This week Hartlepool College of Further Education (HCFE) Golf Academy took on a new challenge as they pitted themselves against Durham University in a six person match play friendly at Seaton Carew Golf Club. Having established themselves as the number one college academy in the North East for the past three years, Hartlepool College has started to develop links with local universities in order to help with the development of student athletes.
College Sport Maker Dan Farman believes providing challenging matches for the student athletes is hugely important, saying “This is a great opportunity for the students to develop their game by challenging themselves against more experienced golfers. I believe this match will be a fantastic learning experience for our student athletes which will stand them in good stead ahead of the AOC Sport North East championships next week.”
The match itself saw six of Hartlepool College’s Golf Academy students square up against six Team Durham students in a ‘Ryder Cup style’ competition. Each Hartlepool College student played 18 holes of match play golf against their Team Durham counterpart, with six points on offer for each team.
Hartlepool College’s Team Captain, Cameron Wallace, led the way, gaining the College’s first point by defeating Steve Molenby of Team Durham 4&2. Unfortunately teammate Nathan Wood couldn’t build on a strong start and eventually went down 4&3 to the very talented Johan Voss. However, that turned out to be HCFE’s only loss, as the next four matches brought in 3 ½ points. Kris Ball and Lloyd Thift were both on the right side of very tight 1UP wins while Adam Stokle won match five very convincingly 7&6. Matty Booth completed a brilliant individual comeback, winning holes 17 and 18 to half the final match (see scoreboard below).
4&2 | C. Wallace | F | S. Molenby | ||
N. Wood | F | J. Voss | 4&3 | ||
1UP | K. Ball | F | J. Mcloed | ||
1UP | L. Thrift | F | B. Swales | ||
7&6 | A. Stokle | F | J. Walls | ||
A/S | M. Booth | F | F. Copestick | A/S | |
Hartlepool FE | 4 ½ | 1 ½ | Durham Uni | ||
It was a fantastic result for HCFE against one of the strongest Golf programmes in the county. HCFE Golf Academy Coach Clifford Jackson was very pleased with the level of Golf his players played at, noting “We knew that this was going to be a tough match for our lads against more experienced players but the lads rose to the challenge and can be proud of the golf they have played today. It sets them up nicely for next week’s competition.”
The next challenge for the Golf Academy is next week’s AOC Sport North East Championships, which is an individual 18 hole competition taking place at Teesside Golf Club on Wednesday 19th October.
