Reikäpelimestaruus 2014
The final of the 2014 Reikäpelimestaruus between Andy Fowlie and Henri Lahdenperä was a victim of schedule congestion and missed deadlines in earlier matches and as a consequence was not played until October 5th, the day after the prizegiving! The contestants were evenly matched in terms of their handicaps (Andy +1.2, Henkka +1.0) and a close game seemed likely.
The late date also brought some challenging conditions, with temperatures around 6 degrees and a bit of a wind for the players to deal with as well as the wet course and the millions of little (and not so little) stones which have been spread on our fairways (presumably by the greenkeepers, but it could be by a local golf shop hoping that everyone would wear their clubs out faster).
The final was a classic matchplay game with fortunes swinging this way and that and the game contained an exciting mixture of great shots and awful mistakes... it would have been a good one for the spectators if only there had been some spectators.
After a matching pair of three putts from long distance to half the first hole Henkka had a good chance to move ahead with a 1.5m birdie putt on the second, but it slid by the edge. The third was won by Andy's 2 putt par after a 3 putt from Henkka from long range before the 4th was decided by the first of the days awful mistakes when Henkka completely topped his drive and it went about 10m forwards and left into the long rough. The same club which produced the first awful mistake also produced the first great shot on the following hole, a perfect drive on the 5th to about 6m from the hole to set up an easy birdie for Henkka and bring Andy's lead back to 1 hole.
Both players missed the 7th green but Andy's chip was excellent, finishing about 3cm from the hole, and it proved to be enough to take the lead back to 2 holes. Fifteen minutes later the lead was 3up after a drive and a 6 iron to 4m on the 8th meant that Andy had two putts for the hole. The 9th hole was something of a turning point - Andy hit the green but when Henkka's ball was in the air the wind picked up in strength and knocked the ball out of the sky leaving it a few metres short of the green. Henkka's chip was ok but not great, leaving about 3m for a par and Andy's uphill putt was not a masterpiece either, coming up 2m short. That left one of those matchplay situations... both putts were quite makeable but also quite missable... if Henkka missed then there was every chance that he would be 4 down... but he rolled his putt in the middle of the hole and when Andy misread his shorter putt the lead was cut to 2up at the turn.
After easy pars at the 10th the players went to one of the most difficult stretches of the course, the 11th and 12th holes were playing straight into the wind and they were really tough... but seemingly not for Henkka. He hit a great drive on the 11th and followed that up with a low iron shot to about 5m from where he had two putts for the hole but needed only one, a great birdie in the conditions. On the 12th things got even better, both players drove well up the middle, Andy played first and hit a good gripped down 5 wood which ended up 5m from the hole which seemed like a pretty good shot until Henkka's 4 iron approach hit the flag and ended up 4m away. When Henkka rolled in the putt for a second consecutive birdie, on the two toughest holes of the day, the match was all square.
On the 13th and the 14th it was Andy's turn to make awful mistakes, both times with the 3 wood. On the 13th his tee shot went straight up in the air and was too short, flying over the water but then bouncing back down the bank into a terrible lie. From there it took 3 hacks to get it to the fairway and Henkka had the lead for the first time. On the 14th the same 3 wood was again at fault as the second shot disappeared into the lake, never to be seen again... a long par effort from off the green briefly looked promising before lipping out to leave Henkka 2 holes ahead.
The 15th was, as usual, a pretty challenging hole, and on this occasion the flag was right in the back left corner and the hole was playing at its maximum length. Both drives were very good, straight up the middle, leaving less than 190m to the flag. Andy's 4 iron approach from the shorter of the drives was excellent, drawing back towards the flag and ending up about 6m from the hole, but Henkka was able to match that pretty well with his own shot also finding the middle of the green about 8m from the hole. Two putt pars followed for each player.
On the 16th Henkka did not quite catch his tee shot with a long iron, coming up 20m short, but Andy's 5 wood looked perfect, right at the flag, and ended up 5m from the hole. When Henkka failed to get up and down his lead was reduced to 1. On the 17th Andy found the middle of the fairway while Henkka's drive found the right rough, his recovery shot was a good one however leaving him an 8m birdie putt from the middle of the green to the back right pin position. Andy's approach from 112m was all over the flag, ending up 60cm from the hole and setting up an easy birdie which took the match back to all square as they headed to the 18th tee.
