After a stella 2019 golf season where Shane Lowry brought the Open Championship back to Ireland, Brooks Koepka finished in the top 4 in every major (winning the USPGA), Gary Woodland opened his Major account at Pebble Beach and a nerveless champion golfer took the triple crown of the H Trophy, Alan Pope Memorial and the Shaun Ryder Cup in some dramatic final round action, the Hampshire team are looking for a comeback aka Tiger Woods style to register their first Newark Cup Win.

We are delighted to annouce that the stunning Tylney Park Golf Club in Hampshire will again host this premier event. Tickets have already sold out and the crowds will start gathering for the action over the weekend of 5th – 6th October where they can support their favourite Newarks.

The 2018 event saw the Gloucester Newarks whitewash the Hampshire team by 2 points  winning 7-5 to retain the Newark Cup. A closely fought competition saw the Hants team go 3 points down during the singles before pulling it back to draw level at 5-5 only to lose the last 2 pairings and with them, their hopes for a first win.

Gloucestershire have retained faith with the same 8 players despite some pointless past performances, you know who you are – you need to have a serious word with yourself, and a tough summer on tour. The Hampshire team have lost 2 of their top 4 performers and drafted in some tour rookies who will experience the pressure cooker of the Newark Cup for the first time. Mark, an unconventional golfer brings high class swagger and dodgy banter, replaces Hampshires only international golf range professional, Costos. Hampshire are also without their 3rd top point scorer as Dave Edwards, aka Tripod aka Toxic aka Duncan, Hollywood committments make him unavailable. They have drafted in ex- Tylney Captain and Hampshire legend Malcolm, fresh from rewriting the rules at the R&A St Andrews, who carries the weight of a county on his rookie shoulders.

As the format is good enough for the Ryder Cup we can’t think of a good reason to change it. The two sets of Newarks will compete for the cup over 2 days using traditional matchplay rules. Day 1 , Saturday 5th October, will see players arrive at the venue no later than 12.00pm (Browner that’s 11am for you) for bacon butties and to start the mind games with the opposition followed by a debriefing on the rules. The first pairings to tee off will commence at 13.00pm using a Fourball better ball taking 90% of the difference, as per 2016 R&A rules, off the best player in the group. Both teams will select 4 pairs of golfers to compete for the pride of their counties and win a coveted Newark Cup 2019.

Sunday will separate the men from the boys, the wheat from the chaf and the newarks from the, well, non-newarks. Singles Sunday will start at 11.00am and will see 2 pairs of golfers from each team going out as 4 ball but competing against their sole opponent. Full difference between the handicaps will be taken off the best golfer in each pairing to dictate the handicapping for the final 18 holes. On completion of the singles there will be sandwiches and a presentation before everyone heads home.

There are 12 points on offer for both teams in total (4 for the doubles and 8 for the singles). A win will score 1 point whilst a halved game will share the point between the teams. The winning team will be the first to score 6.5 points (should there be a tie the Newark cup will be decided by a foot race down the 1st hole and back again – no buggies allowed).

The Home Team                                     The Away Team

Dave Smith                                               Ben
Ian G                                                          Rob
Steve                                                          Nick
Brian                                                          Mark
Tony                                                           Ian
Mark                                                          Andy
Malcolm                                                    Richie
Derek                                                         Adrian

The Pairings

The following part have been selected to battle it out for the Newark Cup 2019. There are some tasty pairings battling for honour, stats and the right to gloat for another year. The Captains could change the pairings dependent on day 1 performances and day 2 hangovers but there would have to be some pretty bad performances to force a change. Hcps are now fixed for the event so any changes to the below will make somebody happy.

 

 

Dinner and Digs

Dinner Saturday night will be at the New Inn, Heckfield, which will also provide the overnight accommodation for the away team. Both the home and away teams will be attending  gala dinner with nothing but the best food, drink  and entertainment. The pub is situated 10 minutes away from the golf course and despite requests from the Gloucester Newarks team there will be no ladies taking their clothes off but there will be a quiz (which Gloucester have also won two years in a row). You should have already made your menu choices but if you haven’t please send them to your captain ASAP.

The Damage

The Administration department have done a great job and procured the same price as 2018 so the Away team will need to fork out £120 for the weekend encompassing two rounds of golf, bacon butties, sandwiches at the course and B&B at the pub. Dinner and drinks are NOT included in the £120.