The Mellin Salver, The Peter Burles Salver & The Bunny Millard Salver 2015
13 July 2015
The Mellin is similar to the Halford Hewitt except that it is for players over age 55. It is played at West Hill with 16 schools competing (instead of 64 in the Hewitt) and there are only 3 pairs instead of 5 playing scratch foursomes. At the same time as the Mellin, there is the Peter Burles Salver for 2 pairs over 65 (Peter Burles (P1930-34) was a great sportsman) and the Bunny Millard Salver for one pair with both players being over 75.This year, we had great weather for the Mellin and we beat Cranleigh 2-1 in the 1st Round on Friday morning. Richard Hall (K1969-74) and Steve Lewis (B1970-75) had a good win and Peter Easby (SHE1962-66) and Guy Green (SHO1971-73) battled well for a win on the 17th hole. Easby played extremely well and hit a wonderful drive at the 16th followed by a brilliant wedge to the green by Green (if you see what I mean) which won the hole. Green also played a superb 8-iron to no more than 8 feet from the 17th hole and that was enough to win their match.In the afternoon, we played Sherborne who were a very good team and we lost 1/2 - 1 1/2. Ian Wilson-Soppitt (P1958-61) and John Yule (SHE1966-71) played brilliantly and were 2 up after 10 holes against the Sherborne top pair who then staged a comeback to win their match. Hall and Lewis were 2 down after 16 so could only have got a half but when Easby and Green lost and we were 2-0 down in the overall match, the half was duly agreed!In the Peter Burles Salver, we lost to Cranleigh in the morning. We then played Cranleigh in the Plate (for the 8 teams who lose in the 1st Round) but sadly couldn’t find the winning formula. In the Bunny Millard Salver, there is a stableford round to decide which 4 teams play in the semi-final and to cap our disappointment, we fell short of the qualifying score.We all had a lot of fun and it was a good feeling to win in the first round of the Mellin. We look forward to getting another chance next year!Ian Eggleden (SHE1958-63)OAGS Hon Secretary