By Pat Payton
After taking a three-point advantage (seven and a half to four and a half) into Sunday’s final day of competition, the ‘Old Guys’ (over 35) widened their lead over the ‘Young Guys’ with several victories in the head-to-head singles matches.
The final tally read: 15 points for the Old Guys and nine points for the Young Guys in the 14th annual two-day Ryder Cup competition at St. Marys Golf and Country Club. The event was played out in almost perfect weather conditions.
“When they say Sunday afternoons for captains are a pressure-cooker, it’s true,” Old Guys’ captain Chico Downing said with a laugh. “I couldn’t hold a (golf) club on No. 18.
“Winning this year and being captain are things I’ll remember until the day I die,” he added proudly.
The Young Guys (up to 35) had held the Cup for the past three years. They won it in both 2004 and 2005, and retained it last year after the two 12-man groups tied.
Last year, there was lots of drama at the end. Dave Shepley’s clutch 12-foot birdie putt on No. 18 ‘halved’ his match with Wayne Ross and pulled the Young Guys into a tie (12 points apiece). This year, it wasn’t even close as the Old Guys held the upper hand both days.
On Saturday, the Old Guys won the better-ball event four points to two, and the alternate shots three and a half points to two and a half. On Sunday, Old Guys won the singles matches seven and a half points to four and a half.
“We wupped them this year,” Rick Fifield said with a grin.
Fifield, Wayne Ross, Jim Craigmile, Jamie Hodgins, Kent Gozzard, Len Foran and Brian Hughes all won their matches Sunday for the Old Guys. Dave Shepley, Chris Osborne, Craig Galbraith and Adam Bell won their matches for the Young Guys.
Downing said he knew he was leading a strong team, which had a good chance at winning.
“We’ve had a good team every year, but it’s just a matter of how the ball rolls, and who gets breaks and makes the good shots,” he explained. “It’s whoever applies the pressure when you have to . . . that’s what it’s all about in match play.”
Downing noted that there seemed to be more emphasis to win this year after watching the Young Guys drink from the Cup the past three years.
“I think the edge was that the Old Guys were really hungry,” he said. “They wanted it, and you could see it by the way they were hitting the ball and carrying themselves around the course. It was fun this year.”
Young Guys’ captain Craig Galbraith tipped his hat to the Old Guys Sunday.
“We were in tough today; they had a good team,” Galbraith said. “We competed, but they were tough matches. We had a chance today, but they played better than us. It’s as simple as that.
“We had some matches that we could have won . . . they could have gone either way. But (the Old Guys) just played well.”
Teammate Stew Grant agreed. “The Old Guys were very hungry, perhaps they were hungrier than we were,” he said. “It’s a long time to wait between Cups.”
“The pin positions were diabolical in places . . . very tough pins out there today,” he said, shaking his head.
“I saw them rolling the greens this morning. They rolled very well, very true. But I would say some of the ‘green fee-ers’ were in for a kind of a surprise today, dealing with some of those pin placements.”
Last year, when the Young Guys retained their title, Derek Fifield played well in beating Len Foran, with their singles match ending when Fifield birdied the par 3, No. 16 hole. Foran turned the tables this time around.
“I’d like to give credit to Len Foran, he really kicked my butt today,” Fifield said. “From tee to green, he was flawless. He didn’t miss a green and I think he only missed one fairway. He must have been 5-under (par) when our match ended (on No. 14).
“He got me back for last year,” Fifield added.
Ryder Cup notebook:
