Home
Up

Sudden Death Thriller decided at 24^th

“Deal thriller - sudden death match decider goes to 24th”

Halford Hewitt, April 2003 – 2nd round match, Haileybury versus Dulwich.

An account by the Haileybury Captain – one of many excited observers

Having beaten Framlingham quite comfortably in the 1st round, we drew Dulwich on the Friday. The match was poised at 2-2, with our 3rd pair ready to go down the 19th, playing sudden death.

Sam Smale & Steve Thomas still looked flushed with the success of halving their match after 18 holes when Sam marched off, up to the 1st tee, ready to launch the Haileybury team into sudden death.

There was the usual state of slight confusion among spectators about what was going to happen. Which match was this? Which schools were duelling it out? Is it worth following down to the green or shall I watch from upstairs? Maybe the balcony would be the best place? What happens if it goes on past the 19th? Should I follow it or not?

The hard core of followers from the two schools had already worked this out – they weren’t going to miss a shot and maybe 70 or 80 people were intent on making their way towards the 1st green. As the tension mounted more people joined the excited crowd.

Sam stood on the 1st tee – outwardly he was at peace with the situation. He had been there several times before playing sudden death and knew that looking calm was all part of the psychology of winning. Inwardly, his stomach churned – he knew that one bad swing could mean defeat. Putting all thoughts of slicing it into the car park out of his mind, like a good’un, his drive went straight down the middle. Thank god that’s over he thought.

Steve was really up for it. He had lived for this moment. The opportunity to show his fellow team members that his golf really was better than he had ever been able to show them before - and this time under stress conditions!

As Steve walked from the area in front of the Club House where the flagpole stands, towards the Haileybury ball that had recently arrived in the centre of the fairway, there was a deliberate arrogance to his stride exuding confidence. Steve knew he could handle it, even though this was a brand new experience in his Halford Hewitt career.

The Dulwich opponents had driven into the left rough. This is normally “deadsville”, but this year the rough on that side of the fairway was unusually light. It would still require a well-struck shot to clear the ditch that runs across the front of the 1st green. Playing first, Dulwich cleared the ditch but their ball finished just off the left hand side of the green some 50 feet wide of the pin that was positioned in the centre and at the back of the green.

Steve stood over the Haileybury ball and knew what he had to do. His shot with a 9 iron sailed over the ditch and finished on the green, some 30 feet to the right of the pin.

Choosing to putt the ball, Dulwich’s 3rd shot came up to 7 feet short of the hole. Advantage Haileybury!

Sam knew this was his moment to go for the kill. In foursomes’ golf, however, you have to think of your partner. Chasing the ball 5 feet past or leaving it a nightmare 3 or 4 feet short is the enemy of one’s nerves. Conferring with Steve for a few seconds on the choice of line, Sam knew his putt had to be the perfect combination of line and strength. Concentrating like he had never concentrated before, he set the putt rolling towards the hole and finished close enough for the putt to be conceded. In these situations, short putts of more than 18 inches are rarely given.

I was standing at the back of the 1st green and had an excellent view of the hole. Word was buzzing around that the Dulwich player about to putt from 7 feet had missed several putts of shorter than this length in the last nine holes, so Haileybury were favourites. I tried not to listen.

He stepped up to the ball, chose his line and after much deliberation putted it straight into the hole. Punching the air several times as the crowd roared their approval, he then conceded Haileybury’s putt and the hole was halved in four. Dulwich had survived the first extra hole by making a gritty four.

If you are a true sportsperson, it is a difficult moment wishing failure on your opposition. In golf, when putting one is taught to assume that whatever you do, always expect your opponents to hole their putt. Providing you stick to this rule, you are never disappointed, nor do you suffer any psychological disadvantage when the opponents succeed in holing out.

In extra holes, as a golf match proceeds under sudden death conditions, one’s adrenalin surges to a point when you know it’s there and it has to be managed. As Steve swaggered back to the second tee, you knew he was bursting with adrenalin and that would be his biggest danger when facing the drive up the gentle hill to find the second fairway which seems to narrow and slope to the left the further you drive up the hill.

As the crowd moved to take up its position on the second hole, it seemed to have doubled to 150 people all of whom were chattering and exchanging views on what might happen next. The excitement built as the gladiators took their position on the second tee. Steve hit a magnificent drive that split the fairway. The Dulwich opponent hit a similarly good drive that just ended off the fairway on the left in light rough.

Sam’s choice of club was perfect and he struck a magnificent blow. The ball landed on the green some 15 feet from the flag, leaving Steve a fast running downhill putt to a difficult pin position on a gentle slope. Advantage Haileybury! When the Dulwich second shot came up short of the green on the right, the advantage was confirmed.

The Dulwich chip was excellent under conditions of such extreme stress, ending 6 feet below the hole. Steve researched his putt and again he and Sam conferred on the line. What a fine example of a foursomes’ partnership they made! Steve’s putt rolled slowly towards the hole dead on line. It’s going in I thought along with the others sharing my position at the side of the green. At the last moment it deviated a fraction, touched the hole and went 3 feet past. Still it seemed the advantage was with Haileybury.

