(l-r): Neale Adams, Bryan Nickless, Duncan Farmer, Ian McIlgorm, Simon Taylor, Peter Solomons, Nic Brook, Rob Hewer, Tim Allan, Jono Baker, Dylan Dronfield, Colin Hancock, Russell Dewey, Keith Malone, Chris Cutmore, Andy Glen.
Le Touquet provided the PGS with our first victory on French soil in a decade, and demonstrated once again our weakness for trying to grab defeat from the jaws of victory.
In spite of its name and its proximity to the coast, La Mer is a parkland course offering not a glimpse of the sea. But it proved an excellent setting for the 26th contest – as did Le Touquet itself, a slightly faded holiday resort at the end of the summer season. The PGS soon established its headquarters at a bar a few hundred yards from the hotel, from which we emerged only to attend a welcome reception given by the mayor at the Town Hall.
Last to arrive was Rob Hewer, who had been working at a tournament in Spain the previous day, and had constructed an elaborate itinerary to get him from Malaga to Le Touquet. Needless to say it didn’t work, and he found himself stranded late at night at Brussels airport. Nothing daunted, he found a Turkish driver to take him the rest of the way – via a considerable detour to Lille to drop off other passengers – and he arrived after 5am. He felt a bit seedy in the morning round, but rallied to partner new Secretary Tim Allan to victory in the afternoon.
The PGS got off to a flyer in the morning foursomes, and lunched in good spirits with a lead of 5½ to 2½. The fourballs went even better, with only the skipper on the losing side in another convincing sweep, by 6½ to 1½.
With an overnight score of 12-4, the match looked as good as over. At dinner that night, the French were in deep gloom, their mood not lifted by Big Mac repeatedly informing them that they were being ‘spanked’. This was a new English word for most of them, but they soon had a pretty clear idea of its import. The PGS, for their part, celebrated their victory long into the night. A mere 4 and a half points would bring the trophy back across the Channel. Or at least it would if Damien Houles hadn’t left it behind in Paris. Some fast FedExery delivered it to Le Touquet in time for the presentation.
Before that though, there was the formality of securing that handful of points. It proved rather trickier than expected. The APG, as is their wont, sent their big guns out early to try to get a foothold in the contest, and the strategy paid off handsomely. Of the first 9 games out, only Neale Adams managed to score as the French steamrollered a succession of hungover Brits. Andy Glen’s opponent hit him with a hole in one. Suddenly it was 13-12.
The skipper was cruising along nicely at 1 up and 2 to play when Nic Brook reported to him that it was “squeaky bum time”. He immediately went to pieces and blew the last two holes, losing a ball on the last.
Fortunately others were made of sterner stuff. Rob Hewer, who by now had barely slept for 48 hours, still managed a vital point, as did rookie Chris Cutmore, while Mac halved his match. The Duke salvaged another vital half by coming back from dormie 4 down, culminating in a sensational chip to the flag from deep rough at 18. With Keith Malone dormie 2 up in the final match, it was the killer blow. Malone, anchoring the team because he had wanted a lie-in, lost 17 but won the last, and the PGS were home 17-15. Rather closer than had been expected 24 hours earlier, but by that stage no one cared.
APG Captain: Jean-Louis Aragon, PGS Captain: Jono Baker
Foursomes: APG 2½, PGS 5½
Jean-Jack Brehier/Alexis Duclos v Andy Glen/Neale Adams Halved
Damien Houlès/Éric Bouvet v Duncan Farmer/Simon Taylor W3&1
Francois Scimeca/Nicolas Doucet v Tim Allan/Russell Dewey L5&4
Frédéric Stevens/Guillaume Baraise v Jonathan Baker/Nic Brook W4&3
Alexandre Campi/Gilles Payet v Peter Solomons/Colin Hancock W3&2
Jean-Francois Dessaint/Tristan Vey v Keith Malone/Chris Cutmore W5&4
Rémi Meyer/François Lanaud v Bryan Nickless/Rob Hewer L3&2
Jean-Louis Aragon/Philippe Millereau v Dylan Dronfield/Ian McIlgorm W1UP
Fourballs: APG 1½; PGS 6½
Nicolas Doucet/Éric Bouvet v Duncan Farmer/Simon Taylor W3&2
Damien Houlès/Guillaume Baraise v Andy Glen/Jonathan Baker L4&3
Francois Scimeca/Tristan Vey v Nic Brook/Russell Dewey W2&1
Jean-Jack Brehier/Gilles Payet v Peter Solomons/Keith Malone W4&3
Rémi Meyer/François Lanaud v Rob Hewer/Tim Allan (13) W2UP
Jean-Louis Aragon/Alexis Duclos v Neale Adams/Bryan Nickless W4&2
Jean-Francois Dessaint/Philippe Millereau v Dylan Dronfield/Colin Hancock Halved
Frédéric Stevens/Alexandre Campi v Ian McIlgorm/Chris Cutmore W2&1
Singles: APG 11, PGS 5
Francois Scimeca v Dylan Dronfield L2DN
Nicolas Doucet v Duncan Farmer L3&2
Damien Houlès v Simon Taylor L7&5
Rémi Meyer v Tim Allan L6&5
François Lanaud v Russell Dewey L2DN
Guillaume Baraise v Colin Hancock L1DN
Jean-Jack Brehier v Neale Adams W2&1
Jean-Francois Dessaint v Andy Glen L2&1
Philippe Millereau v Peter Solomons L5&4
Alexis Duclos v Rob Hewer W3&2
Alexandre Campi v Ian McIlgorm Halved
Gilles Payet v Nic Brook L3&2
Jean-Louis Aragon v Jonathan Baker L1DN
Tristan Vey v Chris Cutmore W7&6
Éric Bouvet v Bryan Nickless Halved
Frédéric Stevens v Keith Malone W2UP