Hampshire Golf Limited
Captain Young is Champion
Friday 3rd June 2016
Martin Young is County Champion
Martin Young pictured with the Sloane Stanley trophy and with Tom Robson and John Moore (President)
Most of those who did well at Hayling
Nat Riddett with Jamie Leggett (Captain, Hayling GC) and the Hampshire Bowl
Martin Young joined an elite band of just four other golfers who have won the Sloane Stanley Challenge Cup for a third time beating Rowlands Castle’s Tom Robson in a duel in the sun over Hayling’s links, on Sunday.
The Brokenhurst Manor man also sent the golf union historians scurrying for the record books with a claim to being the first county captain to win the Hampshire Amateur Championship while holding the badge of office.
Young became the first-ever golfer to win all of Hampshire’s four major competitions in one year back in 2014 when he won the county championship qualifier, the matchplay, the Mid-Amateur title and the Courage Trophy in Hampshire’s main 36-hole strokeplay event.
Now victory in Sunday’s final means he has won every major Hampshire trophy at Hayling – he claimed the Courage and the Mid Amateur there in 2012 – to go with the Logan Trophy he won in 2005 when he was crowned English Mid-Amateur Champion.
A delighted Young said: “I am sorry for everyone else to say I simply love Hayling and now completed another slam as well as probably being the first county captain to win the county championship while doing the job.
“It was a case of a bit of last-man standing over the closing holes, I certainly hit some tired shots.
“But the five-iron I hit into the 15th to four feet was crucial and the bunker shot I left stiff on the 17th was vital as I did not want to go down the 18th one down.
“I went to America to play in the Concession Cup where I played great - but Great Britain and Ireland could not repeat the way we played against the USA two years ago, and since I came back in April, I have not been playing great at all.
“But coming back here seems to inspire me and lift my game – and Tom played some great golf. It was a pity someone had to lose.”
Young and Robson – who have played together for the county over the past six years went head-to-head over Hampshire’s unique links layout overlooking the Solent in glorious sunshine with only the gentlest of breezes.
Robson won the 16th after Young had left his tee shot in the greenside trap on his way to a bogey four.
Young then splashed out of the greenside trap on the left of the 17th green, leaving a kick in for his four after Robson had hit the green in regulation but left his birdie putt five feet short having found the front of the green with his five-iron.
Both players drew their longest iron on the dog leg 385-yard 18th but Robson could only watch in horror as his tee shot shot right and cannoned into the gorse hitting former county champion and two-time Hampshire champion Alan Mew, from Stoneham, on its way into the hazard.
Robson was forced to drop two club lengths and could only find the heart of the green while Young was some 20 yards further up in the rough and was able to get his eight-iron to within eight feet.
The graduate from Jacksonville State University – where Masters champion Danny Willett also spent two years on a golf scholarship – gave his putt a good run from 12 feet but left it just short of the jaws and graciously offered to shake his county captain’s hand to concede the match and the title.
On the front nine, Robson had started poorly just as he had in the final against Hayling’s Darren Walkley at Brokenhurst Manor 12 months ago, when he was four down after five.
But this time, Robson was three down after four but won the fifth with a birdie three, the seventh with a birdie four and holed another three for birdie at the next to get back to all square.
Young took five on the driveable 10th to fall behind for the first time but then holed a downhill putt on the short par three 11th after Robson missed the green.
Martin, who spent 20 years trying to win the county championship before his first victory at Aldershot’s Army GC in 2011, followed that with victory over Corhampton’s Adam Reid at Hockley two years ago.
He now joins Stoneham's David Harrison (six), Hayling's Ian Patey (five), Hockley's Brian Winteridge (four) and Stoneham's Ryan Henley (three), who have claimed the trophy more than twice since the championship became a matchplay event in 1926.