Gallantly, Dulwich holed and Sam was left with the three footer. He didn’t disappoint, putting it straight into the middle of the hole. Phew!

The army of people moved away from the green, some running over the dunes, some stumbling a little as they took up their positions to observe the tee shots at the par 5, third hole. The buzz of excitement grew and then hushed as Sam stood over his drive.

After a couple of long and fluid practice swings, Sam’s ball sailed up the right hand side of the fairway, slightly cut and failed to bounce to the left on landing, ending up on a very bald lie, somewhat shorter than he would have liked in a flat piece of ground to the right of the fairway. It would take a massive hit for Steve to reach the green off a very tight lie, especially as there is a very large dip immediately before the green. Dulwich then drove and found the middle of the fairway with a magnificent blow. Advantage Dulwich!

Well, the next shot from Steve was truly an astonishing blow! Not only did he hit the 3 wood of his life, it had such power as it sailed up the left side of the fairway towards the hill below the 4th tee that it bounced past the side of the green ending 50 feet from the flag, just passed the end of the green on the left! The Dulwich second shot with an iron was also a fine stroke, ending at the back of the green, a similar distance away from the flag.

Where both balls had finished, it would not be unreasonable to expect one of the teams to get down in two. Haileybury’s shot, however, was the harder, requiring a chip of immaculate precision to get into that 5-foot circle around the hole that one should always imagine is the target when faced with such a shot. I was beginning to get very nervous and consoled myself by thinking how glad I was it was Sam who would have to play the shot and not me. Haileybury again conferred and taking his time, Sam ran the ball up to 4 or 5 feet.

There is a famous saying in golf that every shot pleases someone. The crowd roared its approval as Sam’s ball came to rest. Dulwich then putted from 50 feet. As the ball rolled slowly across the green towards the hole it curved away to the left, ending up a similar distance away. Both sides confidently holed, halving the par 5 in birdie fours. What a standard of golf we were watching! Both sides had gone par, par, birdie and the match was still all square.

We struggled up the bank to the 4th tee. Others ran on ahead to surround the green of the short fourth hole. Steve selected his iron and drew a nicely struck shot, using the right to left wind to bring the ball back towards the right hand side of the green. The ball looked as if it might take one bounce to the left and roll down the green some 20 feet from the flag, but caught the upslope causing it to stop dead just off the green, and a fraction short. No chip is simple under these circumstances but a par 3 would be Haileybury’s goal.

The Dulwich opponent then struck a very fine iron shot that sailed straight at the flag drawing as it flew at the flagstick. As the right to left wind took its toll, it became evident that the shot was a little too weighty and after one bounce the ball went off the back of the hill down a bank and a yard or two up the other side of the mound behind the green. That really is “deadsville” I thought and if only we can get down in two, Haileybury will be through to the next round. Double advantage Haileybury, I thought? No. Don’t get too excited. Remember never to get too surprised by what an opponent can do next.

I’m not sure in all honesty about what club was used to play the Dulwich second shot from below and over the back of the 4th green, off a downhill lie. It was probably a putter, but it was executed just about as well as it could have been, coming up some 10 feet past the hole, leaving Dulwich a downhill putt for a par. Sam chose to putt from where Steve’s tee-shot had landed and I felt pleased that his experience was there when it mattered. He rolled his putt up the initial fringe of the green and it meandered its way down to the hole rolling at a steady pace.

When putting downhill with the wind behind on fast surfaces, it is very difficult to lay the ball absolutely dead. Sam’s ball was drawing nicely to a halt but ran that awkward few feet past just when you thought he had judged it to perfection. It was still advantage Haileybury. Dulwich’s putt was 10 feet and downhill, ours was 6 feet but uphill and into the wind.

That unsporting feeling of mine returned. Surely, they couldn’t hole this one? My guilt was immediately balanced by a negative thought that perhaps we might miss ours as well. Perish the thought that they might hole and we will miss ours. Stay in the present and please God, allow all those positive vibes pass to Steve, I thought.

Dulwich stood over their putt. It was a matter of life and death for them. The ball started its journey down the hill towards the hole, jumped in the air as it hit a bump, remained on course and went straight into the hole. Oh no! The crowd roared and we all looked at one another. Poor Steve! The weight of whole Haileybury world was now on his shoulders.

Like a young lion, he stepped up to the putt and bravely rammed his six-footer straight into the middle of the hole for another half. Yet another ecstatic roar of approval sounded over the Deal links. I can’t believe what I am seeing I thought. Haileybury is one under par after 4 extra holes and we are fighting like tigers. This is what the Haileybury team is really made of and our potential has no bounds – we can beat Tonbridge playing like this as my thoughts wondered forward to whom we might play next on our progress towards the final of the Halford Hewitt!

In the heat of battle, I realised my thoughts were running away with me.

