Dorset County

Sussex v Dorset v Hants Under 18 match

The annual fixture between the three counties under 18 teams was played on 16^th August at Cowdray Park, Sussex.

The weather forecast was not good but the 9 holes of foursomes took place in the dry and the course presented a good challenge to the 30 boys playing.  There were several blind tee shots into quite severely sloping fairways – it was unfortunate that we had been unable to have a practice round.

In the first foursomes match, it was disappointing that the strong pairing of Tom Atkins/Billie-Joe Bugden could only summon a half with Sussex while going down to Hampshire.  Jack Baker played with U18 debutant George Carroll in match 2 and beat Sussex but lost to Hampshire.  Our best result came from match 3 with a double win for Harry Rickman & George Long.  Tom Oliver partnered another debutant in James Durrant; they found the going tough and went down to both counties. Finally the tried and tested pairing of Sam Roles and James Singleton gained a very creditable win over Sussex and a narrow loss v Hampshire – this after being well behind after just a few holes.

Score at lunch – Hampshire 13 points, Dorset 9 and Sussex 8. All to play for in the afternoon singles.

After a swift lunchtime turnaround, the singles started in the promised wet weather and only one boy asked whether the match was going to be called off!

We needed a strong start to the singles if we were to eat into the Hampshire lead – but this was not to be with no point coming from matches 1 &2.

In the other matches Billie-Joe upped his game to gain maximum points as did the in-form Sam Roles.  Harry Rickman & George Long disappointingly failed to gain a point after good results in the morning.  James Singleton turned in a typically gritty performance in gaining a win against Hampshire and narrow loss to Sussex – having at one stage been 5 down in both games.

Final Result:  Hampshire 34 pts, Sussex 33 pts, Dorset 23 pts.

Overall a disappointing day but we came up against strong opponents.  Hampshire, of course, are appearing in EG Boys County Finals and, on the day, Sussex got their singles order spot on with 8 wins and a half from the last 5 matches.

Thanks are due to Cowdray Park and Sussex Golf Union for their hospitality and organisation.  Thanks also to Ian Clark, Junior President, for his on course support.

Rob Jones.

Back to previous results