In their first appearance as a Varsity sport, UKC Golf was able to overcome a resilient Christ Church side on a wonderful day at Canterbury Golf Club.

 The contest, held on Tuesday, was divided into 4 individual matches, with each one featuring a player from both teams. Prior to the beginning of the game, the overall Varsity score was 8-2 in favour to Kent and 4 points were up for grabs in this contest.

Kent representatives John Whybrow, Simon Little and Tom Garner were all able to win their individual contests which provided 3 points for Team Kent.

Sam Chick was narrowly beaten by a hole by Christ Church’s stand out performer, Chelsey Herbert, who gained a valuable point for her side and by the end of the afternoon the overall score was 11-3 in favour of Team Kent.

Whybrow set an early standard for the day in match four, cruising to an easy win, seeing off his opponent by 7 holes. He won consecutively in the first 6 games which also saw him make a birdie for the first hole.

Little faced a tougher task overcoming his opponent in a much closer match up. What had been a close game opened up by the eight, which saw Little extend his lead to 2 holes teeing off at the ninth.

By the end of the game it was pretty much plain sailing in match two with Little coming away with 5 and 2. He said after the game, “You have to do your best to win your match then rely on the rest of your team mates”.

In match one, players Sam Chick and Chelsey Herbert played the closest game of the day with Christ Church’s Herbert eventually winning by 1 hole. By the ninth, both players were all square however growing westerly winds increased the element of unpredictability in the game. Herbert was able to move 3 ahead by the thirteen but Chick held his nerve to make a thrilling comeback setting up an enticing last few holes.

Herbert remained resilient and exhibited why she is a fantastic player to pip Chick to a well-earned victory for herself and her team. She said, “It’s a difficult course so you have to be straight off the tee. It was a really close game and I had a feeling it was going to go all the way down to the last hole”.

At this point of the day it was 2-1 to Team Kent after 3 matches, match three would decide whether Christ Church could claim a draw or Kent would run away as clear winners.

Kent’s Tom Garner played a skilled, well-disciplined game to run away with the victory at the seventeenth. For the majority of the match, Christ Church were on the front foot leading by 2 holes but Garner really seemed to come into form in the second 9 of the course. By the fifteenth, he was able to move ahead of his opponent by 3 holes after making a par followed by consecutive birdies in the twelfth an thirteenth. Christ Church were resistant despite losing their two hole lead and their representative came back in remarkable fashion with successive pars on the fifteenth and sixteenth to bring it to a 1 hole match. This fight back did not faze Garner who was able to hold his nerve and see of his opponent by winning 2 and 1 which brought the final score to 3-1 to Team Kent in a fantastic day of golf.