BB&O had to wait a long time for a modern-day victory in the Eastern Inter Counties Foursomes but on Sunday they gained their second in the space of three years after a nail-biting finale at Seacroft.
FORMAT: Nine-county triangular foursomes round-robin
In 2021 they won the the nine-county competition for the first time in more than 30 years and at halfway this time around, sitting on a 4.5-point lead, looked well set for a comfortable victory.
But, on the second of two days, the event turned into a fascinating three-way battle with the host county and last year’s champions Leicestershire.
In the final shake-up, Berks, Bucks & Oxon hung on by half a point and an unlikely halve gained by Rory Browne (Feldon Valley) & James Brockington (Henley) in the morning against Norfolk ultimately proved critical. The duo had been one down with two to play.
BB&O pairs and their points totals for the event
• David Addison (West Berkshire) & Carl Banner (Beaconsfield) 6.5/8
• Tim Shin (Castle Royle) & Alfie Forisky (Maidenhead) 5.5/8
• Adam Birdseye (Maidenhead) & Ben Loverard (Woburn) 4/8
• Harry Thomas (Frilford Heath) & Ben McFadden (Castle Royle) 6/8
• Rory Browne (Feldon Valley) & James Brockington (Henley) 4.5/8
Manager Simon Hopkins said: “They played really well on Saturday.
“But in this competition you can’t take anything for granted as there are so many top quality golfers playing in it.
“I said to the boys that we needed five points in the final session – I was secretly hoping we would get more – but thankfully four proved enough.”
The event uses a triangular-match format with three pairs going out together so each one is playing against the other two.
BB&O started on Saturday morning against Essex and the reigning champions and collected 8.5 points out of a possible 10 and repeated the feat after lunch in their clashes with Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.
Harry Thomas (Maidenhead) & Ben McFadden (Castle Royle) then made it six points out of six against Norfolk and Bedfordshire on Sunday morning and 5.5 points from those matches was enough to keep them well clear going into the final round.
However Lincolnshire hit their straps in the deciding ties and beat the BB&O 4-1 while the soon-to-be champions also collected three points against Northamptonshire.
It meant Leicestershire needed eight points from their meeting with Suffolk and Bedfordshire but could only manage six while Essex finished fourth after a strong final round effort.