to play someone who would give me a chance, only to be matched against computer game Nelson again, thinking this could be very embarrassing. Watching Paul Foode 4 put from 20ft early doors in an attempt to “pile the pressure on Andy” made me relax as I wouldn’t be the only one embarrassing myself. A steady round focussing on the match play probably made me play differently and helped me win overall. Feels strange to be clapped for my win even though I lost 1 point overall for Europe, but I will take it. Josh announcing the scores like a shy school girl made me excited for his years captaincy. Thanks to Steve for organising!

Thanks and congrats to our winner, Simon Davies