The Bedford School golf team reached a triumphant end to one of the school’s most successful seasons by winning the prestigious HMC Schools Foursomes Final last week.
Thanks to their impressive win the six boys, Upper Sixth Formers Freddie Tucker and Jack Peters, Lower Sixth Formers David Wiltshire and Ed Wade, and Fifth Formers Fin Rennie and Will Mowe, finish the year as national champions, and make school golfing history as this is the first time that Bedford School have won the title in the competition’s 43-year history.
The final took place at the resplendent Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Course in beautiful sunshine and, whilst typically the competition is an eight-team event with two groups of four, a late withdrawal left just seven teams this year with the Bedford team facing Reed’s School (who defeated them in last year’s final) and Winchester.
Bedford School versus Reed’s School
Freddie Tucker and Jack Peters were the first pair to play and produced the first in a series of dominant displays. Having controlled the match throughout, reaching 3up (12), their opponents showed resilience and spirit in trying to mount a comeback, which was eventually thwarted on the 17th green with a 2 and 1 victory.
Fin Rennie and David Wiltshire were on second. Though they were -1 through seven holes, they found themselves one down as the Reed’s pair had made three birdies. Unflustered, they produced the best golf of the week, winning 3&2 by being -4 through the 16 holes they played.
Ed Wade and Will Mowe played in the third match. They too secured a win against another strong Reed’s pair with some solid par golf and fantastic up and downs, which laid the platform for success.
Bedford School versus Winchester College
After just a 45-minute turnaround between matches, the boys were soon back in action against Winchester. A fast early start was their strategy, given that fatigue was likely to set in later. The momentum from the morning’s matches helped and they were soon up in the front two matches. Jack and Freddie eased to a 3 and 2 victory and then offered their support in the pivotal last two games.
The next pair up was Fin and David. Winchester fought back to 1 down in the middle match through 16 holes when drama struck. Having seen two balls bounce down the fairway from the blind 17th tee shot, David incorrectly identified their ball as his. The hole continued and appeared to be halved in 4, leaving them dormie 1up. Winchester had the honour on the 18th tee and hit an excellent drive, which just crept off the right of the fairway. David’s retort was a perfectly played 2-iron into the fairway a meagre 10 yards short of their drive. Only then, about to play the second shots, was it realised that the teams had each other’s ball. The tournament director was consulted and, rightly, the 17th hole was retrospectively awarded to Winchester. Now, all square playing 18 and having been dealt a huge blow, it was over to Fin for his wedge shot. He hit it onto the narrow plateau at the back of the green with the pin on it, just eight feet from the hole. Two putts from there was good enough, as the opposition faltered, and a place in the final was secured. Behind them, Ed and Will had been two down through four holes to two birdies. They had mounted a comeback of their own to get back on level terms. Will Mowe’s putter was on fire, but they did not produce their best golf towards the end of the match, resulting in an inconsequential loss.
The Final – Bedford School Versus Loretto School
After a morning off and a much-needed rest involving a late breakfast and a leisurely jaunt around East Grinstead, the boys waited on the result of Stowe and Loretto to determine their opponents in the final. It was to be Loretto.
Jack and Freddie burnt up the course – 3 birdies in their first six holes and flying at 4up. They never looked back, and though Loretto tried to spirit a comeback, Freddie put paid to that by holing a 30ft putt on the 13th green to go dormie 5. They closed out the game on the 14th green – 5 and 4 victors. Their school careers done, they just had to wait on the pairs behind them needing one more for the national title they craved.
Behind them on the course there was no procession, instead two ding-dong encounters full of tension. In the middle match, Fin and David had been 2 up early on and were hoping for a nice, stress-free, afternoon. Not to be! In fact, they were 2 down through 11 and news from the back pair was not good either – 3 down through 10. It was our time to muster a comeback and wrestle back the momentum.
Fin and David won holes 12 and 13 to reach parity. By the time of playing the 14th, quite the crowd was gathering from the front match finishing and all the other competitors completing their afternoon 9-hole Stableford. Falling 1 down again on 15 and in trouble on the 16th, prospects looked bleak before David played one of his best shots of the week to leave Fin a chance of a par. By the time he hit the putt, it was to win the hole. Agonisingly, it burnt the edge of the hole, though this still felt like a good half, given we had looked likely to lose the hole just moments earlier.
The disaster of the 17th hole (a 470-yard par 4) the day before was cleansed from memory as Fin hit the fairway, David hit the green and 2-putts completed the business-like par to make the match all-square once again. On the adjacent 16th fairway, news filtered through that Ed and Will had miraculously fought back from 3 down to 1 up having won three holes on the spin from 11 to 13. They were, however, in the trees off the tee and soon to be back to parity with 2 holes to play. This match was set to go the distance.
The middle match halved the 18th in par, sending them into a playoff on the 1st hole. By this time, the last group were set to play the 18th and were still all-square. The layout of the course, with the 1st and 18th holes criss-crossing, fortunately allowed all spectators to see both matches play out to a conclusion. Four strong tee shots were hit, but David and Ed both gave us the ascendency by hitting the closer approach shots. In the back match, the opposition had gone long of the green and short-sided themselves – was it time to allow ourselves to dream?
The middle match had both balls on the green in two but both putts were lagged to roughly five feet. David holed his putt, having missed three or four from a similar length the day before, and had an Andy Murray-like fist pump. In that same moment, Loretto chipped the ball short of the green and left themselves with the same issues they faced before. Unfortunately, the match was won when Loretto missed their 5-foot putt on the 1st green. Celebrations were muted so to allow the conclusion of the last match – which those players deserved. Will had lagged his birdie putt to about three feet, but when Loretto failed to make their bogey putt, the match was conceded. This was a fiercely-contested match played in a great spirit, and the mutual respect between the players was evident at its conclusion. Joyous celebrations ensued.
Master in Charge of Golf, Mr Keith Thomson, said afterwards, “This was the culmination of a lot of hard work from a lot of people. Primarily the boys, not just those playing this week, but also those who have played a part earlier in the season and pushed each other in every session. I should also mention Holly Reddick’s work and commitment over a long period. The strength of our program currently is largely down to her work.”
