QUGS v LUGS Friday 3 September 2021 Royal Portrush
What better way to return to LUGS golf after an end to lockdown than with a fixture at Royal Portrush against the über hospitable QUGS.
Warm up games were arranged at Royal County Down and Portrush itself; it is difficult to imagine better courses anywhere to acclimatise on. Post warm up golf, we found excellent accommodation with our hosts, the majority with the Dick family (in the ‘Dickery’) and a slightly more sedate crowd with the Irwin brothers.
An informal pre match supper in Portstewart overlooking the harbour ended with captains Al Dick and John Dennis making the morning foursomes draw – Al appeared to select on form, John rather more randomly!
After some tight games in the morning, the QUGS lunched 4-2 ahead. The magnificence of the Open championship course was not lost on anyone but wily tactics from the Nicholas/Dick combination resulted in a crucial loss of LUGS debutant Marco Sinsini’s equilibrium – how could anyone suggest that Inter was the better team from his home city of Milan?
The afternoon games were over the very impressive Valley course. LUGS took early leads in five of the matches and a turnaround looked on the cards. It was not to be though and the QUGS fought back to tie the afternoon 3-3.
The golf club provided us with a marvellous setting for supper, speeches and a remarkable joke about a hat told by ‘Porky’ Kershaw. With the final score at 7-5, the QUGS/LUGS claret jug would remain in Belfast for another year – or, at least, until April 2022 when we get to welcome the QUGS back to Royal St George’s.
| Morning – Dunluce Course | ||
| QUGS | LUGS | |
| Chris Connolly/Ben Brennan | Mike Kershaw/Nick Plunkett-Dillon | Q 2&1 |
| Paul Eastwood/Eddie Bill | Matt Wilcox/Andrew Cole | L 1 up |
| Dan McCrae/Mike Curran (Captain) | Gorm Nielsen/Sam Campbell | L 2&1 |
| Alan Irwin (President)/Peter Greene | Kaihan Mobed/Jonathan Palmer | Q 2&1 |
| Richard Nicholas/Al Dick (Match Captain) | Marco Sinsini/Neil Falconer | Q 2&1 |
| Jonathan McNeill/Andy Dick | John Dennis/Stuart Lloyd | Q 1 up |
| Afternoon – Valley Course | ||
| Paul Eastwood/Jonathan McNeill | Sam Campbell/Andrew Cole | Q 2&1 |
| Dan McCrea/Ben Brennan | Nick Plunkett-Dillon/Gorm Nielsen | L 2&1 |
| Alan Irwin/Eddie Bill | Stuart Lloyd/Jonathan Palmer | Q 1 up |
| Chris Connolly/Mike Curran | Matt Wilcox/Marco Sinsini | Q 2&1 |
| Peter Greene/Richard Nicholas | Kaihan Mobed/John Dennis | L 2&1 |
| Andy Dick/Al Dick | Mike Kershaw/Neil Falconer | L 1 up |
| QUGS beat LUGS 7-5 |
London University Golfing Society 