Captaincy no Burden thanks to big Brok win

HAMPSHIRE’S new captain Toby Burden was full of praise for Brokenhurst Manor after he claimed the winning point as his team romped to a 10-2 victory over Sussex, on Sunday.

Burden, who stepped up from his vice-captain’s role last month when Stoneham’s Lawrence Cherry was offered a dream job managing the Montgomerie Golf Club, in Dubai, beat Sussex veteran Steve Watts 2&1 to claim the crucial seventh point.

Toby was full of praise for the host club having seen his team win their second match in a row in the South Division, setting up a showdown with Surrey next month for the chance to defend the Daily Telegraph Salver they won in October, by reaching the South East League Final for a second year in a row.

Burden, who ironically made his league debut against Sussex back in 2006 – the year he first reached the final of the Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Channel Islands Amateur Championship – thanked everyone who made the win possible, not just his players.

Toby said: “Brokenhurst are so good to the county. They allow us to use the facility and they always make sure it’s at its best for us.

“We all know the course so well and felt like a true home game or club game. Brok really pulled all the stops out and the green staff allowed us to pick the pins.. a true home advantage that we are very thankful for.”

Toby, whose foursomes pairings had won all but one of the morning matches, to lead 3-1 at lunch, added: “I was three-up after holes but Steve made a couple of birdies to bring it back to all-square.

“We then halved a lot of holes and it was a little scrappy,” said Toby, who watched Watts duff a chip from over the back of the short 12th, only to hole a four-footer for a bogey, while Burden’s birdie putt from a similar distance grazed the hole.

Toby, who became the first Hayling golfer to be named county captain in the post’s 74-year history, said: “Our coach Kev Flynn had a word with me with a few holes to play and I managed to get up-and-down on the 16th for birdie and made a solid par on 17 to win the match 2&1.

With a lot of blue on the leaderboard on the front nine, Burden knew a big winning margin could mean a draw against Surrey, at Hindhead GC, might be enough to book their place in the final.

Bramshaw’s Joe Buenfeld – who picked up maximum points in the victory away against Kent at the end of May – made it four-wins-out-of-four with a a 2&1 victory over Joe Sykes to make it 5-1.

But he didn’t have it all his own way – he was three-up after seven, but Sykes won three in a row from the eighth. Buenfeld responded with birdies at the 12th, 15th and 16th before a four at the tricky 17th sealed the deal for a 2&1 win.

Surprisingly, for Brokenhurst’s former county captain Martin Young, Sussex’s only point in the afternoon session came when Tim Hollis beat the six-time Mike Smith Memorial Trophy winner 3&2.

Birdies were impossible to come by for either player, and when Young missed the 12th on the right – and could only watch his 20-footer for par break late and just miss the hole – the 2006 English Mid-Amateur Champion (Over 35s) was two-down with six to play and heading for a rare defeat.

In their last four matches at Brokenhurst Manor, Hampshire have won by at least six points – their best haul was in 2019 when they beat Dorset 10½-1½. The South Division rivals moved to the South West League last year, leaving Hampshire with just three fixtures.
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Parsons still on cloud nine after Sloane-Stanley win

BLACKMOOR’S new county champion Sam Parsons was recalled for his first South East League match since 2021, after his victory in the Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Channel Islands Amateur Championship two weeks ago.

New county captain Toby Burden paired him with Rowlands Castle’s Tom Robson, also returning after a year out of the side. Having lost 3&2 to Watts and Tim Hollis in the foursomes, they were both determined to put a point on the board after lunch.

Luckily for Burden, they were the only pair not to pick up a point in the alternate-shot format and he was able to enjoy his lunch with his side leading 3-1.

Hampshire also made a fast start to the afternoon singles with the top half of the leaderboard quickly turning blue.

Robson, who normally heads the singles line-up went out in an unaccustomed anchor role, but always had holes in hand after winning three-out-of-four from the sixth, and had two putts for a par on the 16th to win 3&2 against Nick Ward.

Parsons – who made his league debut in the 2018 South East Final when Essex earned a half in his match to take the Daily Telegraph Salver – won the 18th with a par in the penultimate game.

Sussex’s Sam Russell went for broke on the short par-four after finding the rough off the tee and missing the green with his wedge which gave Parsons close out a two-hole win in the last match left out on the course after Robson’s victory.

Sam made a great recovery on the 15th, after tangling with a tree close to the green to keep the pressure on Russell.

He admitted claiming his first Sloane-Stanley Challenge Cup – thanks to his 3&1 win over team-mate Ryan Henley in front of a lot of Blackmoor members on his home course earlier in June – was finally beginning to sink in.

After claiming his point, Sam, who took time away from the county side in 2022 before rebuilding his game last season, said: “It really was an unbelievable win.

“I am not really an emotional person, particularly out on the golf course, but having my partner and son there when I lifted the cup was really something special.

“Settling down and starting a family has definitely improved my outlook on golf,” he smiled. “All those reports and posts online and on social media – and the photos in the paper – I am sure, will make them even more special memories for all three of us when he is old enough to understand.

“Hopefully by then, I will be caddying for Milo and he will be making headlines of his own,” Sam beamed proudly.