30
July
2021
The dragon roared at Conwy with Wales coming out on top as the match against the English managers celebrated its 30th anniversary... By Gareth Morgan Following last year's postponement of the Wales vs England GCMA Match it was great news that this year's went ahead held at Conwy Golf Club on Monday, 18th July. This was the 30th Anniversary of this fixture, which had first been played in 1991 at Southerndown, with 2020 being the only year of absence due to the Covid-19 pandemic. England had enjoyed a very fruitful time until recently, where they had either won or retained the trophy for ten consecutive years up to the Welsh team's win at The Oxfordshire Golf Club in 2018. However, the trophy has remained in Wales since that date so this match promised to be another keenly fought out affair. Both teams had taken the opportunity during the previous afternoon to sample the fabulous course at Conwy Golf Club - just weeks out from hosting the Curtis Cup. Following a friendly lunch at the Clubhouse, where the pairings and match ups for this 16-a-side match were announced, it was out onto the links for the match itself. This match was supported by GCMA Associate Partner, Golf Genius, who attended the match in order to run their match management software - providing up to the minute scores for all eight matches, which provided an extra dimension to the game with all players able to monitor their team's position in real time. This was also displayed on the large screen in the Clubhouse. The teams were led out by their respective Captains: David Carlisle (GCMA National Captain) with his partner Andrew Webster from Ganton GC, and Barney Curnock (Wales Region Captain) with his partner Matthew Parsley from the host Club, Conwy GC. GCMA President, JR Jones, also took part on his home course in the red of Wales as did former National Captain, and now England Team Manager, Cameron Dawson in the white corner. At one point in the match, to use the Ryder Cup terminology, there was "a lot of red on the board". But the England Team rallied, led by a magnificent Hole-In-One from London & Home Counties Regional Manager Maureen Brooker. With four matches still out on the course it became apparent that England now had the edge. Were everything to remain the same, they would run out with a 4.5-3.5 win. However, the Welsh Team are made of sterner stuff these days and thanks to some great golf from Ray Chilten and Paul Adams - both from Newport Golf Club - their match came down the 18th all square. With the big screen showing the players already in the Clubhouse, and how important this match was to the overall result, the balcony at Conwy was now a sea of red and white shirts. The pair from Newport withstood another fine shot from Maureen Brooker into the final green to hold firm and ensure that the trophy would stay in... Please LOGIN to read the full article.
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