Swing, Shoot, Score: OC Golf, Netball and Football

OC Football 

The Cholms 1’s and 2’s had another tough weekend of matches. The 2’s lost in a battle against Eton by one point. Their goal scorers was Charlie Peters (WG 2018) and Ben Turnill (EG 2022) who were both assisted by Josh Pena (SG 2017). The 1’s played against KCS Wimbledon with a 2-0 loss. 

Their upcoming fixtures are on Saturday 11 October with the Cholms 1’s taking on Alexandra Palace in the AFA Senior Cup at 2pm. The 2’s will be up against Alleyns in a league match at Hendon Wood Lane with kick off at 11am. 

OC Netball: 

On Tuesday 30 October, Netball played against Nets be Real and won 18-15! The players of the match were Ella Carmen (EG 2019) and Eve Allison (SH 2018).  

Netball is still undefeated in this season and looking strong to be season champs three times in a row.

OC Golf 

Match v Old Berkhamstedians – Saturday 4th October 2025 at Ashridge Golf Club 

Following the first named storm of the winter, in Storm Amy which hit the day before, albeit mostly in the North and North West, there was plenty of rain overnight leaving the course playing long with minimal run and slow soft greens. First game out was Anuj Anand (HG 1991) and Ashridge member Clive Evans (CH 1968). We got off to an awful start losing three of the first holes. We then had a promising spell to recover to all square after 10. Having done the hard work, we went cold again and lost 3 of the next 5. So dormie 3 and staring down the barrel, we sneaked the 16th with a par. The opponents then went out of bounds on the 17th with first and provisional balls, to give us a chance on the last. We then produced two perfect shots, with Anuj finding the fairway and then Clive hitting a peach of a 3wd to 8ft away, allowing Anuj to lag close for the hole win and to halve the match.  

Team Captains on the day

Next up was Mark Walton (FG 1971) and Robert Audley (NG 1974) playing against the ever-present Colin McBride from the Old Berkhamstedians. All players struggled on the very slow greens similar to the first group as well as the wind which was gusting and appeared to be ever changing. This was a tight match where there was never more than one hole in it. Despite being dormie two up we were very happy to win 1 up on the 18th green.  

The third match was Akash Saha (NG 2009) and Kim Harris (GH 1973. We had a disastrous start, and we were 5 down through 6. We finally woke up, or turned up, and at first steadied the ship, however after 10 holes, still 5 down. Then came the resurgence, we played great golf and won the next five holes on the bounce, all of a sudden, all square through 15. The opponents almost chipped in on 16, but we had a chance and missed a short putt to go one down again. On the 17th we again had a chance but missed another short putt, leaving us one down playing the last and alas we halved there to lose one down.  

David Monkman (NG 1976) and Robin Goodfellow (TL 1965) were the final pairing. After a very close front 9 we were level. We then messed up the 10th to give them the lead, but we won 4 in a row to go 3 up. The opposition recovered to get it back to the OCs being just 1up playing the 18th. David was left with a nervy 6 foot putt, but he duly holed it to secure the win. So, a narrow lead at lunch. As the wind had picked up and there was a threat of rain, we all agreed to play 12 hole matches in the afternoon. 

Mark Walton’s first win as match manager

So, onto the post lunch matches, Robert teamed up with Clive to lead off. According to Clive the conclusion for the OCs was a loss due to bad putting and chipping. We three putted both the 3rd and the 5th holes and hit a very poor chip on the 8th, to counter that we won the 4th hole despite giving a shot. So, two down on the 9th tee (only 4 to go with the shortened match) Clive drove to the same spot in the fairway as the morning but we then messed up from there. Dormie 3 down, all the OBs had to do was halved the 10th, which they duly did to end it. Anuj and David were second out, again getting off to an awful start to be two down through four holes, including a bridie on the 2nd hole by the opposition. We had opportunities to get back into it on the 6th and 8th with putts that just stayed out, but they won the 7th thanks to getting a shot. They were now 3 up playing the 9th, hoping to win it and walk in early. But their wild driveway into the trees effectively gifted us the hole. However, they then played two great shots on the 10th to win there and secure the match. Third pair was Mark and Akash. This was an excellent performance and win for the OCs. Both played great golf, leading to a comprehensive win; we were only 2 over par gross on the first 9 holes, which was very impressive as the wind was definitely stronger post lunch, and we also had light rain for two or three holes. Last pair was Kim and Robin; in the shorter 12 hole match we were a little up against it, as we were one down after 6. We then won three holes in a row using our shot on the 7th and making pars on the 8th and 9th. A half on the 10th meant we were dormie 2, but despite losing the 11th, we parred the 12th after a super drive by Kim and with a shot on that hole too we closed it out with a 2up win. 

Thanks to a rear-guard action in winning the last two games and the sterling efforts of match manager Mark Walton and Robin Goodfellow in winning both their matches today, we squeezed out a 2-2 draw in the afternoon, allowing us to win back the Spooner Salver following defeat last year.