Robson had to settle for the consolation of claiming his third Pechell Salver in six years for the best qualifying score on Friday, shooting 67, 66 to finish Friday’s qualifier on nine-under – a record since the trophy was introduced back in 1960
Andrew Griffin
Match-play Draw as follows:
Saturday 4th June
08.30 Tom Robson v Jamie Mist - Robson won 3 and 2
08.40 Colin Roope v Darren Walkley - Roope won 19th
08.50 Sam Lemon v Steve Clapp - Clapp won 2/1
09.00 Kevin Hickman v Toby Burden - Hickman won 2/1
09.10 Billy Watson v Ben Wall - Watson won 2/1
09.20 Richard Harris v George Saunders - Harris won 18th
09.30 Andrew Clarke v Danny Blondel - Blondel won 3/2
09.40 Martin Young v Lawrence Cherry - Young won 3/2
Quarter-Final
13.30 Robson beat Roope
13.45 Clapp lost to Hickman
14.00 Watson lost to Harris
14.15 Blondel lost to Young
Sunday 5th June
Semi-Final
Robson beat Hickman 4 and 3
Young beat Harris 2 and 1
FINAL
Martin Young beat Tom Robson
Andrew Griffin reports from Hayling Golf Club
FRIDAY 3RD JUNE
Rowlands Castle’s Tom Robson claimed the Pechell Salver for the lowest qualifying score in six years, after carding a stunning nine-under par total over 36 holes at the Hampshire Amateur Championship at Hayling, on Friday.
The 27-year old was five shots clear of Hampshire captain Martin Young who was also making birdies for fun, carding 12 birdies the day – but a poor back nine in the morning effectively handed the first silverware of the weekend to Robson.
Tom, who fired a five-under par 66 in the afternoon after leading the qualifying race at lunch time with a fine 67, has become the assistant secretary at his golf club since playing in last year’s championship at Brokenhurst Manor, when he lost in the final to Hayling’s Darren Walkley.
The defending champion was one of seven Hayling members to finish in the top 16 who will go through to the matchplay knockout on Saturday morning.
He took the ninth seed spot with a one-under total but lost out in the bragging stakes in the clubhouse as the sun set over the Solent coastline visible from Hayling’s unmistakable all white Art Deco clubhouse.
Honours went to Richard Harris, who finished third with a three-under total after rounds of 70 and 69.
Forty-three-year-old Kevin Hickman – who qualified for the Brabazon Trophy for the second year running in last month’s Southern Qualifier at Hadley Wood – was fifth after a solid 68 in the second round saw him tie with Liphook’s Sam Lemon on two-under.
Several Hayling players faced an anxious wait to see if their efforts were good enough to make the matchplay.
The 2014 Solent Salver winner Ben Wall (72, 70) was 11th while Toby Burden – who lost in the final the last time the Hamsphire Amateur Championship was held at Hayling back in 2006 – returned with two 71s to take 12th spot in the draw.
Steve Clapp added a 72 to his opening 71 to take 13th place but Jamie Mist was sweating the most as the player - who reached the last eight at the English Amateur Championship two years ago – had to wait to find out if anyone else posted level par.
That would have knocked him out of the qualifying places – as would anyone shooting 73 or better to finish on one-over for the day after he added a 74 to his opening 69 which had left him in third place on the leaderboard at lunch.
But after the final cards were added up, Mist was clear to take his place in the draw – which will see him face Robson in the first round.
One Hayling player is guaranteed to be in Saturday afternoon’s quarter-finals with Hickman playing Burden in round one. If Robson can overcome Mist in the battle of the Jacksonville State University students – both went to the Alabama College where a certain Masters champion Danny Willett also went on a golf scholarship – he will face Walkley in a repeat of last year’s final, as long as the title holder wins his first round match against Colin Roope.
Roope, who played twice for Surrey in the English County Finals more than 10 years ago, has recently become a member at Blackmoor and is keen to force his way into the county set-up, and has the perfect chance by causing an upset against Walkley.
The other Hayling player in the top half of the draw is Steve Clapp, who plays off one. He will face Liphook’s Lemo, who was in second place after round one thanks to a 68, and finished fourth overall after a 71 in the afternoon.
Hayling’s Richard Harris, who finished third with rounds of 70 and 69, will tackle in-form teenager George Saunders, from Meon Valley Golf & Country, after a late bogey on the last after his drive ended up in the gorse nearly cost him his spot as the 15th seed.
