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Oxford golf team retain Fox-Powell Trophy

Congratulations to the team from the University of Oxford for winning the Fox-Powell Trophy in a closely contested match against the University of Cambridge on 2 July 2021. Oxford’s team included St Hugh’s College members Professor Michael McMahon, Colin Bailey and Jeremy Weeks. The annual Oxbridge golf tournament, hosted this year by Oxford, was held on neutral ground at Aspley Guise and Woburn Sands Golf Club. Celebrating its 40th anniversary the Fox Powell Trophy was first contested in 1980 and was donated and presented by W. B. Bald, in memory of his father John Bald.

It was a closely fought morning session with many matches being decided on the 18^th hole; ending tied after the three matches of Fourball Better Ball with the score balanced at 2 to 2. After a quick lunch break players were back on the course for a challenging afternoon round of Greensomes with a last hole twist. The Greensomes format allows both players from a team to tee off and pick the best shot to play from.  They then take alternate turns with the same ball to finish each hole.  On the 9^th hole the ‘Gruesome’ twist came into play where the opposing team choose the tee shot to be played. The afternoon session went down to the wire with a final score of Cambridge: 3 ½ to Oxford: 2 ½; continuing the recent run of Oxford victories.

Colin Bailey, St Hugh’s Head of Estates and Oxford team captain said, “It was a great pleasure to host this year’s Fox-Powell Trophy tournament, particularly in its 40th year and having not been able to hold it last year due to the pandemic. We all thoroughly enjoyed the event which is always played in a friendly, yet competitive spirit. I would like give special thanks to the Cambridge captain who helped to plan the format and pairings in advance so that we could focus on playing golf and recording scores on the day.”

As well as the trophy there were some individual prizes to be won. The winners were:

• Best overall nett score:       John Dellar, Oxford
• Best front 9 nett score:       Robert Haining, Cambridge
• Best Back 9 nett score:       Michael McMahon, Oxford
• Nearest the pin 4th hole:   Jeremey Weeks, Oxford
• Nearest the pin 13^th hole:  Rob Ross Russell, Cambridge
• Longest drive 11^th hole:      Geoff Higgins, Oxford

Below are some photos taken at the event. Names from left to right:

Photo 1 – Chris Blencowe (Cambridge); David Holt (Oxford); John Firth (Cambridge) & Michael McMahon (Oxford)

Photo 2 – Colin Bailey (Oxford Captain) & Simon Pacey (Cambridge Captain)

Photo 3 – John Deller (Oxford); Rob Ross Russell (Cambridge); Jeremy Weeks (Oxford) & Bill Griffiths (Cambridge)

Photo 4 – Geoff Higgins (Oxford); David Holmes (Oxford); Robert Haining (Cambridge) & Grant Stewart (Cambridge)