Thursday 5th October saw the arrival at Desert Springs Resort of the Ryder Cup team of 12 golfers from Redbourn Golf Club and they were here on a mission: To take on, and beat, 12 members of Desert Springs Golf Club in the inaugural Desert Springs Ryder Cup!
The tournament commenced on Friday 6th with 6 matches, played in a Fourball better-ball format, and concluded on Saturday 7th, with the 12 singles matches. A total of 18 points were available and a score of 9½ points was required to secure the overall victory.
When both teams met on Thursday evening, the Redbourn team members were not holding back about their confidence that they would win the event, but, come Friday afternoon, they were shocked into temporary silence as the scoreboard showed Desert Springs had taken a comprehensive Day 1 lead by 5½ points to ½ point.
That evening, both teams refueled in the Crocodile Club, with the low handicap team from Redbourn regaining its confidence that it could turn things around in the following day’s singles matches. This was a big ask, requiring 9 points out of a possible 12, especially when compared to Desert Springs, which required only a further 4 points to claim the trophy!
Redbourn put up a good fight on Saturday, but, thanks not least to the 3 ladies on the Desert Springs team, who did not lose a match, Redbourn could not make up the ground lost on the previous day. Wikkie de Graaf won 9 & 8, Christine Cole won 3 & 2 and Marianne Manus, coming from dormi 5 down to secure a ½ point, pushed Desert Springs towards their final tally of 14 points.
All agreed that most matches had been very close, but there was no disguising the fact that, with a final scoreline of 14 points to 4, the home team had won the 2006 Desert Springs Ryder Cup pretty convincingly and Club Captain, Pat Craig, was more than happy to lift the trophy on behalf of Desert Springs at the Gala Dinner.
Redbourn have vowed to return next year for a second attempt at the trophy, but with the team likely to consist of many of the same players, I don’t think we need to start panicking just yet…!
For further information contact: Colin White
Tel: +34 627 484 460
E-mail: ctw@almanzora.com
