Halford Hewitt Centenary Competition – 2024

2024 marked the centenary of the Halford Hewitt, originally played for in 1924 by eight schools. Hurstpierpoint played first in the event a little later in 1930, so we will have our own Hewitt Centenary to look forward to in a few years as well!

We had drawn Aldenham in the first round, at the very bottom of the draw at Royal St. George’s, meaning we were one of the few schools to have our first round on the Friday morning. We last played Aldenham back in 1985 and 1986 where we won once and lost once. Famously in 1985, the year we beat them in the first round and as the only team from the South left in the competition, our team were interviewed by TV South the following morning on the first tee at Deal, where Messrs Stratford and Budge, a little worse for wear after a good night celebrating, gave the interview in dark glasses!

We arrived at this year’s Hewitt with our youngest and strongest squad of players ever and, with some 15 players with a handicap of 4 or less, selection was going to be a good problem for Captain Dan Burstow. The squad enjoyed a practice round at St. George’s on the Wednesday, whilst our growing throng of supporters played in the Peter Kenyon Bowl at Prince’s. There was a cocktail party  in the early evening held in a large marquee at Deal as part of the centenary celebrations, where all 64 schools were represented with a barrage of loud stripy blazers on show! Every school was also invited to fly their flag outside the Clubhouse along the first at Deal, which made for a fine tribute and spectacle.

Above at the cocktail party, Jeremy Waud, Jeremy Lowe (Past PSGS President). Nick Budge, Nick Owen (Secretary PSGS) and Johnny Moore from Haileybury.

After drinks we enjoyed a superb three course dinner at the Courtyard in Deal where the Captain announced the pairings for a friendly match that we had arranged with Rossall at Prince’s on Thursday, who also had a spare day, whilst our band of supporters headed to Rye.

A superb match with Rossall went down to the fifth string and the last putt and ended in a honourable halved match. After wine tasting at team HQ we headed to the clubhouse at Deal, and the wonderful Jack Aisher room, where all the Hewitt boards and memorabilia are located. We were 27 strong for another superb three course dinner and it was great to have so many past players and Johnians in attendance, including Dudley Stratford who first played in the Hewitt in the 1950s.

The pairings for our first round match the following day were announced by the Captain;

• Joe White & Chris Hobbs
• George Atkins & Charlie Parsons
• Christian Wimshurst & Tom Fairfax
• Alex Fleet & Harry Taggart
• Paul Turrell & Alex Taylor

We were delighted to welcome Harry Taggart into the Society this year and to award him his first cap (and society blazer, kindly donated by the Headmaster at Hurst) in the Hewitt. Harry’s father, George, has won the Hewitt a record nine times for Tonbridge and still plays in their team off +1, so we were grateful he sent his son to Hurst and we hope Harry has a similarly long and successful Hewitt!

With a close loss in match 1, a good win in match 2, and then a loss in match 3 we were going to need to win the remaining two matches. With the ‘postmen’ Turrell and Taylor delivering a thumping 6&5 win, all eyes turned to young Taggart on debut and Alex Fleet.

With some superb golf on show, and holding their nerves, Harry and Alex closed out a 3&2 win on the 16^th green to win the match and send us into the second round that afternoon. We were to play Malvern who would be tough to beat being one of the top teams in the tournament. After a quick lunch, and bringing Will Collard into the team from our squad to play with Tom Fairfax, we headed out into the watery sunshine and stiff winds. Our line-up for round two was as follows;

• Joe White & Chris Hobbs
• George Atkins & Charlie Parsons
• Alex Taylor & Paul Turrell
• Alex Fleet & Harry Taggart
• Tom Fairfax & Will Collard

Our top pair had an extraordinary match and, having found themselves 4 down with 4 to play, went on to win the last 4 holes and headed off down the 19^th! Our second string had an extremely close match and sadly fell just short, losing 1 down on the 18^th green. Turrell and Taylor were down playing the 17^th into the wind but looking in good shape when Turrell struck a fantastic 3 wood close on 17, only for Malvern to do the same and hole the birdie putt to close the match out 2&1. With our back match losing 4&3 and Taggart and Fleet losing on the 16^th, the match was over and our top pair shook on a half halfway up the 19^th.

On paper a comfortable win for Malvern however, in reality, it was far from that. Perhaps their experience in key moments was telling and this will be a great learning opportunity for our young and exciting team. As we drowned our sorrows back in the Clubhouse, all that was left was for the Captain to award the ‘Hewitt Awards’ for the best performance to Harry Taggart and Alex Fleet for their crucial win in round 1 which secured Harry a win on his debut.

Whilst we felt disappointed to be heading home, we were in the tough side of the draw and hopefully next year we will have a real run in the tournament. We have a fantastic young team and amazing team spirit that makes these few days on the Kent coast great fun. Thank you as always to all the supporters who come down to cheer us all on and, in particular, Jeremy Waud for all his hard work organising the event for the Old Hurst Johnians.

Match Report from Team Captain, Dan Burstow