The GC Level team played their second match of the week entertaining Cheltenham on 27 August. The team was Neil Pinker (2), Tony Curson (2), Feona Bickley (3), Sally Helvey (4), Bob Hart (6) and Anwen Owens (7). Cheltenham brought a very strong team to the match consisting of Ivor Brand (0), Richard Brand (0), Ray Bassett (1) and Paul Watson (1).
Although everyone had come prepared for wet weather, as forecast, the rain passed through before play started and the day was dry and very warm in the afternoon. The match started off with two doubles matches and Anwen and Tony triumphed over Ivor and Paul 7-4 to give a score of 1-1 after the first round. The first round of singles resulted in four wins for Cheltenham and the second round of singles was only slightly better with Anwen being the only winner. This gave a lunchtime score of 8-2 to the visitors.
After lunch there was a change in fortunes with three singles wins for Tony, Neil and Feona to close the gap to 9-5. The last round of singles was shared two all with Neil beating Paul and Feona having a very good win over Ivor 7-4. This meant that Cheltenham had won the match and in the last round of doubles they extended their lead to a final score of 13-7.
Despite the loss the team played well and learned from playing against lower handicapped players. As a result of his two wins and one loss in the singles matches Neil’s handicap has reduced to 1. Thanks also to David for refereeing all day.
The teams last game is away to Broadwas, complete with sloping lawns, on 9 September.
Bath Recreation Ground, Bath BA2 4DS