Rhubarb 2017

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50 ST EDWARD’S rhuba rb
beautifully to secure his maiden Society
victory and win the Gaudy Cup, with 37
points (playing off 18), from contemporary
David Leadbitter (H, 1995-2000) who
scored an excellent 36 points (playing off
16). In the afternoon Foursomes, David did
manage to get his hands on some silverware
winning the Walliker Salvers with playing
partner and Society debutant, Charles
Searle (F, 1968-1973), with 32 points from
Robin Ellis and Charlie Baggs with 30
points. We were delighted to welcome
debutant Charles Searle and hope that with
the Summer Meeting being pushed back to
mid-June (Thursday 22 June), whilst also
being combined with the traditional fixture
against the School, will result in a greater
turnout in 2017!
London Meeting – Royal
Wimbledon GC
An excellent day’s golf was enjoyed by over
18 OSE in this increasingly popular event. A
hot and dry June and early July provided near
perfect conditions and thanks to RWGC
members Mike Palau (B, 1959-1964) and
Robin Catlin (A, 1973-1978), the golf was
also very affordable! The indomitable Robin
Ellis was once again too good for the rest
of us, winning with 37 points (playing off 5),
with a brilliant up and down from the deep
bunker to the right of the 16th green to
save par and a 35 footer for birdie on the
17th, helping him to pip playing partner Pete
Neal, who scored 36 points (also playing off
5), by just a single point! Royal Wimbledon
is a beautiful course and exceptionally
accessible for those OSE living and/or
working in London. Certainly worth an
afternoon off work when we return this year
on Thursday 13th July!
Autumn Meeting –
Huntercombe GC
There was a near record turnout, with
25 OSE and four guests, as the Martyrs
returned to Huntercombe for the first time
in over 20 years. In beautiful late Autumn
weather, the competition was fierce and the
scoring very good, but once all the scores
were counted it was David Leadbitter who
won the Latham Bowl for the best gross
stableford score, scoring 38 points (playing
off 12), while Tim Smart won the Kitchen
Quaich (awarded to the best net stableford
score) with 37 points (playing off 5). We
were delighted to welcome Society debutant
Anthony Marten (E, 1960-65), as well as a
number of OSE who, for various reasons,
hadn’t attended a meeting for a number of
years, including Chris Stevenson (A, 1952-
1957), David Cannon (G, 1969-73), Ed
Craven-Smith (B, 1984-89), Jonny Lawes
(H, 1984-89), DuncanWethey (E, 1985-90)
and BenWay (F, 1990-95). Huntercombe
was incredibly good value and I hope we
can break the 30 attendee barrier when we
return in 2017 on Tuesday 24th October.
Peter Neal (K, 1993-1998)
Golf Representative
Tennis Rep, Simon Talbot-Williams (A,
1974-1979) stepped into the breach.
On a cold January Sunday morning Charlie
Harris (G, 2006-2011) and STW travelled
to the fantastic Peter Luck-Hille Real Tennis
Court at Middlesex University. First on court,
we would need a fast start, we didn’t get it, as
the Eton pair were late so rather than default
them, we offered to play the next pair, the
Dickensons from Taunton School. This was
our first mistake of the day, they were “hot”
in all respects and brushed us aside in quick
fashion. By this time Eton had arrived, so we
stayed on court and performed better in the
second match with Charlie finding his range
with beautiful returns of serve. In our final
and crucial rubber against the Bishops from
Marlborough we needed to draw or win to
get through to the final stages. It was very
close with our handicap difference requiring us
to win twice the number of points per game.
The match ended 5-5, and we were through
(or so we thought….)! As we walked to the
net I commiserated with the elder Bishop
“always hate draws, your handicap means
you should be leading in the last game so very
unfortunate”. As we moved off court a cry
came from the match marker “I forgot the
timer, in fact the match should have ended
with Marlborough 5-4 ahead”. My instinctive
response was “prescience, the marker is
always correct and called the match a draw,
but let’s play the last game anyway, much more
satisfactory!” Not surprisingly, the Bishops
took a while to be moved from their sofa, but
after much discussion the Corinthian spirit
was contagious and we returned to the court
and proceeded to lose the last game! Charlie
H vowed never to play again but I think we
can persuade him…! For the record Rugby
won the competition and as Richard Bray and
Oliver Buckley were heard to say “pleased
we didn’t have to play that Charlie Harris, he
strikes the ball beautifully”!
SimonTalbot-Williams (A, 1974-1979)
Real Tennis Representative
M A R T Y R S
Real Tennis
Cattermull Cup 2017
After our top pair of Charlies, Harris and
Harries-Jones, had done so well in 2016
we were hoping they could represent the
Martyrs again in 2017. However, with CHJ
diligently preparing for his accountancy
exams, we turned to the rest of the squad.
For one reason or another Matt Alden and
Ellie Harris were unavailable so your Real
Autumn Meeting winners Tim Smart and
David Leadbitter
Robin Ellis tees off the 2nd at Huntercombe
All the various Martyrs clubs are always
looking for more players, so whether
you’re playing regularly or haven’t
picked up a stick, racket, oar, bat or
club in years, please do get in touch
with the relevant Club Rep directly
or via the OSE Office (martyrs@
, as they would
be delighted to hear from you!