Royal St. George´s Golf Club 3.5 - 8.5 University of Oxford

The Dark Blues got off to a very convincing start in the run up to the University Match as they breezed past the team fielded by this year´s Open Championship host club. Oxford have been getting much practice in tricky conditions of late, and the scoreline reflected this preparedness both at lunch and at the close of play.

Strong performances throughout the order are indicative of the depth being enjoyed in the Blues squad this year. Out top in the morning, Slowther/van Wijk overcame Cambridge star Amir Habibi and partner to draw first blood for Oxford and this was supported by wins from Mercurio/Crummey and Wells/Hoolahan. The afternoon, in slightly more benign conditions, saw wins for all pairs apart from one half and one loss.

The strong golfing show was followed by an equally impressive evening performance as the Club laid on an exquisite dinner for the two sides. Oxford, however, went from the sublime to the ridiculous as they left behind sea bass and fillet steak and headed towards Deal town centre. The establishment of choice was Rivals - ironically named as anywhere so poor yet so busy must have a monopoly on seedy nighttime entertainment in the area. All in the team left a little worse for wear, apart from new Blue David Crummey for whom the elusive 5-pointer was still looming large.