Six of our Old Suttonians took part in the annual Grafton Morrish qualifying competition recently. We are delighted to announce that, despite some strong competition on the day, they won the qualifying round and are now through to the final in October. Christopher Cornwall (2000 M) and many of the team flew over from Dubai to take part and Christopher has provided us with the following match report.

Report

“With the 2023 golf season well under way, it was time for the beginning of this year’s edition of the most historic private school golf competition, the Grafton Morrish. With the temperatures in Dubai already reaching 41 degrees, the prospect of a few days in a cooler England looked quite appealing. Upon reaching Gatwick we were greeted with the obligatory rain and 11 degrees, feeling like seven! – welcome home.  A practice round of nine holes on the Friday in a fresh northly wind was enough to learn how the course was playing – roll on the big day. Being paired with Tonbridge School (last year’s finalists), we knew beating them would, or should be rewarded with a spot in October’s finals. Our aim was simple: beat Tonbridge. Waterproofs, bobble hats and hand warmers were the play of the day. Not to be put down by the weather, we all made a decent start and through nine holes our three groups were two over, one under and level par respectively. We all knew the back nine was going to be a brutal test back into the wind but managed to steer the ship home to qualify first with 93 points in total! Unfortunately, the finals draw is pure luck, and our victory doesn’t have us ‘seeded’, much to the dismay of our longest serving team member, Mark Williams who took his frustrations up with the committee only to be laughed away – maybe he has a fair point. A massive thank you to all involved in making the day and build up so special. Bring on the finals in October!”

Results

1st with 93 points at Knole Park

1. Christopher Cornwall (Captain) & Mark Williams (1983 C) – 31 points

2. Sam Wroclawski (2003 C) & George Palmer (2004 W) – 32 points

3. Richard Raye (2002 F) & Jordan Miles (2014 F) – 30 points