RAGS v Rye GC 2017

RAGS v Rye GC on Saturday 8 July 2017 at Rye GC

Team

Scott Forsyth (match manager)
Robin Broke
John Caiger
Simon Dunk
Eddie Grace
Bruce McMillan
Mark Pountain
Peter Tomlinson (played for RAGS Sat am, Rye GC Sat pm)
Doc Watson
Dominic Evans (Thursday/Friday only)

Result:  RAGS  4  –  5  Rye GC

Rye is used as an Open qualifying course when the Open is at nearby Sandwich and RAGS’ annual match there epitomises the essence of RAGS – like-minded people having fun on and off the course at a prestigious venue. The match is played over 36-holes. However, in a nod to the old 72-hole 2-day format and thanks to the Rye match manager, our very own Mark Lacey, the club allows RAGS access to the course on the day preceding the match.

This year, a 3-man pre-advance party recce’d the Old Course on Thursday afternoon. As Rye is a 2-ball course, a Ryesome was played. This involves one pair playing a foursome against an individual playing a single for 6 holes; players rotate for the second and third 6 holes. The 5-man advance party used this format again on the Friday morning as Mark Lacey and Dominic Evans headed for the Jubilee Course. The main party had arrived by lunch and Friday afternoon saw two foursomes and a singles deploy. John Caiger and Mark Pountain, having survived a puncture en route, had their first taste of the usual Rye sunshine and ever-present 2-club breeze. Friday’s ‘tour dinner’ was again held at the Ypres Castle…

The Saturday morning matches against the club delivered wins for Scott Forsyth, playing a single, and Doc Watson / Robin Broke. A halved match for Peter Tomlinson / John Caiger resulted in us being tied 2½ each at lunch when Peter Tomlinson swapped sides. Doc Watson / Bruce McMillan delivered our only win of the afternoon; Eddie Grace / Robin Broke halved. This fell short of Rye’s 2½ points and they ran out winners by 5-4. As is quite often the case in RAGS matches, maybe we had lunched better than the opposition, or maybe it was the after effects of the tour dinner, or maybe just sun and Rye breeze induced fatigue?

We will be looking at the option of increasing this match to 54 holes (18 on Friday afternoon and 36 on Saturday) in 2018, with a possibility of returning to a 72-hole 2-day match at some stage in the future. Provisional dates for next year are Fri 6 – Sat 7 Jul 18.