Loughburians Golf Society Match v Nottinghamians

The Loughburian team arrived in good time at Rothley to host the annual match versus Nottinghamians (Notts High School Old Boys) on the sunny but showery Autumn afternoon of 14 October 2020.  The Loughburians were looking to retain the Trophy following an excellent victory away from home at Hollinwell in 2019.

The first match was a very tense affair with the Loughburian pair of Simon Cockbill and Hatj achieving a fighting half point after being three holes down with three to play!  The final match was also very close with Jonathan Carlisle and Stephen Hilton eventually overcoming a very strong Nottinghamian pair on the last hole.

The full results are as follows:

Simon Cockbill and Hatj halved with Julian Gunn and Guy Guisborne
Chris Drane and Pippa Stephens defeated Martin Hardwidge and Chris Spilsbury
Dave Barnett and Paul Graveling defeated Richard Hodgkins and Tony Palfreyman
Jonathan Carlisle and Stephen Hilton defeated Geoff Bryan and Clive Bentley

Another interesting fact arising from the day is that Hatj knew Julian Gunn from about 40 years ago when he was the optician in Nottingham who prescribed Hatj, the School 1st XV rugby hooker, contact lenses so he could see the scrum half signal for when the ball was being put into the scrum!

Unfortunately, owing to the recent Nottingham City and surrounding area increased Covid measures, there could be no meal after the match, and so the Trophy presentation was made on the patio in front of the Rothley Clubhouse by John Weitzel, who had kindly given up some of his time to watch the last few holes of golf, and who also brought along the Salver that records the details of previous matches.