East Devon in strong position after first leg of Picture Match

The Picture Match is an annual fixture played between East Devon and Sidmouth Golf Clubs, and is one of the longest standing matches in the golfing calendar, having being played annually since 1932, writes Paul Willoughby.

The trophy is The Picture itself – a framed cartoon drawn by a Sidmouth member over 86 years ago when his club issued the challenge (and lost!).

The Picture remains in the clubhouse of the winning team – presently, Sidmouth.

The match is played off scratch so there is no handicap advantage. It is played both home and away with the winner over the aggregate of the two matches retaining The Picture for a year - the loser has a copy for their clubhouse wall.

The final Saturday of May saw the first leg of the Picture Match played at East Devon; the day started damp, cloudy and windy but soon cleared to provide ideal golfing conditions.

A strong East Devon team put in a tremendous effort to register a first leg lead of 11.25 versus 2.75 which puts them in a strong position for the second and deciding leg to be played at Sidmouth on Sunday, September9.

A huge thanks goes to all involved including team, ground staff and catering. A great time was had by all and both teams are looking forward to the return leg when they hope to bring (or in Sidmouth’s case, retain) the Picture back to its rightful wall!