We extend a huge well done to the OLGS scratch team, who put in a stellar performance over the weekend to win The Grafton Morrish Trophy.

The Grafton Morrish is an amateur scratch foursomes competition, open to the golfing sections of school alumni societies (male and female). Three pairs from each school play in the knock-out finals to decide the winner, and Loretto performed incredibly well amongst the other schools in the draw. Winning the trophy is a fantastic achievement and we are incredibly proud of their success.

To read more about the competition and see detailed scores, head to graftonmorrish.org.uk.

Please also enjoy this match report from OLGS President Andrew Brown:


OLGS Triumph at The Grafton Morrish!

Team members: James P. McCormick (2010), Michael J. Allen (2005), Adam E.H. Wraight (2008), Joel C. Westwell (2008), James O. Guterman (2008) and Cameron R.B. Blair (2016) 

We were denied a Hewitt victory in 2024 by an inspired performance by Uppingham at Royal St. George’s in April, but there is no stopping Loretto. After our ladies won The Silver Tassie on their debut outing at The Berkshire in June 2024, the boys went on to win The Grafton Morrish Schools Trophy at Hunstanton, also for the first time. 

The Grafton Morrish dates back to 1963 and is different from the Halford Hewitt in a number of ways. Each year, every school has to qualify at regional events in May so the schools in the finals vary from year to year. Forty-eight schools play in the finals and, as all have qualified, all are quite strong – unlike the Halford Hewitt, where only twenty or thirty of the sixty-four schools could realistically win the tournament. The Grafton Morrish also includes strong sporting schools like Millfield, who don’t play in the Hewitt. Each team also only has three pairs, so the strength in depth that Loretto enjoys with five pairs at the Hewitt is less of a factor. 

The first rounds are played at Hunstanton and Brancaster, with Hunstanton hosting the third round onwards. For many years we struggled to qualify for the finals. Last year we qualified but lost to Radley in the first round, before going onto win the ‘Solihull Salver’ – a Stableford competition for the first and second round losers. Obviously, this year, the team decided the main trophy was their target! 

The team was captained by Joel Westwell, who maintained his Hewitt partnership with Adam Wraight. The other two pairs were James McCormick and James Guterman, while Cameron Blair played with Michael Allen. 

On day one (Friday) at Brancaster, we were drawn against Sherborne in a tough section which included the likes of Tonbridge, Malvern, Clifton, Sedbergh and Marlborough. To compound matters, the weather on this first day was persistent rain and 40mph winds. Not pleasant! The speed of play was painfully slow, but this didn’t stop the team prevailing against Sherborne and then again in the afternoon in a tight match against Marlborough. 

On day two (Saturday), conditions couldn’t have been more different with glorious sunshine all day. The morning match against Giggleswick was the closest of the week; whilst Joel and Adam in match three were fast out of the starting blocks and raced to a 7/6 victory, the two James’ lost to the Giggleswick first pair. This meant it was all down to the middle match.  

Loretto won the 17th to go 1up, but a magnificent birdie by Giggleswick on 18 halved the match so it was on down the 1st for sudden death. A half there meant they went back up 18 and, with Giggleswick unable to repeat their earlier heroics, a steady par was enough for Loretto to go through. 

The extra holes meant that the Quarter Final against Clifton went out late, and Clifton were strong in the first match. As a result, Loretto was once again one match down. However, the two James’ and Joel and Adam were always ahead and played impressively to deliver a 2-1 win. Loretto had reached the semi-final.  

The semi-final on Sunday morning was against Berkhamsted, who had defeated Eton the previous evening. The first 9 were very tight. Joel and Adam in match one held a slender 1 hole advantage after 9, but the two James’ were 1 down in the second match after 10, and we were 3 down in the third match after 11. This was when the tide turned. In match one, the two James’ fought back to win 3/2. And remarkably, Michael and Cam, from being 3 down after 11, fought back to be all square after 16. As it was, Joel and Adam secured their narrow victory to ensure Loretto went through. 

So, it was onto to the final against Woodbridge, who had beaten Charterhouse in the other semi-final. Woodbridge had also never won the Grafton Morrish so, no matter what happened, we knew there would be a first-time winner. Woodbridge had, however, seen off some big names to get to the final, including Winchester, Glasgow Accies, Bradfield and Charterhouse.  

Loretto got off to a good start in all three matches, with the two James’ leading out, Cam and Mike in the second, and Joel and Adam in the third. The two James’ held onto their early lead throughout and won 4/3, meaning we only needed one win from the other two matches. In match two, Loretto had gone 4up after 11 but Woodbridge then mounted a fightback. Dormie 3 to Loretto became Dormie 2, and with Adam and Joel just 1up in the final match, tension was mounting in the 116 strong WhatsApp Group! As it turned out, at the tough long par4 17th, Cam and Mike were able to get the half and Loretto had another new trophy. 

We thought it might take a few years of familiarisation to get our hands on this trophy, so to win it in effectively only our second year of seriously taking part is a fantastic achievement. 

Huge congratulations to Adam, the Scratch Team Captain, Joel, who captained the team during the finals, and all the squad who participated through the qualifying. Further plaudits go to the team for their strategy of switching qualifying from Edinburgh to the Midlands, which enabled us to field a stronger side. 

Once again, well done, and we are already looking forward to next year! 

Andrew J.R. Brown (1977) 

OLGS President