There have been many historic matchups between bitter rivals. The Greeks vs The Romans. The Ryder Cup. Ali-Frazier. English football vs Argentina. Lakers vs Celtics. Yankees vs Red Sox. The donnybrook I’m about to describe between 4 world-class athletes in a foursome match at Delamere Forest Golf Club belongs in that stratosphere.
European courses are often described as links or parkland. Delamere Forest, designed by Herbert Fowler, is a heathland course which makes it a hybrid. It has firm, sandy soil and several stands of trees. It is surrounded by farmland and with the railway on its border, it created the perfect setting for a battle of wills this important and anticipated.
You might recall that Niall and I got tuned up 5 & 4 by Richard and Connor at Denton just one day prior, so our squad was not lacking motivation. When I arrived, I saw Niall lathered up on the range from his warm up—he knew what was at stake. And he was carrying a fairly large chip on his shoulder because he had been forced to purchase acceptable socks in the pro shop. At Delamere, the socks must be mid-calf. Niall doesn’t have calves. He has cows. And he evidently enjoys exposing them with anklet socks. I’m still of the opinion that Rich, the member, had intended to throw my partner off with this obvious chess move. But it really did the opposite. Niall was on edge, and now I just had to help him direct his simmering rage properly.
First holes can range from “fist bump,” to “firm handshake,” to “punch in the mouth,” depending on the intentions of the architect. In this case, I would describe the first hole at Delamere as a hand shake where the other person squeezes a little too tight and a little too long. When I rolled in a 15 foot slider for par to halve the first hole, glances were exchanged but no words.
Niall and I got off to a splendid start by winning the 3rd and held the lead until we lost the 7th and 8th. We dodged a birdie bullet by Connor at the 9th to turn one down.
The tee shots on the 10th were watched by a small audience of people on the patio celebrating the life of a fallen comrade. Although the crowd lacked enthusiasm, this was the type of match that deserved a gallery.
The 10th was halved but then Rich Clements did Rich Clements things by compressing a 4 iron to 8 feet at the par 5 11th. Niall lipped out a pitch but it wasn’t good enough to tie Rich’s 3 net 2. Rich politely reminded us that we were now 2 down. Thanks Johnny Miller.
My sons are exceptional athletes, but they get frustrated by the bad breaks that inevitably happen with this stupid game. When one faces adversity, the key is to accept it and move forward with grit. I call this “biting down on the mouthpiece,” which is a boxing term that describes moving forward and taking blows to give them back. The PGA Tour actually keeps a stat for this. It’s called “Bounce Back” and it records the times a professional makes a birdie or better following a bogey or worse. The leader in this category at about 30% is none other than the World #1 and Fed-Ex Champion, Scottie Scheffler.
We dodged another 3 net 2 bullet from Rich on the 14th, then we won the 15th and 17th to square the match. That left the picturesque reachable par 5 18th hole to settle things.
Four solid drives down the last gave us a slight advantage with Niall being the only player getting a stroke. He laid up into ideal position in two, about 75 yards away. Rich, who we have repeatedly established is a 9 handicap but actually much better, smashed a three wood onto the back fringe off a bare, side hill lie. Connor hit his approach to the left. I hit a 5 wood into the middle of the green.
Niall made a mess. Connor predictably got up and down for his birdie. I rolled my eagle effort to a gimme, so it all came down to Rich. 9 handicappers around the world would leave this putt well short. Time literally slowed down as we watched Rich’s perfectly paced putt just graze the right edge. We were all too spent to settle it in extra holes. Anticlimactic I know, but a half point is worth something.
Rich’s family served us a wonderful dinner to wrap up the English experience that will not be forgotten! We will be up early to catch the ferry to Dublin and shift our focus to perhaps the purest links golf in the world.
**The only time we smiled all day