On 18 both players made sure that they avoided the water, but only by missing the fairway by 25m to the right. Andy was in the long rough while Henkka was in the semi rough between the 18th and 15th fairways. Andy hacked out leaving a 155m 3rd shot from a sloping lie in the fairway while Henkka hit a good lay up shot to leave about 90m. Andy's shot hung out to the right just a fraction more than intended and ended up right of the green in the semi-rough on the slope, short-sided and with the green running away from him for the chip. Henkka's wedge shot looked exctly right, about 5m right of the hole but unluckily it did not get the spin it would have needed to bring it back close to the hole, ending up about 4m above the hole.
The lie for Andy's chip was not all that great so he decided to bump it through the semi-rough with a 7 iron and hope to get it to dribble onto the green slowly enough to stay near the hole and give a chance of par. As it turned out there was no chance of par whatsoever as the shot was played just perfectly and rolled into the hole for a birdie! Was that to be the winning shot? No chance. Henkka rolled his wn 4m downhill birdie putt into the centre of the cup and it was time for extra holes.
After a short negotiation with the two players who were on the first tee preparing to tee off they agreed to let the match continue before they started their own round and the extra holes began. Andy's drive was not particularly long but it found the middle of the fairway while Henkka found the rough on the right. After the second shots Andy was on the green but about 25m from the hole while Henkka was only about 15m away but in the front bunker. Andy's putt was going to be a pretty difficult one, his ball was well onto the green but towards the left edge while the pin was towards the back on the right hand side, which left a putt which would be uphill for the first 15m and downhill for the last 10m with a big swing from left to right. His effort was a reasonable one, but it ended up some 4m short of the hole (another downhill left to right putt awaited). Henkka's bunker shot left him a 5m uphill chance for a par, but his effort rolled just past the left edge. Andy's putt had just the right line and just the right speed, falling in the middle of the hole to seal a third (and second consecutive) Reikäpelimestaruus title.
The game was played in a good spirit throughout and provided a good conclusion to this year's matchplay events at Kytäjä.
The late date also brought some challenging conditions, with temperatures around 6 degrees and a bit of a wind for the players to deal with as well as the wet course and the millions of little (and not so little) stones which have been spread on our fairways (presumably by the greenkeepers, but it could be by a local golf shop hoping that everyone would wear their clubs out faster).
The final was a classic matchplay game with fortunes swinging this way and that and the game contained an exciting mixture of great shots and awful mistakes... it would have been a good one for the spectators if only there had been some spectators.
After a matching pair of three putts from long distance to half the first hole Henkka had a good chance to move ahead with a 1.5m birdie putt on the second, but it slid by the edge. The third was won by Andy's 2 putt par after a 3 putt from Henkka from long range before the 4th was decided by the first of the days awful mistakes when Henkka completely topped his drive and it went about 10m forwards and left into the long rough. The same club which produced the first awful mistake also produced the first great shot on the following hole, a perfect drive on the 5th to about 6m from the hole to set up an easy birdie for Henkka and bring Andy's lead back to 1 hole.
Both players missed the 7th green but Andy's chip was excellent, finishing about 3cm from the hole, and it proved to be enough to take the lead back to 2 holes. Fifteen minutes later the lead was 3up after a drive and a 6 iron to 4m on the 8th meant that Andy had two putts for the hole. The 9th hole was something of a turning point - Andy hit the green but when Henkka's ball was in the air the wind picked up in strength and knocked the ball out of the sky leaving it a few metres short of the green. Henkka's chip was ok but not great, leaving about 3m for a par and Andy's uphill putt was not a masterpiece either, coming up 2m short. That left one of those matchplay situations... both putts were quite makeable but also quite missable... if Henkka missed then there was every chance that he would be 4 down... but he rolled his putt in the middle of the hole and when Andy misread his shorter putt the lead was cut to 2up at the turn.
