Early in April the Old Tridents Golf Society once again assembled a team to complete in one of the greatest amateur golf tournaments in Britan, The Halford Hewitt, hosted at Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club.

This year saw 12 OTGS players, representing Trent College, travel to the Kent coast for the tournament. Tuesday and Wednesday were practice days allowing the team to catch up and acclimatise to the links conditions with some great weather forecast for the week.

The first round was against a tough opponent in 2018 winners, Winchester. In a very tight contest Trent unfortunately came out on the wrong side of a 3-2 scoreline. Captain Alex Sowter (class of 2010) and Dom Leckie (class of 2009) led the team out and in a close game, eventually securing a 4&2 victory. An early point on the board. Game 2 saw Mark Layfield (class of 2006) and Gareth Maber (class of 2003) come up against a great Winchester pair and unfortunately lost on the 15th hole. Game 3 saw stalwart Ian Birch (class of ’89) return to this year’s team to partner Adam Prime (class of 2016). Some great golf saw them win 2&1 to put Trent 2-1 up in the match. Toby Williams (class of 2006) and Harriet Evans (class of 2017) were out in game 4 and they came up against Winchester’s strongest pairing, who unfortunately proved to much for the OTGS pair. This meant the score was 2-2 with one game still on the course. Adam Hinchley (class of 2010) and Michael Coupland (class of 2004) were battling away in game 5, all square through 15 holes. With the remainder of the 2 squads watching on, an unfortunate bounce into a fairway bunker and some solid golf from Winchester saw them lose 2&1. A great effort from the team to take recent winners down to the last match, a sign that the OTGS are really starting to build a strong team.

Thanks to Rob Cox (class of ’95), Jon Carter (class of ’88) for following the team in the first round and providing support and updates throughout the day.

Thanks also to long time supporter of the Old Tridents Golf Society Bill Harvison (class of ’63) who once again travelled to support the team.

With the first-round loss in the main tournament, the team would go on to compete in the Princes Plate played up the road at Princes Golf Club.

A team of 6 would play Oundle in round 1 which proved to be a tight affair with extra holes being required. Adam Hinchley and Toby Williams lost 3&2 in game number 2 while Rob Cox and Adam Prime secured a 2up win. In game 1 Alex Sowter and Dom Leckie were 4 up through 10 holes before a flurry of Oundle birdies saw them all square through 18, meaning they would have to go down the 19th.  Their drive found the fairway bunker, but they managed to get the ball greenside in 2. After a chip up from both teams they would each have around 20 feet for par, with Trent to putt first. Alex rolled his put straight in the middle which meant Oundle now had a putt to continue the match. They missed and Trent would progress into round 2 the following morning.

Round 2 was against Rugby early Saturday morning. Keeping the same order, Trent managed to secure the win with ease. Match 1 and 2 winning on holes 15 and 14 respectively. Some great golf played, especially from Toby and Adam.

Match 3 was all square playing 15 when a half was agreed given the result. Onto the quarter finals with a possible return to Royal Cinque Ports for finals day, and another tough opponent in 13-time winners of the Halford Hewitt, and defending champions, Eton. Trent played some great golf with every match very close, however Eton proved their quality and won 3-0.

Another excellent week had come to an end with lots of great golf being played in great sprit and plenty of teams now realising Trent College were a force to be reckoned with! The team’s first round opponents, Winchester would eventually be beaten in the final against Bradfield.

The next event for the OTGS is the Grafton Morrish Qualifier in May where a team of 6 will attempt to qualify for the main tournament, which takes place in Norfolk later in the year.