Thanks to Andrew for this latest Golf report. Ed
Hampshire’s Colts manager has turned to the Isle of Wight’s exciting quartet of talented golfers in the county’s bid to retain the South Eastern Group U21 League title against an Essex side out for revenge, at Rowlands Castle, on Sunday.
Neil Dawson – whose team beat the North Division champions at Hendon a year ago – has seen the heart of the team that won the South Division qualifier at Waterlooville in June, ripped out with the likes of Berkshire Trophy winner Billy McKenzie and fellow US college golfers Steven Anderson, Joe Ellis and Sam De’ath all having returned across the Atlantic for the autumn term. And with Corhampton’s Scott Gregory having received a call-up to represent England in the Spirit International in Texas which starts on Monday, Dawson has been forced to ring the changes.
The quartet
So to fill his eight-man side, he has decided to pick four members of the Hampshire U18 team that reached this summer’s English Boys Finals, including Jordan Sundborg (pictured above), who reached the quarter-finals of the British Boys, in August, and the reigning county junior champion Conor Richards (pictured below) – both members at Shanklin & Sandown.
The pair – who represented their club at the English Champion Club tournament at Brancepth Castle, in Durham, last month after winning the Hampshire Team title at the county championship in June – are joined by fellow Isle of Wight player, Josh Oddy (pictured below), who played for England U16s last year and is still a member of the England U16 squad.
The fourth member from the Island is Freshwater’s Ryan Harmer (pictured below), who represented the Isle of Wight at the Island Games, in Jersey, this summer.
Harmer, who lives in Freshwater, but plays most of his golf at Brokenhurst Manor, will be a key player alongside the other two survivors from last year’s final victory – Corhampton’s Sam Day and North Hants’ Watson, who have been regular first team players this season and played for Hampshire, Isle of Wight and the Channel Islands at the English County Finals, in Crewe, two weeks ago.
Strong players
Harmer and Day have the most experience of playing Colts golf, but the inclusion of Sundborg – who was extremely unlucky to miss out on a place in the team that qualified for the English Finals for the fifth time in nine years – and the other juniors shows the strength in depth the county is blessed with right now.
Sundborg knocked out England No. 1 junior Ashton Turner on his way to the last eight in the British Boys, at Royal Birikdale, in August, and then smashed the Corhampton course record with a superb 62 in last month’s Courage Trophy.
The four members of the Hampshire Boys team that also finished third in their finals at King’s Lynn, in August, would make likely pairings for the Colts this weekend, but Dawson will use the practice day to fine tune his final line-up.
Champion still involved
Dawson would have loved to have been able to pick another member from last year’s championship winning team, but Tom Robson is now over 25 and ineligible to play as one of two over age players allowed under changes to the competition rules when the old division structure was changed three years ago.
Robson has not only been a Rowlands member since his junior days, but he is now the club’s new assistant secretary.
The Colts manager said:
“It would have been perfect to have Tom lead the team off on a course he knows so well, but he is as keen to help the boys win the title again and will be there for the practice rounds and on the day to help everyone prepare properly.”
Dawson was also hoping to be able to call upon Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Channel Islands Amateur Champion Darren Walkley as one of his overage picks, but the 25-year-old, who picked up three out of five points in last week’s English County Finals, has to work over the weekend in the pro shop at Hayling.
Neil said:
“Luckily, I can still call upon Sam Day, who played very well at the Finals – he did a fantastic job being around the team for the qualifier at Waterlooville and although he was not allowed to give advice to the players during play, he gets on so well with all our young players, he will be a big presence in the locker room.“
Robbed of playing captain
Indeed, Gregory’s selection by England not only deprives him of the player who finished fourth at the European Amateur Championship in Slovakia, in August, but also robs him of his playing captain.
Neil added:
“Obviously, Sam captained the team for two years under Steve Williams, who also picked him for the county first team, but with the last-minute changes to my team, I am still thinking about possible pairings for Sunday and have not really had a chance to make my mind up about the captaincy.”
High Post Foursomes
Dawson spent last weekend over in Wiltshire as five members of his squad took part in the High Post Foursomes – including the Isle of Wight-based quartet.
The other member of the team is Petersfield’s Ben Lobacz, who has been quietly rebuilding his reputation after bursting sensationally into the county ranks after reaching the final of the county championships at Blackmoor two years ago.
That meteoric rise saw him picked for the full county side but a big dip in form in 2014 saw him fall back down the pecking order but a number of top 10 finishes in Order of Merit events over the past three months has caught the selectors’ eyes again.
Dawson will not fall into the trap of underestimating Essex, despite the home advantage, which worked in their favour when Hampshire lost the men’s South East Final against them at The Warren.
The Essex men’s team lost the South East final against Kent at Broadstone, in Dorset, on Sunday – the champions having ended Hampshire’s hopes of regaining the Daily Telegraph title by beating Surrey in their final South Division match just over a month ago.
Great belief in our players
The Hampshire U21 manager revealed:
“Essex have also lost three of their Colts team who are studying in America, but we know they are desperate to beat us after last year. They have booked in for an extra practice round on Friday to get to know the course better.
“But I have great belief in our players even if some of them are a little inexperienced at Colts level – but they have just played together in an English Boys Final and can all play.”
The two teams will play four foursomes matches in the morning followed by the eight singles after lunch. Entry is free and spectators are welcome.
Team: Sam Day (Corhampton), Ryan Harmer (Brokenhurst Manor); Ben Lobacz (Petersfield); Josh Oddy (Westridge); Conor Richards, Jordan Sundborg (Shanklin and Sandown); Jason Stokes (La Moye): Billy Watson (North Hants)