Stoneham’s Lawrence Cherry, last year’s Hampshire Boys captain, was 15th with a 71 and and will face Young, the winner of the Sloane Stanley Challenge Trophy back in 2011 at Army GC.
One Channel Islander is guaranteed a place in the last eight – La Moye’s Andy Clarke (71, 70) finished seventh and will face L’Ancresse’s Danny Blondel (73, 69) in the battle for supremacy between Jersey and Guernsey.
SATURDAY 4TH JUNE
Hayling’s Richard Harris used to dream of scoring for Pompey in the Premiership playing for the club’s academy team as a teenager 10 years ago.
Now the 26-year-old who saw the promise of a professional contract for Harry Redknapp’s team scuppered by a serious injury, stands between county captain Martin Young and a place in the Hampshire Amateur Championship final on Sunday afternoon, over Hayling’s magnificent links.
Young has the chance to play in what would be his fourth final in the last 12 years – and should he win, join the elite band of just four players who have won the Sloane Stanley Challenge Cup three times or more since the championship became a matchplay event in 1926.
Harris was one of seven Hayling players to make it through to Saturday’s knockout which saw the top 16 qualifiers seeded for the two rounds of 18-hole knockout matches played before Sunday’s two semis and the afternoon final.
And Young while totally focused on the task of clinching that place in the final will also be keeping a close eye on his opponent after he emerged as arguably the best player in the county yet to play for Hampshire.
Harris rolled in a 40-foot putt across the 18th green to end Billy Watson’s dream of becoming the first player from North Hants to reach the last four in the best part of 20 years after last year’s Hampshire Open winner made it through to the knockout for the fourth year in a row.
Harris, who began playing golf at Cams Hall before joining Hayling nearly four years ago, won the fifth and the eighth, having lost the sixth to lead at the turn and picked up another hole at the driveable 10th but then three-putted the notoriously difficult 12th as Watson reduced the arrears to one again.
Harris then drove the green on the 13th after his drive carried the highest part of the course, which is also the highest point on Hayling Island, to bound down on to the green at the furthest point from the clubhouse.
The third seed could only make five for par on the 14th after finding the hazard with his second shot as Watson again reduced the deficit to one, only for Harris to hole his birdie putt for a three on the 15th to lead by two with three to play.
The par three 16th was halved in threes but Watson kept the match alive by sinking a 30-footer for his three to win the hole and take the match down the last.
While both players found the green on the 385-yard in regulation, Harris brought the match to a dramatic end rolling his 40-footer into the cup for a three to bring a huge cheer from the watching members on the balcony of the distinctive all white Art Deco clubhouse
Harris, who was cut to plus-two after his rounds of 70 and 69 in Friday’s qualifier, will meet Young, who saw off Danny Blondell’s bid to become the first Guernsey-based player to be crowned champion since Bobby Eggo, back in 1986, winning 2&1.
Young had been two up at the turn and won the 13th to double his lead. But whereas Young had holed his share of putts in the morning match in which he knocked out last year’s Hampshire Boys captain Lawrence Cherry, from Stoneham, having been four up with three to play.
Hayling were guaranteed a player in the last four when Steve Clapp, the No. 13 seed knocked out Liphook’s Sam Lemon, winning 2&1 to book his place in the last eight where he faced clubmate Kevin Hickman, in the quarter-finals.
Hickman has been in good form having finished in the top 32 in the Brabazon South Qualifier at Hadley Wood, in North London, last month, to earn a place in the English Amateur Strokeplay Championship at The London Club, later this month.
It was the second-year running the 43-year-old has made it into the Brabazon field, and having been a long-time member at Waterlooville, where his brother David is an assistant pro, he joined Hayling earlier this year.
He showed his affinity for seaside golf by finishing fifth in Friday’s qualifier, and he had booked his quarter-final place by ending fellow Hayling member Toby Burden’s dream of going one better than in 2006 when the club last hosted the county championship and he was beaten 5&3 by Basingstoke’s Stuart Archibald in the final.
The first round match did not produced the birdies of some of the other matches, Hickman held on having got to the turn one up – and was never behind before claiming the match after winning the 16th and 17th to move into the last eight.
