Dorset County

Highcliffe Castle Golf Club – 9th April 2013
Ben Small took charge of the Dorset team at a damp but very pleasant Highcliffe Castle Golf Club to welcome Hampshire for our second and last friendly fixture of the campaign. Perhaps this would be a day where some of the cold and wet winter training would pay off? Two new faces made their debuts, Tomas Seville and Kieran Mulhall eager to mix it in the County kit and lock horns with our friends across the border. We were ready for a tough day against Hampshire so following the usual pep talk from David Cooper and I the boys embarked on the morning foursomes.
Adam Harris and Ben Small picked up where they left off against Wiltshire and rattled off a 4&3 win. Two more tight matches followed, Parkstone pairing Sam Brooke and Tomas Seville felt they should of won but ended up with a tricky 6 footer across the green on the last by Sam to secure half a point. Mark Rankin and Oscar Perry also halved their match, a superb tee shot by Mark at the last to 5 foot only resulted in a par 3 which was matched by a great up and down by Hampshire, a feature of the day. Kieran Stott and Kieran Mulhall hung on well but went down by 1 hole. Finally Thomas Kollberg and Ben Dew closed the foursomes with a half to end the morning sesion with honours even at 2 ½ points each with everything to play for in the afternoon. I am personally very encouraged by our 2 rounds of foursome matches so far this season with 6 ½ points gained against 2 ½ lost with only 1 defeat. This to me indicates a very strong team spirit and willingness to help each other which is essential in team golf.
After lunch with the rain still with us we embarked on the singles which proved to be a stern test for our boys. In the opening match Adam was soon on the back foot in his contest with Alex Talbot, losing the first 3 holes and 5 down at the turn.  Adam stopped the rot on the back nine but the damage was done and went down 4&3. Ben Small had a very tight match with Tom Caplehorn. Second best on paper Ben matched Tom throughout the match just to lose the final hole to finish 1 down. Out third Sam Brooke was always in control in his encounter with Jack Warren and delivered a solid 2&1 victory. Tomas Seville played well but was always struggling against an in form George Saunders who on the previous day picked up a County title, eventually losing out by 4&3. Oscar Perry found himself up against the big hitting Rich Pharo who surprised us all with his huge tee shot on the first and eventually out gunned Oscar 4&2. Newcomer Kieran Mulhall looked confident on his County debut and has fitted in well with the rest of the squad in his short time with us. Sadly no fairytale ending for Kieran and found himself on the wrong end of a 3&2 win for Hampshire’s Christian Lindgreen. Mark Rankin continued his good run of form in his match against Sam Jerram winning 3&2. Mark looks very comfortable at County level always staying calm during his matches and is unbeaten in the County colours. Ben Dew rallied well but finally fell short to a 3&2 defeat by Charles Morgan. Kieran Stott kept his cool in an interesting match with a lively Harry Benn, Kieran missing out by 3&1. In the final match Thomas Kollberg had a real battle against Hampshire’s Henry McCoy, Thomas giving 3 years and 40 yards to Henry, got himself to 2up at one stage. All square playing the last a great second leaves Thomas with a 30 foot put which just shaved the hole running by 3 feet, he sadly missed the return to finish 1 down but a great performance in challenging conditions.
Following the golf both teams changed for dinner. Dorset captain Ben Small stood up to congratulate Hampshire and thank Highcliffe Castle for their hospitality on the day and he was followed by Tom Caplehorn for Hampshire.
On reflection a good performance which if the two matches that went the distance fell in our favour would have delivered a respectable result but such are the margins between success and failure at County level. Some good experiences for all the boys and a timely reminder of the things we need to work on at our next training session at Sherborne.
Rob Harris.

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