Cold putters in cup misery

LEWES Golf Club failed in their bid to become champions of Sussex when they were beaten 6.5-5.5 in the Davies And Tate final against West Hove at Crowborough Beacon on Saturday.

There was little to choose between the teams, but West Hove sank their putts when needed and the Lewes players did not.

Lewes team captain Peter Franklin said: 'We've no complaints. The best team on the day won.

'It was a wonderful match and we came very close.

'It was great to see so many Lewes supporters there in the afternoon - it shows what they think of the team. We're proud of them.'

Neither club had won the trophy before and the support for both sides was one of the biggest gatherings for a Davies And Tate final in years.

The match score was level at 2-2 after the morning foursomes, but defeats in the first three afternoon singles virtually sealed Lewes's fate.

Franklin put out two of Lewes's 'big three' - teenagers Henry Hilton and Jack Budgen - in the front two ties and they came up against West Hove's top two in Tom Coulson and Russell Cronin.

Hilton had won all his Davies And Tate ties this season, but he had a rare bad afternoon and went under by 3 and 2.

Budgen, beaten only once in the foursomes this year, matched Cronin blow for blow but could not find his putting touch and lost by the same scoreline.

And when the out-of-touch Andy Gale lost by 3 and 2 to the veteran Raoul Ellis Lewes were in deep trouble at 5-2 down.

They were also well behind on countback - number of holes won in each tie and the deciding factor in the event of the match finishing 6-6.

Next up was former professional Lawrie Tremlett (right) against Tim Marshallsay.

Tremlett drew the biggest gallery of the afternoon and did not disappoint, knocking out the pins time after time with some majestic iron play.

But, like so many of his colleagues on the day, he found his long putter to be a virtual stranger.

Tremlett went from an early lead of two up to one down, but an eagle at the 14th and a birdie at the 17th restored his supremacy and he won by two up.

Steve Verth and Matt Hart comfortably won their games at the back of the field, but the defeat of James Morrall at the 17th gave West Hove a 6-5 lead and effectively the match on countback.

Left on the course was Jon Williams, who had suffered a crushing 9 and 7 morning foursomes defeat with Gale.

Williams, Lewes's least experienced player at this level, put that defeat behind him and showed steel against the 16-year-old Gareth Hall.

And in a close-fought match he powered an iron to three feet at the par-three 17th to take a one up lead.

Walking to the 18th tee Williams was told Lewes would lose the match on countback and said: 'I was gutted and let my drive slide into long grass on the right.

'From that lie I could only hit it across the fairway into the rubbish on the left.

'That was a hopeless lie and the best I could do was hack it forward. I conceded the hole and gave Gareth a halved match.

'At the end of the day it was probably prefererable to lose the match by a whole point.

'Losing on countback would have been a real downer.'

l Manning's Heath beat Copthorne 8-4 in the final of the Davies And Tate Plate competition.