After threatening for many years I pulled the trigger and went down to Rye to watch some of the Putter last Saturday. A fellow GCAer kindly hosted me and another came along for good measure. For those unfamiliar with the event, every winter the Oxford & Cambridge GS hold their Annual Meeting at Rye during early January. The format is singles scratch 18 hole matchplay. Except for the break during WWII, the event has been ongoing since 1920. Many a famous player has won. A few of the names include Ernest Holderness, Bernard Darwin (of course!), Roger Wethered, Cyril Tolley, Leonard Crawley, Gerald Micklem & Donald Steel. The first putter was donated by John Low and was used in victory over Harold Hilton in winning the 1901 Amateur. The Society is now on its third putter as the first two are loaded with victory balls which each winner exchanges for a silver ball.
1938
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPZ0laTN36A1960
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YaPhQk6rEgMy impressions
1. The course from 6500ish yards to a par of 68 in winter is harsh.. .and the weather was fairly benign for January.
2. The greens and surrounds were in superb nick...not so much the fairways. Nearly all courses are suffering for the summer drought. It was wonderful for a few months, but the pain of likely 9ish months of poor fairways is not a great trade-off.
3. Once Saturday play rolls around the level of play is quite high, but bad mistakes such as poor chips and kicked fairway woods do happen.
4. The atmosphere is a mix of serious golf and comraderie. One gets the sense that many of the competitors, past competitors and audience are often well known to each other.
5. For guys who make the QF, it really is a gruelling event. There is barely any time between games and play is fairly brusk due to the huge field. It is not uncommon for players to finish in the dark or even come back early the next morning to finish a match.
We happened to pick up the eventual winner, Mark Benka, for the 5th round match. The name was very familiar to me because of Mark's father, Peter. He was in administration for the R&A and English Golf Union for many moons. Indeed, he was a Walker Cup selector in the late 90s (I think). What I hadn't realized is Peter Benka was a very good amateur himself who played in a Walker Cup and was an England International. Furthermore, Mark's mother, Pam, was an excellent amateur having played on two Curtis Cup sides and Captained a third. Upon doing a bit of research on Mark Benka, I discovered he caddied for Tiger Woods at the 1995 Royal Porthcawl Walker Cup when Gary Wolstenholme beat Tiger on the final day singles!
Despite a very odd collapse on the 15th green, Mark eventually ground down his opponent on the 18th with precision driving. Speaking of the driver, his must be at least 15 years old as the head is noticeable small. Good thing a wonderful swing is attached to that club.
Benka putting on the 15th during the 5th round match versus AD Chivers.
We walked off the Rye lunch by once again picking up Benka on the back nine. Once again it was a tight match as was the case in the morning, Mark had to make a terrific putt on 17 to keep the match alive. Very eerily, the match was sealed by the poor play of his opponent on the 18th. It was very evident that playing for a place in the semis was fraying the nerves! It seemed like providence was on Mark's side and I suspected he may win. Needless to say I was very impressed with his play under diffcult circumstamstances.
QF match. After drubbing his second, J Hudson (golfer in middle of fairway) is forced to be aggressive with his third and went through the green. A few minutes later the consessionary hand was offered and Mark who is now a two-time winner.
Link to full results.
www.oandcgs.net/uploadputterresults/All_Results.pdfPS...I did see the flag left in for putting!
Ciao