U18s Junior Boys matches v Lincolnshire & Leicestershire

It was Northamptonshire's turn to host this 3 Counties qualifier between ourselves, Lincolnshire and Leicestershire.
Northampton Golf Club agreed to allow us to use their Course for this fixture and despite the heavy rains the day before and the early hours of Tuesday, the Course was in superb condition and everyone spoke very highly of the venue and the Course condition. Well done all at Northampton GC.
Most Counties were a few players missing but we had a strong squad in our opinion and went into the morning foursomes with optimism.
Leading us off was the partnership of Captain Kai Raymond and Isaac Hedger.
Despite Isaac's relative inexperience this pairing worked well together and beat both Lincs and Leics by 3&2.
Next saw James Atwood and Ben Atherton gaining a half point against the Leics pairing but being soundly beaten by the impressive Lincs pair.
3rd off saw two of our experienced players, Harrison Panter and Ollie Penberthy in imperious form. They won both matches 5&4, to put us in a good position. 
Last off saw Oli Godwin paired with Adam Haywood. They struggled against decent players from the other Counties, but held their nerves and came in with 1 up wins against both of the other Counties.

After the Foursomes we were 3-1 ahead of Lincs and 3.5 - 0.5 up on Leics. A great morning's play but with 8 Singles in the afternoon there was all to play for.
First off was James who was playing two top players. James played well and fought all the way before going down by 1 hole against Leics and 2&1 against Lincs. This is his last game for us as he is shortly heading out to the US on a golfing scholarship and we wish him all the best.
Kai played at 2 and he is also soon to travel to the US for a golfing scholarship in North Carolina. Again, all best wishes to Kai from us all. He was determined to go out with a bang and was ahead early in both of his games but after a slight blip he got his composure back and won both of his games 2&1 v Leics and 3&2 against Lincs.
Ben Atherton was at 3 and playing one of the Midlands best players from Lincs. A tough afternoon saw Ben lose both singles.
At 4, Harrison Panter had been playing good golf all morning and this continued with him beating his Leics opponent 5&4. However he was up against another of Lincs top players. Harrison fought and was 1 down playing the last but couldn't win the 18th and lost 2 down.
Oli Godwin was playing at 5 and although he was suffering with two broken toes, he fought all the way before losing to Leics. However his match was crucial and he needed a 6 foot putt on 18 to go in for him to gain an important half point against Lincs who were putting in a determined challenge in the singles.
Our anchor, Ollie Penberthy had not lost a singles this season for us and this continued with two impressive 5&4 wins against both his opponents.
This meant that we needed a full point against Lincs to beat them. Still on the Course was Adam Haywood and we heard that he was a/s with Lincs after 15 holes but he had already beaten his Leics opponent. With the team and management waiting round the 18th green Adam was walking in without playing the last hole. Sighs of relief when he told us he won 16 and 17 to win against Lincs 2&1.
A superb day's golf with the weather somehow behaving apart from one sharp shower in the morning. The food was excellent from the Golf Club ensuring that everyone had a brilliant day. Once again many thanks to all at Northampton Golf Club. 
This now means that we travel to Halesworth in August to play against the winners of the Eastern side of the Anglian League who play early August.
Unfortunately we will be without James, Kai and Ollie P. for the final as two will be in the States and Ollie is committed to a tournament in Wales.
Well done to Kai, Ollie and Adam who gained all four points on the day, a great performance.