The return match against Cumbria Juniors took place on Sunday 25 June at Dumfries & County Golf Club on an overcast day with a strong breeze. The course was in superb condition as Taylor Kerr (Sanquhar) and Callum McMillan (Kirkcudbright) led out the South Juniors against a very strong Cumbria team in the morning foursomes.
Playing well they got off to a flying start and were one over par after three holes and three up. Still three up after six holes they won the seventh and remained four up after the first nine. Cumbria hit back winning ten and twelve before Taylor and Callum regained their composure with a birdie on fourteen and won the game on the sixteenth green by 4 & 2
Angus Bendall (Castle Douglas) and Nathan Watson (Kirkcudbright) playing the top Cumbria boys started steadily and were one up after three, two up after eight and three up after nine. This was reduced to two up after eleven and a par on fourteen regained their three hole lead and they shook hands on the fifteenth green for a 4 & 2 win. The South boys played some marvellous foursomes golf and when the game ended were one under par with no bogeys.
The penultimate pairing of Iain Rae (Dalbeattie) and William Squires (Kirkcudbright) were one down after three holes but got it back to all square by the turn. On the back nine, Iain and William birdied fourteen, parred sixteen and seventeen to win by 3 & 1.
Mitchell Cowie (D & C) and Cameron Gray (Kirkcudbright) were having a titanic struggle being one down after two holes, then birdied three and four to go one up. Cumbria then birdied the sixth hole, South birdied the seventh but lost the ninth to be all square for the outward half. The pressure was starting to tell as the South boys won ten and thirteen before two pars on fifteen and sixteen gave them a 4 and 2 win.
This was a marvellous start and the South boys were rightly elated at the scoreline, South 4 games Cumbria 0. They were delighted with how they had combined together and with the way they had all played.
Taylor Kerr led the South boys off in the afternoon singles but got off to a bad start and was two down after three holes, three down after four and five down after nine. Taylor then started his comeback with birdies at ten and eleven but could not sustain the charge and lost 4 & 2
Callum McMillan fared better in the early stages and was three up after three and four up after five before losing three holes and was back to two up at the turn. The Cumbria fightback continued on the back nine and Callum found himself one down after fifteen but by the seventeenth he was all square before a wayward drive cost him the final hole and he finished one down.
Unfortunately Angus Bendall could not find his form of the morning and playing against the top Cumbria boy was made to suffer although he fought all the way. He lost the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth to be six down for the outward nine. This was a shock to his system, but he eagled the tenth, won the twelfth but eventually lost by 6 & 4.
Nathan Watson, however, continued his good form of the morning and won holes two and three before losing the next three to be one down after six and two down after eight. Having no luck with the putter, horseshoeing out three times, he found himself dormie four down after 14, won fifteen and sixteen before losing 2 & 1
After winning the first hole it took William Squires to the seventh and eighth hole to win again and he was three up after eight and two up at the turn. He continued to fight hard and was still two up after twelve and went on to win 2 & 1
Iain Rae started steadily but was one down after eight and all square for the outward nine. He also showed his fighting spirit, was two up after twelve and shook hands with his opponent on the fifteenth green after an impressive display winning 4 & 3
Another steady start from Mitchell Cowie, the new Junior Champion of D & C, who was two up after five before winning six holes from the sixth to the twelfth and securing a landslide victory by 8 & 6
Cameron Gray won the fifth but lost the sixth and reached the turn two down. He then won eleven, lost twelve, won thirteen, fourteen, fifteen and sixteen, lost seventeen and won eighteen for a two hole victory.
This resulted in a score of four games all in the singles and a win for the South by 8 games to 4. The platform for this marvellous win for the South was the solid performance in the morning foursomes and although some boys went to sleep in the afternoon all team members made a valuable contribution.
Individual Results
Morning Foursomes
Taylor Kerr (Sanquhar) and Callum McMillan (Kirkcudbright) beat Jamie Sowerby (Appleby) and Dominic Barron (Kendal) by 4 & 2
Angus Bendall (Castle Douglas) and Nathan Watson (Kirkcudbright) beat Byron Evans (Carus Green) and Archie Davies (Carlisle) by 4 & 3
Iain Rae (Dalbeattie) and William Squires (Kirkcudbright) beat David Boardman (Ulverston) and Tom McNeil (Carlisle) by 3 & 1
Mitchell Cowie (D&C) and Cameron Gray (Kirkcudbright) beat Liam Mason (Sedburgh) and James Fisher (Brampton) by 4 & 2
Foursomes score: South 4 Cumbria 0
Afternoon singles
Taylor Kerr lost to Dominic Barron by 4 & 2
Callum McMillan lost to Jamie Sowerby by 1 hole
Angus Bendall lost to Archie Davies by 6 & 4
Nathan Watson lost to Byron Evans by 2 & 1
William Squires beat Tom McNeil by 2 & 1
Iain Rae beat David Boardman by 4 & 3
Mitchell Cowie beat Liam Mason by 8 & 6
Cameron Gray beat James Fisher by 2 holes
Singles score South 4 Cumbria 4
Match Result South 8 Cumbria 4
The photograph shows the South team of Callum McMillan, Cameron Gray, William Squires, Iain Rae, Mitchell Cowie, Angus Bendall, Taylor Kerr and Nathan Watson