Narwhals v Leatherjackets – 10th April 2026
The Narwhals v The Leatherjackets
Royal St David’s GC, Harlech
Friday 10th April 2026
The Leatherjackets arrived at a cool, blustery Royal St David’s, for the first home match of the 2026 season. For some LJs Borth & Ynyslas, and Conwy provided a suitable warm up, and with a number of Narwhals turning out to host.
With our long historical association there are few places where the Narwhals are more at home. With the Tusk mounted safely on the 1st Tee within sight of the castle standing sentinel over proceedings.
Captain Jamie Hughes in his last match of his 2-year tenure, led off partnered by Mark Jones, and the top pair raced to a 6 up lead after 9, before closing the Match out with a fine win by 7&6. Mike Calvert and Emyr Jones followed with a 1 up victory, while Josh Roberts and Duncan Whittaker produced a fine 5&4 success. Alex Cliffe and Brendan McNamara added another point at 3&1, and by this stage the Narwhals were building a distinctly healthy morning lead.
The Leatherjackets ended the morning with two late wins by Simon Brown and Tony Mason who edged out Oli Powell and Arthur Jones by 1 up, while David Shufflebotham and Haydn Phillips (Narwhal stand in) beat Ray Ledsham and Will Powell 3 & 2.
We were all cheered by the sight of the President JR Jones at the 14thTee armed with a couple of bottles of smooth red wine and words of encouragement to each match.
As we headed into lunch it was 4–2 to the Narwhals.
A mid match lunch at Royal St David’s always raises the spirits - if not quite so frequently - the standard of afternoon golf. On this occasion, however, the Narwhals took their fine morning form and bonhomie from the dining room to the course for a repeat of the mornings 4-2 outcome.
The president J R Jones and Josh Roberts took the opening afternoon match by 1 up, closely followed by Jamie Hughes and Mike Calvert who won by the same margin, Mark Jones and Duncan Whittaker were again dominant, winning 3&2, while Oli Powell and Alex Cliffe added a tidy 2&1 success to keep the home side comfortably in command. Again, the Leatherjackets showed plenty of backbone. Arthur Jones and Will Powell were beaten 3&2 by Simon Brown and David Shufflebotham, and Brendan McNamara and Ray Ledsham came up against a particularly sharp performance from Will Gard and the LJ stand in Haydn Phillips, going down 6&5. The Narwhals had won the morning 4–2, the afternoon by the same margin, and the match by 8 points to 4.
Post Match Dinner was preceded by the arrival of the Tusk, which in time honoured fashion, is borne by the Narwhals losing by the biggest margin - and this time it was graciously carried in by Messrs Ledsham and McNamara.
While there is satisfaction in winning, there is even greater delight in doing so in the right way: with keenly contested matches played in great spirit against opposition that share our values and deep appreciation of the Foursomes format, on a true championship links course that asks many searching questions and gives no quarter.
In his address The Captain expressed sincere thanks to the Club and all the staff for the hospitality and excellent condition of the course. Offered a Toast to our enduring kinship with the LJs Golfing Society and we retired to enjoy the third round of the Masters after a hearty rendition of Calon Lan.
Result: Narwhals 8 – 4 Leatherjackets
Match Manager - Will Powell