Stowmarket were facing a home defeat when 12 holes down against Flempton at lunch in the first round of the Hambro Cup on Sunday.
Then team captain Ken McCredie made drastic changes. He altered three of his pairings and introduced himself from the reserve berth.
The strategy worked. Stowmarket dominated play in the afternoon and won by eight holes in a dramatic turnaround with all four pairings winning.
Stowmarket were without last year’s key player, Owen Clouting, who is in Japan on a journalistic assignment. They made light of what looked an insurmountable task.
Newton Green avenged last year’s 17-hole defeat at Felixstowe Ferry. This time they made home knowledge, and getting seven shots, count.
Harvey Watts and Russell Oakey lost by seven in the top match in the morning against Ben Sayers and Greg Hills. Watts, who has played very little golf in recent months, was replaced by team captain Ian Woodhead in the afternoon. This led to a two-hole win against the Felixstowe top pair.
It was not a good day for Felixstowe’s Jimmy Price and Adam Sheldrake who were 11 down on the day, seven against Steve Wordley and Lewis Woodhead in the morning and four against James Cooper and Ben Tawell in the afternoon.
Rushmere were leading at Rookery Park at lunch but the home side fought back in the afternoon to complete a clean sweep of first round home victories. It was in vain. Rookery Park were subsequently disqualified for fielding an ineligible player.
Thorpeness battled hard at Bury St Edmunds but the match ran away from them in the afternoon.
Chris Vince and Richard Boyles won in both morning and afternoon but it was not enough to save Haverhill from defeat on their long trip to Gorleston.
Fynn Valley established control against Halesworth in the morning while Hintlesham always had their noses in front against Southwold.
Hambro Cup first round
Bury St Edmunds beat Thorpeness by 16 holes.
Morning (Bury names first): Andy Cunningham and Michael Gee 2 Ivan Fryer and Laurence Staff 0, Craig Nurse and Steve Lankester 0 Jack Cuthbert and Sam May 2, Dan Smailes and Graham Sykes 1 James Brinded and Lewis Staff 0, Ben Coleman and Roger Nicholson 2 Mick Ford and Tony Mardon 0.
Afternoon: Cunningham and Gee 7 Fryer and Laurence Staff 0, Lankester halved with Cuthbert and May, Coleman and Nicholson 5 Brinded and Lewis Staff 0, Smailes and Sykes 1 Ford and Mardon 0.
Gorleston beat Haverhill by six holes.
Morning: (Gorleston names first): Danny Perring and Brendan Gough 0 Chris Vince and Richard Boyles 2, Danny Western and Mark Seeley 4 Harvey Bavester and Paul Bartlett 0, James Chadd and Ben Leuty halved with Andy Fish and Andrew Underwood, Steve Crosby and Lee Chapman halved with Jack Warwick and Andy Bareham.
Afternoon: Perring and Gough 2 Fish and Underwood 0, S Crosby and Daniel Crosby 3 Warwick and Bareham 0, Chadd and Leuty 1 Bavester and Bartlett 0, Western and Seeley 0 Vince and Boyles 2.
Newton Green beat Felixstowe Ferry by 10 holes.
Morning: (Newton Green names first): Russell Oakey and Harvey Watts 0 Ben Sayers and Greg Hills 7, Steve Wordley and Lewis Woodhead 7 Jimmy Price and Adam Sheldrake 0, James Cooper and Ben Tawell 1 Mel Pipe and Steve Sayers 0, Jed Seeley and Max Hemson halved with Paul Waring and Billy McLeod.
Afternoon: Ian Woodhead and Oakey 2 B Sayers and Hills 0, L Woodhead and Wordley halved with Pipe and S Sayers, Cooper and Tawell 4 Price and Sheldrake 0, Seeley and Hemson 3 Waring and McLeod 0.
Stowmarket beat Flempton by eight holes.
Morning (Stowmarket names first): James O’Doherty and Mark Jones 1 Alfie Halil and Steve Duffety 0, Keiran Issitt and James Alcock 0 Colin Campbell and Jeremy Nunn 7, Henry Cutting and Jon Brown halved with James Hurst and Andrew Mangeot, Matt Lockwood and Ross Harvey 0 Phil Graham and Angus Rust 6.
Afternoon: O’Doherty and Issitt 2 Halil and Duffety 0, Jones and Lockwood 8 Campbell and Nunn 0, Cutting and Brown 5 Hurst and Mangeot 0, Harvey and Ken McCredie 5 Graham and Rust 0.
Fynn Valley beat Halesworth by 15 holes.
Morning: (Fynn Valley names first): Kane Mayes and Mark Wilder 4 Matt Stacey and Paul Coby 0, Andy Dixon and Leigh Meadows 2 Paul Sherwood and Wayne Jacques 0, Gary Smythe and Anthony Anslow 4 Paul Tillett and David Coleman 0, Paul Gray and Reegan Marshall 3 Graham Shillings and Mark Henderson 0.
Afternoon: Mayes and Wilder halved with Shillings and P Coby, Dixon and Meadows 0 Jacques and Sherwood 1, Smythe and Anslow halved with Coleman and Gary Etchells, Gray and Marshall 3 Stacey and Tillett 0.
Rookery Park beat Rushmere by six holes. Rookery Park were disqualified for fielding an ineligible player.
Morning (Rookery Park names first): Mike Sharp and Graham Garrod halved with Ross Howard and Ricky Ling, James Nolloth and Craig Bloodworth 0 Matt Godbold and James Godbold 4, Andy Coleman and Dwayne Barber 0 Rob Hastings and Ian Pope 2, Conal Downing and Jack Blowers halved with Jordan Bloomfield and Josh Cottrell.
Afternoon: Sharp and Garrod 4 Howard and Ling 0, Nolloth and Bloodworth 0 M and J Godbold 2, Coleman and Andy Crisp 6 Hastings and Pope 0, Downing and Blowers 4 Bloomfield and Cottrell 0.
Hintlesham beat Southwold by 12 holes.
Morning: (Hintlesham names first): Ben Stammers and Ryan Clemens 5 Paul Booth and Russell Palmer 0, Keith Tarrant and Simon Bearman 3 Ben Newman and Joe Ford 0, Kevin Brooks and James Rowe 2 Chris Groom and Guy Maynard 0, Dan Fenton and Glen Pollard 0 Alex Wright and Alex Taylor 1.
Afternoon: Stammers and Clemens halved with Booth and Palmer, Tarrant and Bearman 1 Newman and Ford 0, Brooks and Rowe 1 Groom and Maynard 0, Fenton and Rob Rush 1 Wright and Taylor 0.
Second round (to be played on May 26): Aldeburgh v Woodbridge, Brett Vale v Ipswich, Bungay v Gorleston, Diss v Fynn Valley, Newton Green v Hintlesham, Rushmere v Seckford, Stowmarket v The Suffolk, Ufford Park v Bury St Edmunds.
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