As part of Newport County AFC’s Half Term activities (the Community side have been running Soccer Camps all week and the Club is holding an Open Training Session on Thursday), two Junior Season Ticket Holders, 11-year-old Lewis Bowden and 10-year-old Quentin Vaughan, were drawn at random to take on Exiles players Matty Dolan and Mark O’Brien at a round of Adventure Golf at the Celtic Manor.
The group met on Wednesday afternoon at the Adventure Golf Club House and decided to split into teams: Lewis and Mark vs Matty and Quentin.
The Celtic Manor Adventure Golf Course is split into two parts; the first a set of replica famous Golf Holes taking inspiration from the Celtic Manor 2010 course as well as St Andrews, Pebble Beach, and Augusta. The second part of the Adventure Golf Course is Celtic Inspired complete with dragons, huts, and Celtic rafts.
Lewis, Quentin, Mark and Matty chose to start at the Famous Golf Holes Course. The course proved more of a challenge than first expected with the first hole being written off as a “warm-up” after everyone failed to putt the ball in less than 8 attempts.
It was on the second hole that the competition really began!
Some dubious decisions by Mark as to where Matty Dolan’s drop ball should be and some fairly impressive chipped shots (with an Adventure Golf Putter) from Matty could do nothing to stop Lewis Bowden scoring three 2s in a row and ensuring Mark and Lewis ran away winners in the first round.
It was all change in the second round though with Matty and Quentin’s team (with the help of Quentin’s family and some super shots by Quentin) leading the way as the group entered the final hole. Mark (who’d spent most of the second round in the water or nestled in the pebbles that surround the course) suddenly found form when it mattered (which brought up a conversation of the last time this had happened something about a chest and volley goal in the 89th minute?) and found himself just inches from the 9th hole after one shot whilst everyone else, most notably Matty, struggled to clear the water.
With good sportsmanship in mind, Matty “accidentally” kicked Mark’s ball away down the slope and into the water whilst trying to putt his own ball after 4 shots. Quentin and Lewis both finished the final hole in 3 and so it was decided a draw was a fair result.
This Adventure Golf afternoon comes as the Club looks to provide more opportunities for more supporters to experience once in a life time events like sharing a round of Adventure Golf with your football-heroes or appearing in a kit launch.
The standard of golf might not have been the best but everyone certainly had a good time and we look forward to running more of these competitions throughout the rest of the Season.
Don't forget, we are opening Spytty Stadium from 11am-1pm
on Thursday 2nd November for an
Open Training Session.