at 12 and 13 saw Harvey draw level and only a long downhill birdie putt on the 18th would see
McKenzie prevail when Harvey’s effort narrowly slid past. Angus was up next against fellow US
student George Saunders. Again, a birdie barrage would see Angus 2 putt for a birdie up the last
for the narrowest of victory margins. Match 3 was Charlie Crockett playing Hampshire veteran
stalwart Martin Young. Charlie had the better of the early holes but Young wouldn’t go away and
they shook hands on the last green after agreeing to concede short putts to each other. Lewis was
next playing another Hampshire US based player, Conor Richards. Lewis continues his form from
the previous week coming out a solid 2&1 winner. The youngest Crockett was in position 5, and
having been fairly level all the way, a late burst from the home player saw him win 2 & 1 in his 1st
debut aged 17. The scoreboard now showed Surrey had 5½ points and Hampshire 3½ and we
only needed 1 more point to secure the title. News had come through that Ben Palmer playing at
6 was 1up playing the 17th, Max O Hagan at 7 all square and David Corben, strategically placed
in the anchor role 1up through 15 holes. A solid par putt from Ben on 17 meant we would at least
draw the match but after 2 sublime shots to the par 5 last hole, and 2 putts for a birdie meant Ben
won 1up and Surrey were the champions. Max battled hard all day to lose narrowly on the 18th
against the gritty Hampshire player Tom Robson. David was 1up playing the last, and relieved to
hear the news that our victory was confirmed played the most wonderful flop shot to win 2up.
Surrey 7½ Hampshire 4½ and we are off to the final in Bedfordshire in October.
The County First team ended the regular season playing Kent at Kingswood on Sunday August 4th.
Having won every match this year, qualification for the South East League Final as section winners
had already been secured, however the team were determined to try to complete the clean
sweep. With our US college players back on the other side of the Atlantic, 2 new players were
awarded their debuts. Frankie Boylan of Woodcote Park & 15 year Shergo Kurdi of Woking.
The morning foursomes were-
David Corben & Frankie Boylan
Will Dugdale & Jacob Aaholm
Shergo Kurdi & David Primrose
Ben Palmer & Harry Crockett
The matches were tight most of the morning and indeed 3 of the 4 were decided on the 18th
green in front of the clubhouse with a healthy gathering of members looking on. David & Frankie
had fought back from 3 down early in the back nine to take their match to 18th only to lose to an
excellent Kent birdie. Will & Jacob returned the compliment in match 2 with Will holing a testing
8 foot putt to tie the score. Shergo & David had been 1 down after 16, but brilliant putts from
Shergo on both 17 & 18 following good approaches by David saw them nick the point by the
narrowest of margins. Ben & Harry continued their developing partnership by winning 2 & 1 in the
anchor match. Surrey 2½ Kent 1½ at lunch. The singles were led off by 2 time County Champion
David Corben. David got off to a fast start but was pegged back by an experienced Kent player
and had to settle for a half point following a series of remarkable recovery up and downs by Kent.
Frankie in match 2 had been a few holes down early in the front nine but staged a fight back to get
his opponent to the 17th green, and although looking favourite to win the hole and get down the
last, another unbelievable Kent recovery saw him lose 2 & 1. Young Shergo had a nip and tuck
match all afternoon but again showed resilience beyond his years again holing a pressure putt on
the last green to make it 2 wins from 2 matches on his debut. Jacob also had a tight match and
looked to be 2nd favourite on the 18th green when opponent hit his approach to within a few
inches with Jacob some 30 feet away. As he has done previously, Jacob mustered up one last effort
and calmly rolled in the birdie putt for a halved match. David Primrose playing his first match for a
couple of years due to injury looked like he’d never been away with a commanding 4 & 3 victory.
The score now was Surrey 5½ Kent 3½ with 3 matches still to come. News from the tail wasn’t
good with Will, Ben and Harry all 2 or 3 down going into the last few holes. Ben and Will fought
hard but went down 4 & 3 and 2 & 1 respectively and Harry was 2 down playing the 16th. Gritty
wins on 16 and 17 saw the youngster stand on the 18th tee level, as was the overall match score
at 5½ - 5½. Harry’s tee shot just ran through the dog leg and saw him slightly hampered by a
tree trunk, with Kent safely on the fairway. Harry could only progress his ball to the approach to
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