News

A tough day at the office for our Hampshire First Team, finishing in 7th place at the South East Group Qualifier on Saturday.

It just wasn’t our day, a morning round left us with too much to do to catch up with the leading Counties, the lads gave it a run but finished in the middle of the pack.

However, we’ll regroup, learn from it, and come back stronger. This team has heart and are still in a good position in the league going for a 3rd straight league title with just one match left to play @haylinggolf vs @surreygolf

Thank you to all who supported us, and congratulations to @kent.golf who qualified for the County Finals later this year.

You can view the full scores by clicking HERE

HAMPSHIRE captain Toby Burden will trust his players to focus on the special requirements of trying to qualify for the English County Finals for the first time since their last South East Qualifier victory eight years ago when they travel to Bedfordshire on Friday.

And if Hampshire are to win the Six-Man as it is dubbed for the eighth time since 2002 – the most victories in the South East Division by one county over the last 25 years by a country mile – they will have to do it without New Forest veteran Martin Young.

The man who captained Hampshire to the English County Championship for just a second time in their long history at Trevose, in 2017, has opted to play in the British Senior Amateur Championship, having recently turned 55 to be eligible for the first time.

Young has played in every one of the last 24 Six-Man championships – another record in the division – playing in all seven finals, but only ending up on the winning team once, when he took on arguably the much more difficult task as a playing-captain, which Burden has also accepted.

Toby will hope that his first crack at the Six-man as captain – he was unavailable 12 months ago because of a long-standing family commitment having taken on the county captaincy just a few weeks earlier – mirrors Young’s success at his second attempt.

The Hayling ace, who played in three Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Channel Islands Amateur Championship finals in a row from 2019, and was crowned English Champion of Champions six years ago, has again had to chop and change his line-up, mirroring their first South East League matches of the season, in which they were unbeaten.

Burden is without the county’ sole Great Britain and Ireland international with Basingstoke’s Walker Cup prospect Charlie Forster on international duty with England at the Euros this week, in Ireland.

Toby would love to have Forster available, especially given how well he played in the first round this week, shooting a first round 65 to lead the individual scorers as England swept into the matchplay phase.

In the last two Six-Man renewals Hampshire finished runners-up to Kent and Essex in 2023, and 2024, with Forster, who made his debut in the competition in 2022, leading after the first round two years ago.

Burden said: “We will miss a player of Charlie’s calibre obviously. The progress he has made since making  his Hampshire debut at Hayling three years ago is plain to see for anyone who follows golf.

“I really want him to become just the seventh player since the 1920s to play in the Walker Cup, including Justin Rose, who was the youngest-ever when picked as a 16-year-old in 1997.

“I played a lot of golf with Neil Raymond in the four or five years building up to his selection in 2013, and know how much it meant to him, so we are all rooting for Charlie playing for England this week, hoping they can reach at least another final.”

It means there is at least one space up for grabs in his line-up with North Hants’ Rob Wheeler and Charlie Preston, from Hartley Wintney GC – who came through Regional Open Qualifying at North Hants two weeks ago, showing the strokeplay strength required for the 36-hole shootout at The Millbrook.

Stoneham’s Joe Buenfeld, who beat Preston to win the county championship at Shanklin just over a month ago, made his debut in the Six-man in 2021, and has the game to go low.

Former Lee-on-the Solent member George Saunders – winner of the Hampshire Salver at Blackmoor in April – is playing in the qualifier for a seventh time in eight years, after the 2020 contest was cut by COVID.

The former England U16 cap is now a member at Liphook, with former Challenge Tour player Darren Walkley, who is still out injured with a serious finger injury following his accident at work.

Newly-crowned over 35s English Mid-Amateur Champion Stuart Archibald, the three-time EuroPro Tour winner is also unavailable as he is working with top stars at the DP World Tour’s Scottish Open who use Foresight’s launch monitor.

Their absence opens the door for former England international James Knight, who is now 50, and is another Hampshire player to have spent time in the pro ranks having played alongside Justin Rose some 30 years ago with North Hants’ former EuroPro Tour player Sam De’ath the seventh member of Toby’s squad.

Burden’s men will have to put their foot down to ensure they don’t get overtaken by their rivals coming down the home stretch on Saturday afternoon.

You can follow scoring by clicking HERE

Report by England Golf

The Test Valley golfer posted rounds of 73, 72 and a final-day 69 (-3) to win by five shots, making it his second Logan Trophy victory, after winning the title in 2022 at Liphook.

He said: “To play in any England Golf Championship is an honour and I’m delighted to win another trophy, it’s a great achievement.

“My iron play was really solid and my putting was probably as good as it ever has been, and that was always my Achilles heel before, but I putted lovely on the back-nine and that was enough to get it done.

“The wind was really tough on the first two days. One of the strengths of my game has always been my distance control and playing pin-high golf, and to get it to some of the plateaus where some of the pins were, was tough. I think everyone struggled, it created some challenges with putting and also keeping the ball in play.”

Asked about where he’ll be putting his trophy and if he’ll be looking to defend his title next year, he added: “It depends where my other half will let me put it! She doesn’t like me bringing home trophies!

“I’d like to dedicate this win to my partner Ashley and daughter Sofia – we’re expecting another child in December – so whether I play next year will depend on whether I’m allowed to leave the house after that!

“I hope I can play at Hadley Wood, and the following year it’s at my old club Blackmoor, so I’ll definitely be looking to come back and win there too.

“I’m going to celebrate by driving up to Edinburgh for work at the Scottish Open, so no playing golf for a few days, and then I’ll be off to The Open in Ireland so hopefully I can enjoy a Guinness or two there!”

The first two days of the Logan Trophy saw 40mph winds make scoring tricky, before a calm final day, until heavy showers hit the leading groups on the course.

James Glenn’s 5-under back nine on day two meant the Bishop Auckland golfer joined Archibald in the final pairing on the last day, and both enjoyed good front nines with Archibald making three straight birdies on 5, 6 and 7 to stretch his lead at the top.

Bogeys on the back nine all but ended Glenn’s hopes, while Archibald held his nerve to birdie 12, 15 and 17 to seal vitory.

Chester-le-Street’s Kevin Suggett had the round of the tournament on the final day as he produced a bogey-free 67 (-5) to finish 2nd, while John Sadler (Bromborough) Geoff Harris (Formby) and Mark Wharton (Newcastle United) shot rounds of 70 (-2) to force their way up the leaderboard, but it was Sadler, Martin McCririck (South Shields) and Glenn, who finished tied-3rd to secure prizes.

The par-4 8th proved to be the biggest test for the players during the week, with just seven birdies being made from the 312 times the hole was played, at an average of 4.97. The easiest hole proved to be the par-5 3rd which saw a scoring average of 5.04.

Click here to see the final leaderboard.