Onto the fifth hole which is a 500-yard par 5. The drama at this hole really only began when each side was faced with their third shot to the green. Although first to play, Sam was in a better position from Steve’s second and hit a really good-looking attacking wedge shot at the pin. With any luck he would finish some 15 feet past the hole. Dulwich played their third stroke from the left rough and as it flew towards the green, it seemed as if it would just carry the bunker and land pretty close to the flag. Deceived by the wind, the Dulwich ball fell short into the bunker.

Arriving breathlessly at the fifth green, I could not see the Haileybury ball. Sam had realised the bunker was the one place to avoid, but the green had been rather less receptive to his shot than any of us imagined. It was only just over the back but had rolled down into a small hollow.

Dulwich were in a deep bunker, having to play up to the flag. We were over the back having to chip over a bank and down to the pin. I felt uneasy. In these situations, generally speaking at this level of golfing expertise however high the standard of golf might have been up to now, the tension becomes so great that the hands and arms do not obey the golfing mind. A bunker shot tends to be either an absolute disaster or the exact opposite. A chip shot with a wedge can be thinned, hit “fat” or executed perfectly. There do not seem to be any half measures. Neither side was on the green and both sides were highly vulnerable to a shot that spelled disaster.

Confirming my unease, Dulwich played a magnificent bunker shot to 8 feet above the hole – a stroke of pure genius under such pressure. I had examined the Haileybury ball and the lie was not great. I thought to myself that Steve might try a bump and run into the bank as this looked like the percentage shot. (Afterwards, Steve told me that he took his wedge knowing that it was not the percentage shot, but that it was the only way he could think of playing shot with sufficient grip to stop the ball from rolling a good 20 feet past the flag – what a great thinker he is!).

Steve carefully lobbed the ball over the bank landing it softly on the green so that it ran gently down to the hole some 6 feet past. He had played a shot of infinite delicacy and certainly one that I didn’t think he had in the bag. Sam’s role in all this was to follow Dulwich in from 6 feet. No small feat as once again the match was saved and destined to another extra hole, the par 4 sixth. At one under par after 5 extra holes, both sides had played their hearts out.

I am even beginning to think the absurd that neither side deserves to lose. There isn’t much time for this benevolent kind of nonsense. The spectators are beside themselves in the grip of the match tension and running in all directions to gain the best vantage position to observe the sixth which is a 317 yard par 4 that heads slightly inland off the tee between two large mounds to a fairway that turns at 90 degrees to the right to a raised green that is 30 feet above sea level. Either side of the green there are steep banks. In a right to left breeze off the sea, the green is driveable, but there is much risk with this course of action.

It was still Haileybury’s honour after five extra holes. Earlier, in regular play, the Dulwich man had gone for the green. Steve thought about it carefully and made his decision. He launched a massive drive that went straight over the large dunes to the right of the fairway. His ball pitched into the bank of the green and climbed its way to within a yard of the top of the bank before gradually rolling back down into the dip below the green on the right, no more than 25 feet from the flag. Had his ball run another yard it would have dribbled down the bank to the flag that was just over the bank on the right hand side of the green, finishing no more than 10 feet from the flag. That would have been the killer stroke.

As it was, Sam now had a shot up the bank that had to be judged to the perfection that only a fluke stroke could leave Haileybury close enough to the pin to reasonably expect to make a birdie.

Dulwich this time chose to drive the ball down the middle of the fairway but the wind took the ball through the end of the fairway meaning that they too had an awkward pitch and run shot of some 80 yards, pitching into the wind, back up to and across 20 yards of fast running green.

I looked at the two ball positions and concluded that either side would be pleased to walk off the green with a par four. Dulwich had to play first, so, how Sam would play Haileybury’s second shot, would be determined by where Dulwich finished with their second.

What happened next was the defining moment. The Dulwich player hit a low, curling, pitch and run shot that caught the front bank of the green about half way up. This took sufficient pace off the ball for it to pop up onto the green and finish 4 feet short of the flag for two. Haileybury now had no choice – the only shot to give Steve a chance of holing for a three was to putt up the very steep bank and if the ball just got to the top, in all likelihood, it would gently roll down the bank the other side and finish 10 feet past the pin. Sam’s attempt was valiant, but the ball, having reached the top of the bank, nestled down and stayed there. From the top of the bank, Steve looked at his shot. He would have to hit the hole to have any chance of stopping the ball; otherwise it would go 10 feet past the flag for three.

Unless Steve holed this almost impossible shot, Haileybury looked like losing the match. We all shut our eyes and prayed. Steve’s putt slid past and went the expected extra distance. Haileybury had played three and were 10 feet away. Dulwich were 4 feet away for two. Sam grazed the hole and one of the greatest play-offs of all time in the Halford Hewitt was over, with Dulwich winning at the 24th, the sixth extra hole. Haileybury were out of the Halford Hewitt in the second round, beaten 3 – 2.

As Captain, I could not have been prouder of the team. There was real spirit in the way Sam and Steve had played their hearts out. They were and still are our heroes, even though they lost their match. Level par for 6 holes in a play-off and lose, said it all.

That night we celebrated like a team that had won.

Author: Derek Skinner, OHGS Captain

January 2004