NEW ZEALAND SUFFER CRUSHING DEFEAT IN GOLF SHOWCASE [15/08/09 08:58:36]

The rolling hills of picturesque Brett Vale Golf Club was the scene for the inaugural GB v NZ match for the Ray Clay Trophy on Friday, the eagerly-awaited encounter attracting large crowds at the Suffolk venue.

There was much pre-event hype surrounding the New Zealand team of Steven Snell and Matthew Gilray but the intelligent money appeared early on Friday morning and was all for the home team of Lady Cava-Paget and Paul Le Ford after it emerged that the opposition did not reach their hotel rooms until 0530 after a drinking binge in a Fingringhoe swimming pool.

Brett Vale is not a long course by any means but it is tricky with tight fairways and well-guarded greens and was certain to pose a challenge to the unwary. The Antipodean pairing displayed a great deal of unwariness right from the start when Gilray, having lost the toss and been invited to lead off, crashed his first two tee shots out of bounds with massive slices. Partner Snell did little better, also getting out the big dog and smashing the ball into the trees. His failure to locate it, thus gifting the hole to British team.

Snell fared no better at the par three second, his wayward approach plunging into a massive gorse bush as displayed uncontrolled mirth. However, his amusement was shortlived as he failed to come out of the greenside bunker and GB happily took the chance to go two up.

Hole three is named the Devil’s Bowl and Snell went out of bounds before Gilray, perhaps unluckily, found the sand again. The home players were playing much more conservatively, showing respect to the course’s many obstacles and they had no trouble extending their lead, doing so again at the watery fourth when Cava-Paget’s par was good enough to take the honours.

New Zealand got on the board at the fifth courtesy of Gilray’s magnificent drive and sensible following shots but it all went wrong again for Snell at the deceptive short par four sixth as he twice failed to keep the ball in bounds.

The southern hemisphere duo went five holes down at the seventh when they took four shots between them off the tee to get a ball in play, again the careful strokeplay of the Britons putting them in a commanding position.

Snell did come good at the eighth with a brilliant shot from the rough to pull a hole back but his joy was soon dampened as both Kiwis stuck their drives in the neighbouring horse field on the narrow ninth.

Although the difficult par three tenth was halved, Cava-Paget’s superb birdie at the next after wonderful drives from herself and Gilray had the home supporters in raptures. The coup-de-grace was emphatically delivered at the eleventh when Cava-Paget, seeing partner Le Ford chip to just four feet (he subsequently missed it!), splashed out of the sand before nonchalantly rolling in a thirty foot curving putt to give Team GB a victory by the impressive margin of seven and six.

The match was played in very good spirit throughout. There was only one unsavoury incident when the bellicose Le Ford incensed Snell by deliberately playing out of turn and receiving a strict warning from the referee as to his future conduct. The Jersey-born Mourinho-lookalike was unrepentant when quizzed about his actions afterwards. “F*** him”, he said. “I was just trying to get inside his head”. It is behaviour such as this that has landed the controversial Le Ford in trouble in the past, having been repeatedly disciplined by the Whalebone’s hierarchy for his on-field misdemeanours.

Gilray was philosophical in defeat and refused to blame poor preparation. “We were just not klivver, but all credit to them, they played well”, he offered. Playing partner Snell added “I am so down. I lost about seventeen balls out there. I would rather have been at work.”