After easy pars at the 10th the players went to one of the most difficult stretches of the course, the 11th and 12th holes were playing straight into the wind and they were really tough... but seemingly not for Henkka. He hit a great drive on the 11th and followed that up with a low iron shot to about 5m from where he had two putts for the hole but needed only one, a great birdie in the conditions. On the 12th things got even better, both players drove well up the middle, Andy played first and hit a good gripped down 5 wood which ended up 5m from the hole which seemed like a pretty good shot until Henkka's 4 iron approach hit the flag and ended up 4m away. When Henkka rolled in the putt for a second consecutive birdie, on the two toughest holes of the day, the match was all square.
On the 13th and the 14th it was Andy's turn to make awful mistakes, both times with the 3 wood. On the 13th his tee shot went straight up in the air and was too short, flying over the water but then bouncing back down the bank into a terrible lie. From there it took 3 hacks to get it to the fairway and Henkka had the lead for the first time. On the 14th the same 3 wood was again at fault as the second shot disappeared into the lake, never to be seen again... a long par effort from off the green briefly looked promising before lipping out to leave Henkka 2 holes ahead.
The 15th was, as usual, a pretty challenging hole, and on this occasion the flag was right in the back left corner and the hole was playing at its maximum length. Both drives were very good, straight up the middle, leaving less than 190m to the flag. Andy's 4 iron approach from the shorter of the drives was excellent, drawing back towards the flag and ending up about 6m from the hole, but Henkka was able to match that pretty well with his own shot also finding the middle of the green about 8m from the hole. Two putt pars followed for each player.
On the 16th Henkka did not quite catch his tee shot with a long iron, coming up 20m short, but Andy's 5 wood looked perfect, right at the flag, and ended up 5m from the hole. When Henkka failed to get up and down his lead was reduced to 1. On the 17th Andy found the middle of the fairway while Henkka's drive found the right rough, his recovery shot was a good one however leaving him an 8m birdie putt from the middle of the green to the back right pin position. Andy's approach from 112m was all over the flag, ending up 60cm from the hole and setting up an easy birdie which took the match back to all square as they headed to the 18th tee.
On 18 both players made sure that they avoided the water, but only by missing the fairway by 25m to the right. Andy was in the long rough while Henkka was in the semi rough between the 18th and 15th fairways. Andy hacked out leaving a 155m 3rd shot from a sloping lie in the fairway while Henkka hit a good lay up shot to leave about 90m. Andy's shot hung out to the right just a fraction more than intended and ended up right of the green in the semi-rough on the slope, short-sided and with the green running away from him for the chip. Henkka's wedge shot looked exctly right, about 5m right of the hole but unluckily it did not get the spin it would have needed to bring it back close to the hole, ending up about 4m above the hole.
The lie for Andy's chip was not all that great so he decided to bump it through the semi-rough with a 7 iron and hope to get it to dribble onto the green slowly enough to stay near the hole and give a chance of par. As it turned out there was no chance of par whatsoever as the shot was played just perfectly and rolled into the hole for a birdie! Was that to be the winning shot? No chance. Henkka rolled his wn 4m downhill birdie putt into the centre of the cup and it was time for extra holes.
After a short negotiation with the two players who were on the first tee preparing to tee off they agreed to let the match continue before they started their own round and the extra holes began. Andy's drive was not particularly long but it found the middle of the fairway while Henkka found the rough on the right. After the second shots Andy was on the green but about 25m from the hole while Henkka was only about 15m away but in the front bunker. Andy's putt was going to be a pretty difficult one, his ball was well onto the green but towards the left edge while the pin was towards the back on the right hand side, which left a putt which would be uphill for the first 15m and downhill for the last 10m with a big swing from left to right. His effort was a reasonable one, but it ended up some 4m short of the hole (another downhill left to right putt awaited). Henkka's bunker shot left him a 5m uphill chance for a par, but his effort rolled just past the left edge. Andy's putt had just the right line and just the right speed, falling in the middle of the hole to seal a third (and second consecutive) Reikäpelimestaruus title.
The game was played in a good spirit throughout and provided a good conclusion to this year's matchplay events at Kytäjä.