Cambridgeshire Golf Union
Saffron Walden win the Goddard Cup in epic encounter with Gog Magog
The final of the Goddard Cup was played last Sunday at the Saffron Walden Golf club between the home club Saffron Walden and the Gog Magog Golf Club.
The cup, first played for in 2005, was presented by brothers John and Sam Goddard, both of Saffron Walden Golf Club. They were both County stalwarts for many years, winning many CAGU championships between them.
Saffron Walden have won the cup 3 times and Gog Magog 5 times. It promised to be a close fought match with Gog Magog having what looked a stronger team on paper than their opponents but with Saffron Walden having home advantage.
The 4 morning foursomes finished with honours even at 2 matches. The highlights were Gogs scratch team captain Tom Williams and club champion Paul Collington narrowly scraping home on the 18th green against the Walden skipper Tom Wild and James Price when a 5 foot downhill putt by Williams crept into the side of the cup.
The best performance from the Walden team came when Richard Southall and his partner Edwards Saxel, who was a late replacement, managed to overcome Walker Cup player Dominic Clemons and his young partner Ellis Kerr by 2 & 1. Two outrageous putts by Ed Saxel on the 13th and 17th holes knocked the stuffing out of the talented Gogs pair.
Gog Magog’s other win came from George Howard and young James Matthews who defeated Scott Parnell and 12 year old Oliver Smith. Walden tied it at 2-2 when winning the final match where Jonny Jenkins and veteran Olly Tuck defeated Nick Smits and Dan Knight.
The afternoon singles were keenly fought with the top four singles being shared with wins for James Price and Olly Tuck for Walden and Paul Collington and James Matthews for Gogs.
The home team went ahead when Richard Southall defeated Dan Knight and Tom Wild beat Ellis Kerr so it was down to the experienced Nick Smits and Tom Williams to save the day for Gog Magog and take the match into a sudden death play off.
Smits chipped in to win the 17th hole to go one up but sadly missed his putt to win the match on the 18th green. It really didn’t matter as captain Tom lost his match to Jonny Jenkins on the 16th green and so victory went to Saffron Walden by 7.5 to 4.5.
As mentioned by Neil Hughes, the CAGU Director of Championships at the presentation of the trophy, the match was played in a great spirit by both teams.
A big thank you to the Saffron Walden Golf Club for the special hospitality shown to CAGU officials and competitors on the day. The catering, as always was superb and all player and officials were well looked after by the bar staff.
Praise must go to Ian Cambridge and his staff for presenting a course in its usual splendid condition .
Finally, many thanks to referees John Williams and Allan Campbell who were out on the course all day making decisions and reporting scores as the match progressed.
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