Dorset County

The 4^th and final match of the South East League season took us to Royal Ashdown Forest for a match against Sussex. The course was in good condition, albeit due to the summer it was obvious some struggles had been experienced with recovering drainage installation on the greens.

The team was warmly welcomed by the Club on the Saturday for the practice round. 3 players where unfortunately unavoidably detained at other events; Harry Mitchell playing at Hayling Island for Ferndown, and Sam Roles and myself (Andy Rideout) making the cut in the South East Links Championship at Royal St. Georges. Unfortunately it was also revealed to the team that evening that due to family reasons, the Captain would be departing early on the Sunday and would miss the match.

The full team for the match was as follows: David Cook, Harry Mitchell, Harvey Randall, Thomas Kollberg, Andy Rideout (Vice), Oscar Hein, Sam Roles and Matthew Sandy. 3 of the team would also be making their 1^st team debuts: Harvey Randall, Thomas Kollberg & Oscar Hein.

Leading the team out in the morning foursomes were David Cook and Harry Mitchell; despite some very good golf they found it hard to build a lead against a strong Sussex pair. This would be a tight game the whole way round; only a few loose shots on the back 9 eventually proving pivotal in a 3&1 defeat. The second, debut pair of Harvey Randall & Thomas Kollberg faced stiff opposition in a father and son duo of Andrew Smith and Ollie Smith. Being home players from Royal Ashdown Forest, the Sussex pair had the early rub of the greens and built a commanding lead through 9. Despite fighting hard, the Dorset pair eventually went down 6&5. Harvey was honest to say that it was less a baptism of fire, but a slow start that cost them dearly.

The final match of the morning was always in Dorset’s control. The pairing of Sam Roles & Matt Sandy played some excellent match-play golf and where up on their opponents the whole way. One of the more comfortable foursomes matches for Dorset this year saw the duo eventually run out 5&3 winners.

The third match consisting of Oscar Hein and myself (Andy Rideout) was a rollercoaster. After being 2 down though 9, we were 1 up through 12. A 3-putt on 13 swung the momentum Sussex’s way again and we were 2 down through 16. A solid par on 17 took the match up the last and despite having a birdie putt to win the 18^th hole outright, we had to rely on a nervy 3 putt from a young Sussex pair to scrape a half point. 2.5 – 1.5 at lunch to Sussex, and it would be a tense afternoon.

So not for the first time this year Dorset was down at lunch. Being only a point being, we only needed 1 more point that Sussex in the afternoon to secure our 3^rd halved match of the year, or a point and a half more to secure the win.

Through 9 holes it was look promising; 5 of the 8 singles matches were up and we were feeling positive that a win in the South East League would finally come our way. Cook (1^st match), Mitchell (2^nd), Hein (6^th), Kollberg (7^th) & Sandy (8^th) all being up through 9, and the other matches in the middle where also tight.

Unfortunately, as seems to be the case this year, the back 9 proved pivotal and the “luck of the bounce” didn’t seem to want to go our way. Cook did enough in the 1^st match to win comfortably 4&3, and that seemed to be the end of the good news. I (Andy Rideout) was beaten-up by 10 time Royal Ashdown Forest club champion, Andrew Smith 5&4. Sam Roles lost in the match of the “chatters” with George Goddard 4&2, the Sussex man stiffing his approaches to 14 & 15, and then a tired drive saw Sam Roles hit it out of bounds on 16, and the match was over. More bad news followed; despite being up through 9, Mitchell found himself 1 down through 16, whilst Harvey Randall was dispatched 3&2 despite being under par for 16 holes. Welcome to 1^st team golf.

Mitchell managed to win 17 and take his match A/S up the last, and a little bit of hope still remained. The match finished A/S. At this point we then needed the last 3 matches to win to secure the overall draw. Despite being up through 9, by the time he reached the 16^th Oscar was also down. Tom Kollberg finished his debut weekend with a solid 3&2 win, and with Sandy being A/S through 15 we needed a strong finish. Sadly the tide could not be turned, Oscar losing 1 down, and Sandy 2 down.

Final Score: Sussex 8 – Dorset 4.

This match is undeniably a summary of our season; some strong performances with the matches often being much closer than the results would suggest. A difficult season, but one we will learn from. We’d like to thank Colin Legg for being the on-course source of motivation (and keeping the eye on the scores giving me some hope) and Harry Mitchell’s parents for always being there to support the team.

A final thank you to Sussex and Royal Ashdown Forest for being excellent hosts on the day, and thank you to all of the Dorset team for their efforts this season (from Tom Leech – Captain and myself), and a thank you to the Executive for their ongoing support. Onwards and upwards in 2019!

Andy Rideout

Vice Captain

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