Halford Hewitt Campaign 10th April – 13th April 2025 

Founded in 1924, the Halford Hewitt Cup is competed for by the Old Boys of 64 English and Scottish Public Schools with each fielding 5 foursome pairs, totalling 640 competitors in all, making it the largest amateur golf competition in the world! 

Following the inception of the Rossall Golf Academy some nine years ago, the fruits of some very hard labour are certainly paying off with a plethora of young talent now available to represent the school this year. The following young ‘stars’ were ready and eager…..Josh Fallows (handicap +2 at Royal Birkdale Golf Club), Louis Talarczyk (+3 at Royal Lytham Golf Club) and Simon Holt (2 at Fairhaven Golf Club) all of whom have played in the ‘Hewitt’ before in recent years and beginning to build up valuable experience. They were joined by debutant ‘stars’ Greg Holmes (+4 at Royal Birkdale Golf Club) and Josh Hamnett (+2 at Fairhaven Golf Club). These five were joined by a balanced mix of talent and experience in Matt Allen (+4 at Western Gailes Golf Club) and Jimmy Jones (Scr at Royal Birkdale Golf Club). To complete our array we had three ‘evergreen’ trusty ‘seniors’ in Christian Butler, Noel Muscutt and Jeremy Smith. One notable absence was the highly regarded and well-travelled David Tonroe who was unable to make the journey from Savannah, Georgia this year. We hope to see David back again for more next year! In addition, enthusiastic support was in tow with Chris Holt, Jimmy Jones’s brother (and team caddy), Richard and Ronni Schrevel all in attendance.

So the scene was set, and the team was, on paper, as strong as any of us could remember. It is, however, fair to say it had to be, as we had yet again been drawn, for the second time in three years, against tournament favourites, Loretto at Royal St. Georges Golf Club!

Loretto had won the Cup three times out of the last four years. Since the draw in January, however, the Rossall team had been very positive and truly believed we could overcome the Scots having only narrowly lost two years previously, and with an arguably stronger side this year. The match commenced at 1:30pm on the Thursday in cold and windy but fine weather. In the top match, Butler & Fallows completed their fifth win in a row together, forging a seriously strong partnership along the way. A great start! Young ‘stars’ Talarczyk & Holmes came up against a formidable pair narrowly losing the second match. Similarly, Muscutt & Smith were somewhat ‘outgunned’ by the immensely long hitting Old Lorettonian opposition going down in the third game, making it 2 – 1 to Loretto. Rossall had to win the last two matches. It was looking good though, with both matches up. In fact match 5 was 4 up with 6 to play! Jones & Hamnett played great golf to win their match 3 & 2, so surely victory was in sight. The rest of the team wandered back to see how the back match was doing, only to find the opposition were teeing up on the 17th tee ... .the match was still live! Surely Rossall couldn’t snatch defeat from the jaws of victory on this, of all occasions!? A solid drive by Allen, followed by a purposeful pure iron shot by a young but collected Holt was enough for the pair to secure victory on the 17th green. We had done it!….we had defeated Loretto and put the favourites out of the ‘Hewitt’ to the joy of 62 other schools in the competition!

Our second round opponents were 2024 quarter finalists, Repton, so certainly no easy ride!

This time out at number 1, Talarczyk & Holmes resumed normal service, winning comfortably, sending a wave of confidence down through the order. Following this in the second match,  Butler & Fallows chalked up their sixth win in a row maintaining their 100% record impressively on the last green. Unfortunately, the more senior pair of Muscutt and Smith lost the third game making it 2 – 1 to Rossall. A very strong performance by our final two pairs, Allen & Holt and Jones & Hamnett constituted a seemingly comfortable win in the end although it didn’t feel that way when we were out there!

Having successfully navigated our way through rounds 1 and 2 at Royal St George’s, the remaining rounds reverted to Royal Cinque Ports, the home of the Halford Hewitt Cup. In the third round we were up against Sherborne who, in years gone by, have sometimes proved to be a Rossallian banana skin. This time going out top was Muscutt & Smith in an attempt to keep the Sherborne top pair away from some of our new young stars. The pair held their own for much of the game but ran out of steam late on to lose. At this point, from way back at number 4, Allen & Holt appeared with big grins on their faces having completed 10 holes in 5 under par and won by an amazing record margin of 9 & 8! The dependable second Rossall pairing of Butler & Fallows soon followed having comfortably won their match by a significant margin too. For them, their 7th win in a row and 100% record intact! 2 – 1 to Rossall. One more point required, Talarczyk & Holmes playing strongly at number 3, and now fully in their stride, brought home another point to secure Rossall’s place in this year’s quarter final. The final match involving Jones & Hamnett, still out on the course, was called in as a half as is customary when a match is mathematically over.

Saturday afternoon had arrived and it had been determined that we would play Harrow in the quarter final (final 8). For this match, Butler and Fallows were playing top. For once the pair were trailing for much of the match, not due to dipping form, but due to an exceptional opposition performance who were 5 under par when Rossall lost the first game! This was the first time that the pair had lost out of the 8 matches they have played together, which is nothing short of exceptional. Match 3 had already delivered a Rossall point from Talarczyk & Holmes winning by an impressive 5 & 4 margin. Then in match 2, Muscutt & Smith had battled well to be all square after 13 holes only to eventually go down on the 16th green. 2 – 1 to Harrow. Rossall needed to win the final two games. Jones & Hamnett played some accomplished golf to win 4 & 3 in game 5, meaning the match was even 2 – 2, with the last game involving the Rossall pair of Allen & Holt still live. They were 1 down going down the 18th hole which was playing long in to a stiff wind. The Harrow pair had taken five, Allen having putted from some 50 feet from the left hand edge of the green leaving Holt a nasty little six footer! Just as Holt was about to pull the trigger, a noise from afar disturbed him, requiring him to pull away and regroup. The tension was palpable. Holt recomposed himself, but sadly the put slipped by and, with it, the chance for Rossall to advance through to the semi-final.

There was most certainly a feeling of what could have been amongst the team. All the new youngsters embraced the whole event in a way becoming Old Rossallians and the future teams going forward look like they will continue to be strong. When the Halford Hewitt hooks you, you keep coming back, and it is clear to see that the new young stars are indeed hooked!

As in recent years, there was an upbeat mood amongst the squad, having played a lot of high quality golf, and in the knowledge that the near future may well hold very exciting times ahead. Certainly teams drawn against Rossall know that they are faced with a significant challenge!

Floreat Rossallia!

Noel Muscutt (MC, 1973-78)