THE HEMISPHERE CUP
Founded 2000
20th
Hemisphere Cup – Praia De’l Rey, Portugal
May 30th
– June 2nd, 2019
20th Anniversary Celebrations
To mark 20 years of a great global golf competition we headed to the
west coast of Portugal. The Praia D’El Rey Golf Resort and Hotel would act as the venue
for three nights and three rounds of golf.
The North arrived with a seasoned team with 93 HC Caps
between team. The South had slightly less caps (64), but maybe more
importantly, plenty of experience of winning.
With only one round a day, there was plenty of opportunity to relax
after the round by the pool, in the bar, or to enjoy dinner at great local venues. As always though, some individuals
enjoyed themselves too much and left something for us all to enjoy at breakfast.
Ollie organised a 20th Anniversary quiz in the bar (can’t remember
who won) and we even found some time to play golf! Though some shots were
not totally from the greatest lie.
The detailed match updates are included below for the two rounds on West Cliffs and the one on Praia D’El Rey.
The North came out eventual winners, but not before unprecedented scenes saw Pete hit Bronson with his golf buggy. A stewards enquiry found Pete to be at fault and he has been deducted 2 Handicap points that will be added to Bronson’s for the next Hemisphere Cup.
And we can’t leave without bringing up the fashion disaster of the 21st Century. With all the best intentions, Andy had looked to create an anniversary tie for those attending in Portugal. What was created can’t be described, as even pictures don’t present the full horror of the 20th Anniversary Tie.
The
Match Summary
Round 1 – Fourballs (Thursday
PM) – West Cliffs
With seven versus six, it was something of a
hybrid system with two fourball matches, one singles
match, and one 2v1 match.
Alex and Jan kicked things off in the singles
where Alex came out a 5&3 winner.
Ollie and Ross then combined to take on Bronson
in a very tight affair that ended up in a tie.
Tony and Alex then combined for the first time
since Ballyliffin in 2007 to again come out winners
5&4 over Dave and Pete.
In the final match David and Brandon saw off
Mike and Sarge 5&3.
A great start for the South to take a 2.5
– 1.5 lead.
Round 2 – Fourballs (Friday
PM) – West Cliffs
The singles game kicked things off again and
Mike ran out 5&3 winner over Brandon.
Pete and Sarge then
had a great battle with Tony.
Playing alternate holes (Pete odd, Sarge even)
it went to the last hole where Sarge found the
bunker allowing Tony to take the hole and tie the game.
In the first of the fourballs,
Ollie and Dave Burns ran out 3&2 winners over David and Andy in the days
big upset.
In the final game Jan and Bronson proved too
strong for Ross and Alex coming out 3&2.
So North had taken the session to tie the
overall match at 4 - 4.
Round 3 – Singles (Saturday PM) –
Praia D’El Rey
It was a new course
for the singles, and after a suitably large night on Friday there were a few
sore heads on the first tee.
Something of milestone was made when Pete was given a guard of honour for
his 60th Match.
Match 1: Ross and Jan
had a grand old tussle that ended in a half.
Match 2: Mike and Sarge went double team (Sarge
could not be trusted with 18 holes on his own after his Friday night
performance) and saw off Andrew 3&1
Match 3: In what was
a very tight match between Pete and Bronson there was never much in it. However, Pete had taken a one hole lead when he ran Bronson over and the match was declared a tie. Something of a
Hemisphere Cup first.
Match 4: Alex proved
too strong for Tony coming out a 2&1 winner.
Match 5: Brandon looked Ollie in the eye and pulled his
pants down with a 5&3 victory.
Match 6:
Battle of the Dave’s.
Having travelled so far it is always a challenge for David to keep going
as jet lag kicks in as the match progresses, and it
was the case as Dave B won 6&4 in the final game.
The North had taken the singles 4 – 2 and had
retained the cup.
8
– 6 to the North
Something of an overseas specialist team after their
victory at Pinnacle Point 10 years earlier the cup would be heading back North.
The Captains Cup
After a 9 year absence The Captains Cup was awarded
to Tony for becoming the oldest player and contributing the triple of One win, One half and One draw.
Photographs
Photographs from the 20th Hemisphere Cup
Detailed Results
Detailed Results from the 20th Hemisphere Cup