Toby’s sleepless Knight over Kent line-up

HAMPSHIRE captain Toby Burden has admitted picking a team for the county’s opening match against Kent as they bid for a third Daily Telegraph Salver in a row has been causing him some sleepless nights.

Having lost two of the eight-man team that claimed the South East League Final title for a second year in a row back in October, Burden has spent the winter months running the rule over possible replacements for former county champions James Freeman, from Stoneham, and Jersey’s Jo Hacker.

The recent Delhi Cup win by former England international James Knight could not have been timed better for Burden. But the 51-year-old who was in the same Hampshire team as Justin Rose that was crowned English County Champions for the first time back in 1996, is unavailable for this weekend’s clash with Kent at Brokenhurst Manor GC.

While Hampshire have a very good record at the New Forest Club – producing convincing wins over Surrey, Sussex and Dorset over the last six years, the South Division champions host a Kent side buoyed by a win over Sussex last weekend.

The added complication for both captains is that the match clashes with the Brabazon Trophy at Hankley Common which is due to finish with the 60 players who make the cut after Friday’s second round, out of the field of 144.

That field includes Rowlands Castle’s Darren Wright, the Brabazon winner in 2010, and Liphook’s inform former England U16 cap George Saunders, who claimed the Hampshire Salver when Blackmoor hosted two 36-hole opens, including the traditional Selborne Salver, when the Hampshire Hog at North Hants had to be postponed because of recent work carried out at the Fleet club.

Burden took over the captaincy half-way through last season when Stoneham’s Lawrence Cherry – the youngest Hampshire captain since the post was created in 1951 – landed his dream job managing a top Dubai golf resort and has been combining the job with playing – as did past captains Colin Roope (Rowlands Castle) and Brokenhurst’s Martin Young.

He said: “Picking a team for the first game has been a bit of a nightmare. We have so many good players, even after James and Jo turned pro. But it’s difficult to get the right pairings for a tough match like Kent.

“George Saunders is playing at Hankley in the Brabazon this week – hopefully he goes on to win it and is not thinking about us. To me he needs to focus on that. He’s been a force of nature the last 12 months and I wish him all the best at Hankley.

“The squad all have known this team has been the goal for the last six weeks. It’s been really tough and I’ve had two or three different teams written down to go up against what I know will be a strong Kent team.

“Hampshire have so many players playing nice and solid. It’s a great place to be as a county but a real headache with a few sleepless nights the last two weeks or so for me.”

Whatever side Burden  sends out, he will be hoping they showed at least some of the form when the despatched Sussex 10-2 at Brokenhurst. Kent beat Sussex 81/2-31/2 at home over the weekend, but were held 2-2 in the foursomes.

Hampshire’s match will get under way on Sunday with four foursomes in the morning followed by eight singles after lunch. Entry and car parking is free with spectators welcome.

WHILE captain Toby Burden has been keeping his cards close to his chest about his possible line-up for Hampshire’s league curtain-raiser, on Sunday, he is blessed with plenty of weekend golfers who can compete at the top level in inter-county golf, even without a couple of key players.

Joe Buenfeld, who has completed his four-year degree in Texas, is back in the UK, and fresh from having finished tied for second in The Berkshire Trophy at the Ascot club, last weekend..

The former European Junior Open winner who grew up playing in the Forest at Bramshaw, but also has a membership at Stoneham, brings the experience of having played in the last three South East League campaigns.

But Big West Conference Player of the Year Charlie Forster is still in the States. The Basingstoke GC Walker Cup prospect, who has won twice in America this year, has been selected for the Arnold Palmer Cup match between the USA and Rest of the World students studying in the States.

The Great Britain and Ireland international’s absence is a big blow for Burden as Forster has played against both Europe in the St Andrews Trophy, and for Europe in January’s Bonallack Trophy clash against Asia, making him just the second Hampshire golfer to appear in the latter after Major winner and Olympic Champion Justin Rose.

But Toby, who has represented Hampshire for nearly 20 years – apart from a six-year spell in the pro ranks – can at least point to a strong record at home against Kent over the last 25 years.

In 12 home games since 2000, Hampshire have lost just three times – in 2006, 2010 and 2016, although the first of those losses did come at Brokenhurst. Two years ago they won comfortably at Liphook 8-4 even though Saunders was again playing in the Brabazon.

Toby added: “Playing at Brok is great. They give us free-reign to set the course up and it’s something we are very grateful for. Kevin Light, the club general manager is a great supporter of the county. We were up at the club two weeks ago for extra practice.

“The members were great and asking questions about the match and league set up. They were really interested, which was great to hear.”

In terms of the most likely members of Burden’s team, Brokenhurst Manor’s Martin Young has been playing regularly for Hampshire since the mid-1990, as he approaches his 55th birthday, which makes him eligible for Seniors golf at England and county level.

What he doesn’t know about the subtleties of the greens on the Harry Colt classic course isn’t worth remembering, and there is not a blade of grass, a lie or an angle off the tee, or into the greens, let alone a pin placing he can’t picture with his eyes closed.

Liphook’s Darren Walkley won his first county championship at Brokenhurst 10 years ago, beating Rowlands Castle’s Tom Robson, who Toby has brought back into the first-team squad in the last year after a couple years when the US college winner started a family.

With last year’s Hampshire Order of Merit winner Robert Wheeler, from North Hants, having established himself in the league side over the last two years, after being given his debut by Lawrence Cherry, there is plenty of experience still, even if Stoneham’s Ryan Henley’s family commitments rule him out of any of the three South Division fixtures this summer.

And in North Hant’s former EuroPro Tour player Sam De’ath, who played for the successful county colts side under Neil Dawson 10 years ago, Burden has alternatives to pick from despite the loss of Hacker and Freeman to the pro ranks.

Whichever side pulls on the Hampshire blue on Sunday, they will wear the Hampshire Rose and Hog emblem with pride, as they chase a third successive South East League title, which has not been done since Hampshire last did it in 2002.