Spangles
Your wish is my command.
Cleeve Cloud V RAF V Kington
The match stands at 3 skins for Cleeve Cloud, 3 for Kington and 2 for RAF..thru 12 holes.
13. Kington offers another very strong par 4 with a blind drive drifting down the hill left. The green is exceptional. Cleeve Cloud's very long par 4 too is very good and features a one-off green which I greatly admire. Luckily, I cannot call a winner between K and CC so once again RAF gets lucky, very lucky. NO BLOOD.
CC's 13th
Kington's
14. K gives a par 5 which seems as though it runs on forever, very beautiful, but no dumb blonde. CC's long par 4 is good, but once again we get a blind drive. RAF's 14th is a cracking par 3 with a longish carry. Despite not usually giving short holes the benefit of the doubt, the shaping around green wins out for me.
1 SKIN TO RAF 15. RAF gives us a wee par 4 with, yet again (heavy sigh) its green severed from the fairway by mounding and rough. CC short hole plays over quarry. Its a good hole, but a bit of lost opportunity by leaving s much space between the quarry and green. K's short hole is a 200 yard drop shot over a field of micro-contours. None of the holes completely satisfy me, but K's 15th is a stunner visually and requires some deft chipping when the green is almost invariably missed.
1 SKIN KINGTON#16. RAF's 16th is a bit of drowsy thing without much to recommend it. K's is a solid par 4 to an interesting raised green. However, the clear winner here must be CC. The long, up the valley par 3 is somewhat spoiled by dopey bunkering, but even that can't eliminate the obvious merits of the hole.
1 SKIN TO CLEEVE CLOUD#17. CC gives us another strong hole. The blind downhill drive must work its way between two quarries then eventually funnel down to a green between bunkers. K's hole is solid without being spectacular. RAF's 17th is outstanding and the best hole on the course. Despite my love for CC's 17th, the bunkering lets the hole down enough to allow RAF to sneak win.
1 SKIN TO RAF #18. This is a bit of a foregone conclusion because we all know that K's home hole is the best I have ever seen...no need for further discussion.
1 SKIN TO KINGTON Kington wins a tight match, closer than it probably deserved to be with two tie all tie in place. While not scientific, I think this playful match helps explain my fascination with folks who think RAF is all that. I don't think so and in fact don't believe it is any better than little no name Cleeve Cloud!
Kington: 5 skins - 1, 9, 10, 15 & 18.
Cleeve Cloud: 4 skins - 2, 3, 7 & 16.
RAF: 4 skins - 6, 8, 14 & 17.
5 no blood holes - 4, 5 11, 12, 13
Next up, the Champion of the Hills takes on a under-appreciated gem; Huntercombe and the well known New Zealand . My initial thoughts are this is a tall order for both NZ and Huntercombe, but these courses do have some tricks up their sleeves.
Match I: Minch Old V Painswick V Cleeve Cloud
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,63660.0.htmlCiao