Francis Pairs matchplay final 2025
The last final took over the weekend, with Ste Murray / Colin Wood taking on Stephen Morrison / Kevin McQuillan, in the Pairs KO final.
Both pairs got off to a steady start with the first being halved but then Ste & Colin stepped on the gas, winning the second with a par and Colin holing out for birdie on three to go two up. Ste followed his partner with a birdie on the 5th and the lead was now up to three. Kevin won the 7th with a birdie to drag a hole back, but the momentum was short-lived with Ste and Colin restoring their three hole cushion on the 9th.
Ste and Colin were not about to let up on the back nine, winning the 10th and 11th, the latter thanks to another birdie from Colin, and taking the lead to five up. The 12th saw the lead go to six up with a Ste par and with a halve on the 13th, the pairs shook hands with Ste Murray and Colin Wood winning the match 6&5.
Well done to both pairs on getting to the finals and congratulations to Ste and Colin on taking the title.
Singles Handicap matchplay final 2025
With a blue sky and strong easterly wind, Jon Breeze (13) and Dave Belo (7) set off to try and win their first KO title.
The first few holes set the scene for how the match would go with Jon winning the first hole with a sandy par and then Dave winning the next two holes, including a nice birdie on 3. Jon then joined the birdie bus holing a nice 25ft putt on the 4th and then followed this with three consecutive pars, two being nett birdies, to win four holes on the bounce and take a strong three hole lead. The 8th and 9th saw the first halves of the match, resulting in Jon taking the three hole lead onto the back nine.
Dave clawed a hole back on the 10th, with the next two holes being halved. On the 13th, Dave got another hole back to bring the match back to 1 hole, but Jon hit back with a nett birdie on the 14th, to extend his lead to 2 holes. Dave managed to get the deficit back to 1 hole on the 15th with Jon just missing his putt for par and this set up an exciting finale for the last three holes.
On the 16th, both players found the green in two, Dave having a good chance at birdie, with Jon having tough two putt from the other side of the green. Jon stepped up and drained a 50ft putt bang in the middle for a nett eagle, to take him to dormie 2. The 17th was playing tough into a two club wind and Dave managed to find the green and two putt to win the hole and take the match to the last hole.
Both players found the middle of the fairway on 18th, with Jons approach just running off the back of the green and Dave hitting it close, leaving himself a 10ft putt for birdie. Jon stepped up to his chip and hit a low runner with perfect pace that rolled into the hole for another birdie, a fitting way to close out the match.
A great final, that both players thoroughly enjoyed playing and a big well done to Jon for winning his first matchplay title !
Les Mielles reach 7s finals day
Les Mielles took on Royal Guernsey GC on Sunday 20th in the Hampshire 7s Channel Island Final, winning the match 6-1 to reach the finals day for the second time in 3 years.
Here is a brief write up on how the matches went;
Peter Roscouet 9 versus Grant Stephens 11 - this was a tight match which saw Peter crossing half way 2 down. Peter grabbed some momentum on the back nine, quickly getting back to all square and then pushing on to lead by 2. Back came Grant to get it back to all square going down the 18th and he went on to win the last hole to win the first point for Royal Guernsey.
Danny Brannan 13 versus Paul Bourgaize 10 - Danny got off to a fast start winning the first 2 holes, Paul got one back on the 4th, only for Danny to win the 5th and 6th to be 3up. Paul then went on a 3 hole blitz winning the 9th, 10th and 11th to square the match up but then hit his tee shot OB on the 12th giving the lead back to Danny. Paul won the 14th and Danny won the 15th to restore his 1 shot lead and the remaining 3 holes were halved, resulting in Danny winning the match 1up.
Dan Cavey 8 versus Tim Cotterell 7 - Dan and Tim swapped holes on one and two, but Dan then took control winning four holes in a row and ended the front nine 5up. Dan stayed in control on the back nine and secured the win on the 14th, winning the match 5&4.
Harry Singleton 7 versus Joe Roberts 11 - Harry found himself up against a solid player in Joe and neither player could get away in this match until the twelfth which Harry won to go 2 up. Harry kicked on from here with some good golf and took the game 5 and 3 for another point for Les Mielles
Paul Horton 9 versus Harry Ingrouille 9 - another competitive match with both players evenly matched. Paul managed to get ahead in the game and kept Harry at bay every time he threatened a comeback. Harry won the 16th to get it back to a one hole deficit but Paul kept calm and won the 17th to win the match 2&1.
James O'Hara 10 versus Harry Bushby 4 - a scrappy start saw James win the first hole with an eight, with a good up and down on the second seeing him go 2 up. James then won three of the next five holes to lead by 5 but was pegged back to 4 on the eighth, only to hole a monster putt on nine to restore his 5 shot cushion at the turn. The back nine was a lot tighter but James stayed in control of the match to win it on the fourteenth 5&4.
Matt Cooper 5 versus Charlie Bowen 3 - Matt took on young Charlie and built a healthy lead early on which he never relinquished. Matt kept pushing on over the back 9 and ended up winning the match 6&4.
An impressive display by the whole team, who continue to punch above their weight and get to another finals day.
They will head to Corhampton Golf Club on September 28th to try and reclaim the title they won in 2023