Captain/Pro Challenge 2026 – Match 3
Saturday 15th August – Queen's Course
The Captain/Pro Challenge returned on Saturday 15th August for what became the third match played in this year's series. The fixture had originally been scheduled as our fifth match of the season, but with the previous two challenges having to be rearranged due to unforeseen circumstances, it was our first outing in the series for a little longer than anticipated.
Director of Golf AJ and I were up against the formidable pairing of Ken Marshall and Paul Lewis on the Queen's Course. Ken and Paul have enjoyed plenty of success together in the Captain/Pro Challenge over previous years and had in fact been undefeated as a partnership until AJ and I managed to get the better of them last season. They therefore arrived looking to return to winning ways against the Captain/Pro team.
Things initially looked ominous for the challengers as AJ got us off to the perfect start at the 1st. A superb approach to around six or seven feet was followed by a confidently converted putt for birdie, giving us an early advantage.
Ken, however, produced an excellent response at the 3rd, making a net birdie to bring the match back to all square. That seemed to shift the momentum firmly towards the challengers, with Ken and Paul beginning to apply the pressure and AJ and me increasingly trying to hang on to their coattails.
Both challengers were contributing important holes and, by the time we walked off the 6th green, Ken and Paul had established an imposing three-hole advantage.
AJ and I did manage to steady things and gradually work our way back into the contest. As the match moved into the back nine, the deficit had been reduced and things were beginning to look a little more promising. AJ once again came to the rescue at the 11th, producing his second birdie of the day to reduce the challengers' advantage to just one hole.
Unfortunately for us, it proved to be something of a false dawn.
Ken halted our momentum at the 13th, holing an excellent long putt for his first birdie of the day and restoring some breathing space for the challengers. From there, Ken and Paul continued to prove extremely difficult to dislodge, with both players contributing important holes and ensuring that we were never given an easy route back into the match.
The contest was eventually settled on the 16th, where Ken produced another birdie to clinch a thoroughly deserved 3&2 victory for the challengers.
While Ken's birdies on the back nine provided two of the obvious highlights, this was very much a team victory. Paul played his part throughout, taking important points of his own and combining extremely well with Ken whenever one of them was required to step up. They proved every bit as formidable a partnership as their previous record in the series suggested.
From our side, AJ certainly did more than his fair share to keep us afloat, with his two birdies helping us remain in contention for much longer than might otherwise have been the case. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything close to my best golf on the day, leaving AJ with a little too much heavy lifting to do at times against a pairing who were in no mood to offer us any favours!
As always, however, the result was only part of the day. The match was played in excellent spirit throughout and our thanks go to Ken and Paul for taking part, supporting the challenge and helping us add further funds to those already raised for our nominated charity, CHAS.
The result moves the challengers into a 2–1 lead in the 2026 Captain/Pro Challenge series, but there is still plenty of golf to be played. With several more challenges coming up before the end of the season, AJ and I will be hoping to bounce back quickly and ensure there are a few more twists and turns before this year's series is decided.
Congratulations again to Ken and Paul on a well-deserved victory and our thanks to them both for supporting another thoroughly enjoyable Captain/Pro Challenge.