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North Hants GC, 23 June 2025 – Congratulations to Rob Wheeler and Charlie Preston, who both secured their places in Final Qualifying after outstanding performances in the Regional Open Qualifying at North Hants Golf Club yesterday.

Rob Wheeler produced a superb round of golf, carding a 2-under-par 68 to comfortably book his spot in the next stage. His steady play and solid ball-striking saw him rise almost to the top of a competitive field on a demanding layout as he finished in 2nd place on the day. 

Charlie Preston showed nerves of steel under pressure. After finishing with a 1-over-par 71, he found himself in a six-man playoff for the final qualifying spots. On the first extra hole, Charlie sealed his place in dramatic fashion with a heroic birdie, delighting the local supporters and demonstrating true grit under pressure.

The event, held at the historic North Hants Golf Club, saw nine players progress to Final Qualifying, with both Rob and Charlie now heading to the next stage on 1 July. There, they will compete for a coveted place in The 153rd Open Championship at Royal Portrush.

Joe Buenfeld was the other County First Team Player in action who came close, losing out on a play off at Ferndown GC. Joe sits at 11 on the reserve list and will more than likely find himself with a chance to qualify as the final field is confirmed for the next stage soon. 

Best of luck to all players as they continue their journey towards The Open!

Hampshire’s 1st Team bounced back in style with a commanding 9–3 victory over Sussex at Cowdray Park Golf Club, following a home draw against Kent in May. Needing a win to stay in contention for the league title, the team showed intent from the outset and delivered a superb all-round performance.

The morning foursomes saw Hampshire seize early control, winning the session 2.5–1.5. That momentum carried into the afternoon singles, where the team displayed resilience, determination, and top class golf, storming to a 6.5–1.5 win.

Our guys really pulled together as a team with all 8 players delivering at least 1 point through the day. Our singles wins came from Joe Buenfeld and George Saunders, who set the tone by winning the opening two singles matches emphatically. James Knight and Martin Young followed, both showing their experience—Knight securing a valuable half after being 3 down and Young grinding out a vital point from being 1 down with 2 holes to play, finding a birdie on the last to clinch the point. Stuart Archibald dazzled on the front nine with a flurry of birdies to take a commanding early lead and secure a 5&4 win, while Rob Wheeler delivered a solid performance to take his match 3&1 in a match in which he never fell behind in. Captain Toby Burden capped off the day by winning his point and sealing a comprehensive team victory.

The win propels Hampshire to the top of the table with one match to play—against Surrey at Hayling Golf Club in August—with everything to play for in the race for the South East League title and, with it, a place in a 3rd straight regional final.

To view the final scores click HERE

As always, huge thanks to Adidas and TaylorMade Golf for their support and for Sussex and Cowdary Park for hosting the fixture.

Report by Andrew Griffin.

ROB Wheeler claimed the famous Bren Gun Trophy for a second year in a row after winning Army Golf Club’s Men’s Open, beating former South East Junior Champion Tom Chalk by two shots, over the weekend.

But the North Hants GC member, who lives in Aldershot, had to produce a sensational comeback after lunch – with five birdies in six holes – to deny the US college golfer his first big win in men’s golf.
 

Wheeler trailed North Hants’ James Atkins by two shots at lunch, with Chalk also in a share of third place alongside the Hampshire first-team regular.

And Chalk, who is at the same Texas college where new Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Channel Islands Amateur Champion Joe Buenfeld has spent the last four years, found himself propelled into the lead as the defending champion started his round with another double bogey.

Worse followed as he dropped three more shots in the next four holes to fall back to five-over par, as Chalk made two birdies in his first two holes.

A three at the sixth did little by way of repairing the damage, but his game caught fire with those five threes in six holes from the 10th – ironically the par-five 12th was the only hole he did not birdie until the 16th.

Chalk had dropped four shots from the fifth to the 12th, leaving Wheeler with a three-shot lead by the time he came off the 15th.

A bogey at the penultimate hole could not prevent him retaining the Bren Gun Trophy and his second Order of Merit win of the season saw him extend his lead over Liphook’s George Saunders, winner of the Hampshire Salver at Blackmoor, back in April.

Rob shot a level-par round of 71 in the morning despite getting off to a less than perfect start with a bogey and double bogey at the 10th and 11th after starting on the back nine.

He bounced back brilliantly with an eagle three at the 12th and got back to level-par with a birdie at the 15th.

Last year’s Hampshire Open winner, who also finished second in the Courage Trophy when the county’s strokeplay championship was also played at Army GC, dropped shots at the 17th and 18th, before bouncing back again with a birdie-four at the first.

He could not prevent another shot going at the second, but showed his mettle with another bounce-back birdie at the third, before a three at the seventh got him back to level.

Rob claimed the Waterlooville Challenge Bowl at the end of May as he warmed up for last week’s county championship on the Isle of Wight.

Wheeler finished on the same score as Pechell Salver Darren Walkley, but lost the trophy for the best 36-hole qualifying score at Shanklin & Sandown on countback.

He missed out in third place and was then beaten in the first round of the matchplay by Hartley Wintney’s Charlie Preston, the eventual beaten finalist.

But for the Order of Merit, his tied first place score earned him 16.33 points – a share of the total awarded to the first three finishers.