​Hill Barn Golf Club Men's Section

Match comments

West Hove away 2-4-25
Always a tough fixture with firm & fast fairways and a strong breeze helping your ball to go where you really didn’t want it to. Even our hosts looked a bit confused by the unusual North Easterly but they dealt with it a little better than we did and ran out worthy winners at Seven & a half to a half. John Young and Alastair Kay being the pair to save us from the ignominious white wash.

 

Mid Sussex home 9-4-25
Could we show that home advantage is a reality – well if it is we only just took advantage of it. A close match which swung on the final game coming in as a 3&2 win for Hill Barn giving us an overall 4.5 to
3.5 win. Our losses were to some particularly good golf from our opponents, with one of their number beating his handicap by a 9 shots We’ve all had good days but it’s difficult to compete when
the ‘Red Letter Day’ falls on your opponent’s shoulders. Story of the day was Grubby Tyrrells ‘birdie’ on the 13 th . He took out a Buzzard at 50 feet with his second shot. The poor old thing crashed to the
fairway looking stunned, but otherwise uninjured, so we carried it to some cover. There was no evidence of it the following day so we hope it recovered.

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East Brighton home 14-4-25
Another very enjoyable day playing in the nicest conditions and with a very dry wit as an opponent for company. My partner, Bob Ellarby, had one of those ‘Red Letter Days’ mentioned in the last match and if he didn’t ‘come in’ I managed to get something done. Our opponents just couldn’t get a look in and we shook hands on the 12th . The three games behind us were also won well but we had a slight wobble in
games 5 & 6 before our final two groups came in and wrapped it up. I think East Brighton have gone home to sharpen their knives so watch out for the return, I doubt it’ll be easy.

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Dyke home 16-4-25
A bright but breezy day for our home match with The Dyke. The lead game was John Young and myself and, for a change, we were actually getting some shots. Mind you their 5 handicapper was a
demon with a 3 wood, and most of the other clubs too. We had a very tight game with neither side getting more than 1 up at any stage. Whilst we had a chance to win it on 17 and 18 a half was the
fairest result with two guys who were very comfortable company. Two more of our sides had very slim losses whilst the rest managed wins. Dave Humphrey and Ian Clarke were first back to the clubhouse with a storming 7&5 win. Match won 5.5 to 2.5

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Chichester home 12-5-25

Now here’s a fixture we never seem to do well in but perhaps today could be different. Home advantage against Chichester is somewhat diluted as many of them come to Hill Barn through the winter. Ken G and I found out that one of our opponents has been playing it at least once a week since the 80’s, so probably knew it better than we did. Having said that we got to 2 up by the 4th and had thoughts of running away with it. Over confidence saw us play the next two poorly but we did manage to get to the turn 0ne up. Apart from a win on the 15th we halved every hole until we scrambled the 17th for a 3&2 win. The story behind us must have been very similar as we recorded wins as far as the 6th match. Only the last two matches went against us, both of them hard fought. Jim and Chris S were particularly bemused by a pair they were giving shots to only to watch them both hit the 8th in one. Now that’s a properly tough school. Roger J also got ‘a mention’ by his opponents for his 3 birdies and multiple pars. It does seem that as soon as you have a ‘red letter round’ you’re being measured up for a mask by your opponents. Crowning glory was Nearest the Pin (Richard W) and Longest Drive (Andy K) both being won by Hill Barn members

Match won 6-2 but they’ll be seeking revenge at their place.

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Slinfold Home 19-5-25 

An awkward day at Hill Barn as we were hosting our match plus a Cyril Blake round just behind us. Consequently the start had to be  rushed to get some separation.

 

Trevor H and I lead the way, both ‘coming in’ when the other struggled but I have to say Trev held us together on the back 9 as my driving collapsed. A very tight match that went to the last hole with us taking it 1 up. Behind us Jim D and Gary Edgar were playing well but finding their opposition something of a handful. Both giving shots they held on until the 16th but couldn’t halt the inevitable. Ray B and John Y got us another win whilst Roger J + Bernie T and Dave R + Bob E had very narrow losses. It was all getting a bit nervy in the clubhouse now as the final 3 games came in but we needn’t have worried as Steve W + Martyn M and Tim M + Grubby came home with big wins of 6& 4. With the overall match now being ‘Dormie’ for us the icing on the cake arrived in the shape of a 3&2 win for Tony D + Ian C.

 

Match won 5-3. The machine rolls on but with the next 5 fixtures being away can we keep up this strong showing ?​​