This year’s match against the Japanese took place at Porters Park on September 16, coinciding with Respect for the Aged Day. The Japanese team, captained by Ono and Tokuda, turned up at 09:00 sharp for a team putting practice. Sadly, Ono san was unable to attend on the day due to a last-minute business trip overseas - but Tokuda san proved himself to be a very capable replacement. You could sense their keenness, and their steely determination for victory! Players were greeted by clear blue skies and warm sunshine, while Porters Park offered a challenging yet enjoyable course that struck a perfect balance. Both teams were fighting for the chance to win the William Adams Trophy, a competition that has been running for some 30-40 years, and a trophy named after the first Englishman to have landed on the shores of Japan back in 1600.

Captains Bond (SSY) and Tokuda (MES) started the action with a prompt tee-off at 10.50am - admittedly with Tokuda starting the head-to-head match a little more elegantly than Bond, who was un-nerved by the pressure of an audience. From the 2nd hole onwards, their match then warmed up into a very closely fought rivalry - with both players vying for the lead. It was only on the 18th hole that Tokuda was able to secure his win by going 2up.

Next up was Harry Stapleton of Pacific Basin who took on Mihara of Sojitz - again another closely fought match which was evenly shared until the 16th - at which point Harry cruised into an unassailable lead, finishing 3 & 1. Harry had a great day's golf leaving him in close contention for both the Nearest to the Pin and the Longest Drive - he did however also walk away with a booby prize for managing two shots on the 8th hole, without reaching the forward tee! Overall match score is even (1-1).

Next match saw Charles Keyworth (Drylog) and Sam Pode (Windward) facing Maeda (Iino) and Tsuno (NYK), and the honours were evenly shared, with Maeda winning his match 3 & 2, and Sam grabbing victory by 2 & 1. Charles covered himself with glory, however, by winning the Closest to the Pin on the 9th hole - making his children very proud of him upon his return home. Likewise, Sam was dispatching some excellent golf all day - with a notable 170 yard shot out of a bunker to make the green. The match score was still even (2-2).  

SSY's Josh Benson (playing off a handicap of 3.6) was up against Hayashi (Class NK) in the 3rd flight, along with match-veteran Jamie Freeland (Metz) against Gon san (JSC). Amazingly these 2 matches were shared, with Josh winning his game by 3up on the 18th, and Gon san winning 4up for the Japan team. It is now 3-3. 

The 4th match consisted of Henry Smith (MOL - and representing the BEGS team for the first time) against Aoki of MES and Ralph Melhuish (Nomikos) against Tamagawa (NSU). Henry was victorious in his match against Aoki by 2 & 1, however Tamagawa claimed a 4 & 2 victory against. It wasn’t all gloom for Ralph though, not only because he had loved the day, but also because he claimed the Longest Drive prize on the 15th hole! Still nothing between the 2 teams at 4-4, at which point the Japanese team are starting to sense a chance of victory, and the BEGS team were making worrying glances at each other.

The fifth 4-ball saw BEGS’ Jim Davis (Embiricos) lose to Tsuchiya san (CMP) by the slim margin of 2 & 1 and Mark Hubbard (Baltic) claiming a convincing win against Kokaji (Namura), so the overall match score remained locked in a 5-5 tie. Up to the tee box stepped Pete Hirons (Wah Kwong) versus Shibata (NSU), and BEGS's newest recruit (also very handy golfer playing off 8.6) Harry Oliver (Marex) versus Kamata (Sumitomo). Despite a shorter drive than intended on the first, Peter’s game picked up and played some great golf, including a gross birdie on the 11th which was Index 2! Eventually Pete won his match 4&3, which took the BEGS 6-5 up in the overall match and at least provided the comfort that a halved score would mean BEGS retain the Trophy.

This meant that it was left in the hands of rookie Harry to try and win the overall match. Harry stormed ahead over the first 9 holes, only to wobble in the middle section allowing Kamata to claw back some points - it was all square going into the 18th, but Harry held his nerve to finish 1up. BEGS walked off as 7-5 winners, but the result was in the balance all the way to the last flight. It was an incredibly exciting match, and fantastic to see the matchplay format adjusted for handicap worked to the greatest extent by making all the matches closely fought.

Congratulations to all the players for not only a hard-fought contest but one played in great spirit. Good day for Henry to switch sides...

 

Click here to see the photos.