And while neither Clapp nor Hickman played their best golf after lunch in their quarter-final, it was a keenly contested match with only one hole in it on the front nine.
Kevin edged in front winning the third and then doubled his lead by driving the 10th to make a rare eagle.
But that kicked Clapp into action, holing from off the green with a 55-foot putt on the 11th, only to hand the hole back as a two-putt par gave Hickman the 12th.
The 13th was halved in fours and both players could only make par fives on the long 14th to leave Hickman two up with four to play.
Another par was enough to stretch that lead to three on the 15th but Hickman’s first bogey of the afternoon on the par three 16th took the match down 17 as Clapp kept calm to make his three.
Both players hit poor drives on the penultimate hole but Clapp escaped with a par to reduce the gap to just one hole playing the last.
Clapp then hit a wide off the tee, finding the gorse on the left hand-side but managed to hit a great recovery shot just shy of the greenside bunker on the front right of the green.
Hickman picked the perfect time to find the middle of the fairway and sent his nine-iron to the middle of the green. Clapp chipped across the green, but left Hickman with two putts to book his place in the semi-final.
He had also produced a number of shocks to reach the semi-final at Blackmoor in 2005, eventually losing to Martin Young.
Now he faces another tough test in the shape of last year’s beaten finalist Tom Robson, who is looking for his second Hampshire Amateur title, after beating Burden in a play-off at Liphook in 2009.
SUNDAY 5TH JUNE
HOPES of an all-Hayling final evaporated as Tom Robson ended Kevin Hickman’s hopes of reaching his first Hampshire Amateur final and county captain Martin Young reached his fourth final in 12 years by knocking out Richard Harris, from the host club.
Robson, from Rowlands Castle, made it his second final in a row with a 4&3 win over Hickman, who was also a shock semi-finalist at Blackmoor back in 2005 when the Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Channel Islands Golf Union celebrated the championship’s centenary.
Hayling is hosting the event for a record 15th time and the links course has been presented in superb condition for the three-day championship.
The rough has been penal and while the wind has only been a gentle breeze, it has switched between the morning and afternoon rounds on all three days.
But the wind, which can often wreck the score cards of even the greatest amateurs in the county, was not a factor for the final four players.
Hickman struck an early blow holing a putt from 40 feet for a two at the first but Robson, who led qualifying on Friday with a record 36-hole score to win his third Pechell Salver, hit back with a birdie of his own at the third to get back to all square.
Robson could only watch as his birdie putt lipped out on the fourth but he went in front for the first time on the par five seventh thanks to a two-putt birdie.
Hickman, who has qualified for the Brabazon Trophy later this month for the second year running, could not get up and down on the eighth after going through the back of the green as Robson doubled his lead after hitting his wedge to five feet after finding the bunker.
The 2009 county champion then holed from 10 feet for a birdie three on the ninth and it could have been even better but his 30 foot effort on the 11th somehow failed to fall beneath the cup line.
Hickman then three-putted the 13th to put Robson three up. Both players could only make par fives at the 14th but the former Jacksonville State University player rolled in another 20 footer for a birdie three at the 15th to book his place in the final.
Young was playing against the man dubbed the best player in Hampshire yet to have appeared in a county shirt and even though he did not play as well as he had in Saturday’s first round and the quarter-final, was still a dangerous opponent.
The Brokenhurst ace, the first-ever player to win the Hampshire Grand Slam – claiming the Pechell Salver, the Sloane Stanley Challenge Cup, the Mid-Amateur Championship and the Courage Trophy in 2014 – had a one-hole lead at the turn after both players had led briefly.
But Young picked up the ninth and the 10th and even though a bogey five at the 12th gave Harris, a former Portsmouth FC Academy striker under Harry Redknapp, a glimmer of hope.
He then drew praise from the watching gallery as he called a penalty on himself after the ball moved after he addressed it near the the path on the par five 14th.
Three down with three to play, he made a brave three on the par three 16th which has caught out plenty of players all weekend, but when he blocked his approach to the next green and had to take a penalty drop from the gorse.
Young’s tee shot found the sand but he got the ball up on to the front of the 17th green and was left with three putts to claim a 3&1 win.
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