Having had this fixture cancelled last year by the LSGS it was with eager anticipation that a team of twelve Legals headed to Royal Wimbledon for this "annual" match against the London Solicitors.
The format is St Andrews Greensomes: both players drive, the team then chooses on the first hole whose ball to play for the second shot, the shot being played by the player whose drive is not selected. The player who takes the second shot on the first hole then plays the second shot on all the odd holes and the other player plays the second shot on the even holes.
There was a fair amount of discussion before the match started as to the number of shots being given/received by the teams but in the end all players set off reasonably happy with the allocation.
The course at Royal Wimbledon was in the final stages of the redesign which has been ongoing for the last eight years with the course due to reopen fully at the end of April. As a result only twelve holes were open. The toughest part was coming round to the 18th as it started to get chilly and having to head back out to replay six holes rather than retiring to the Clubhouse for a drink.
A slightly odd scoring system designed to keep the matches competitive for the full eighteen holes meant that the winning pair in each match was given points for the number of holes they were ahead after 18 holes. An initial tally indicated that the Legals were one point ahead but sadly when all the results were amalgamated the LSGS crept ahead having had a couple of matches where they finished well ahead.
Sarah Brownlee accordingly presented the trophy to Steven Turnbull for the LSGS. The match was followed by a delicious two course supper in the Clubhouse and, as ever, the company was very enjoyable and the match was played in very good spirit.
Thanks to Royal Wimbledon for welcoming the match again and to Steven Turnbull and Gillie Galloway for the organisation of the fixture and the teams.
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