The Ryder Bowl: HKFC Golf Society vs. The American Club HK Golf Society

Kau Sai Chau South Course
Saturday 3rd October 2020

In only our second match of the year, The Ryder Bowl is an annual fixture first played in 2003 and is usually played over a weekend at Lotus Hill Golf Resort in Panyu. Given the quarantine restrictions on both sides of the border and the difficulty of getting local golf bookings, both Captains agreed to play the fixture this year on a single day in Hong Kong at Kai Sai Chau GC.

The Americans are wily and experienced. In discussions about the match format, they negotiated hard for terms that arguably suited them historically. So, we knew from the outset that these guys would fight tooth and nail.

The heavy traffic to Sai Kung meant that some of us arrived much later than expected, therefore preparation time was somewhat restricted. Would this affect our performance?

Our lead pairing of our ex-Captain Terry Wright and Malou Waldie were up against their Captain Nick Lock and Andy Ho. A tight affair with not much given went to the 18th hole. Unfortunately, we lost 2 down.

That was followed by a 3&2 victory by our Captain Andrew Wood and debutant John Thompson. They were never down versus American Club President Matt Creedon and Brian Dillard, having taken the lead on the 2nd hole. However, a few clutch putts made for some nervy moments, as a comeback was never far away.

Jonny Brock and Chris Burley had a much tighter match against Anton Eilers and Wilson Chu, with Jonny fist pumping “Tiger style” when his putt on the 18th dropped for the narrowest of wins 1 up.

Our French speaking stalwarts of JP Cuvelier and Eric Desgouttes were mumbling something under their breath on the 11th hole after going 4 down and seemingly out of the contest. What then followed was a combination of wayward play by the Americans with a steadying of our ship, to turn the match around to be leading dormie 1 going down the last hole. They couldn’t quite manage a victory snatched from the jaws of defeat, with the tie ending up All Square.

Now with a 2 ½ to 1 ½ lead, had there been any doubt about closing out the victory, you only had to look at the pairs the skipper had reserved for the anchor matches. Jason Waldie and Gordon Marsden, followed by Scott Laws and Nick Allen. They never stood a chance. No charity shown by these chaps, a pair of clinical victories over Robert Tsai and Richard Lo 2 & 1, and Ronald Cheng & Henry Yu 2 up respectively, bringing the overall score to 4 ½ to 1 ½.

The Ryder Bowl therefore remains in our burgeoning trophy cabinet for another year and we look forward to defending it against our old adversaries next year, hopefully back on the mainland as per usual.

Prizes were won by:

Near Pin

#2       John Thompson
#5       Eric Desgouttes
#11     Scott Laws
#16     Anton Eilers

Longest Drive           
#15     Scott Laws

Andrew Wood
Golf Society Captain