Men's South Eastern Group Qualifier

On Saturday 14th July, the BB&O First Team competed in the annual South Eastern Group English County Championships Qualifying (otherwise known as “The 6 Man Team”) at Orsett GC in Essex. The event is very demanding, but the potential achievement is great, with the winner going on to compete in the English County Finals against the winners of the Northern, Midlands and South West Groups.

There are 11 counties in total that compete in the South East Group qualifying, and the event is an individual 36 hole medal, with the aggregate of all 6 players scores taken to determine the overall winning team. As you can imagine, the pressure is high as any individual mistake could potentially cost the whole team dearly.

BB&O have not won this event since 2003, but this year saw us enter our strongest team on paper for many years, with George Baylis (Mill Ride), George Gardner (Castle Royle), John Gough (Stoke Park), Olly Huggins (Frilford Heath), David Langley (Castle Royle) & Tim Shin (Castle Royle) providing our main team of 6 a total handicap of +15. Adam Birdseye (Maidenhead) was also in attendance, selected as the travelling reserve for the event, our 7 man travelling squad was +16 handicap!  However as everyone knows, golf tournaments are not won on paper. With the course looking in fabulous condition and the conditions being dry, hot and with the tight and tricky course playing hard and fast it was going to be a test of patience and good course management for all the players.

In the morning early reports were good, 5 out of the 6 BBO players were under par. George Gardner had got off to a flyer being -3 through 6, and Tim Shin followed suit shortly after matching that – helped by hitting a 4 iron to 9 inches on the first hole for eagle! As the morning went on, there continued to be good news. John Gough was playing great golf but just couldn’t buy a putt, nonetheless his exceptional long game helped to finish with a very tidy 71 (-1). Olly Huggins also showed his usual steady golf to match John’s score, another 71 (-1). Try as he might, things were just not happening for George Baylis, however he continued to fight even though things were not going his way and finished with 77 (+5). On the flip side, everything was going well for George Gardner, who was making the game look easy. He continued his fantastic form and went on to shoot an absolutely magnificent 66 (-6). David Langley was having an uncharacteristic day on the greens where he also just couldn’t make a putt. Nonetheless, his long game was well in verse so that didn’t stop him from shooting a very nice 70 (-2). Tim Shin also continued his fine recent form to deliver another good round, matching David’s 70 (-2). A very good morning for BB&O, a total of  -7 and a 7 shot lead over the reigning champions, Hampshire.

The afternoon saw another good start for BB&O, with more reports of lots of under par scores. John Gough had found his putting touch and was -3, Tim Shin was -2, David Langley -2 and Olly Huggins was -1 (which included making an eagle with his 2nd ball for a par on the 7th!). George Baylis had an early set back, but was playing well and was +1. There was however no reports about George Gardner… As the day wore on things just got better for BB&O. John had got to -4, David had also rediscovered his putting touch to be -4, Tim was continuing his great form to be -3, Olly was still -1 and George Baylis was back to level. Olly finished his round with not a hint of a problem to with 71 (-1). John Gough had a minor wobble in the middle of the back nine, but nonetheless rolled in a beautiful 30ft putt on the last to finish 69 (-3). George Baylis was unfortunate not to birdie 17, but did birdie 18 to finish 71 (-1). However, news started to emerge that the course was getting its own back on George Gardner and things were not going so well. A couple of major disasters on the front 9 had meant an outward 9 of 48 (+12)… Not one to give up, George somehow fought with all his might and grinded his way to come home in -1 to finish with 83 (+11). This left things really in the balance as BBO were 3 shots in front of Hampshire in the clubhouse, with both sides having 2 players still on course. However, BB&O had a couple of ace’s up their sleeves…  David Langley was in irresistible form and was -6 coming down the stretch, a good par putt on 17 kept the momentum up and he finished with a fine birdie at the last to shoot 65 (-7), this took him to a sensational -9 for the day and extended BB&O’s lead. However, Hampshire were still close behind as they followed this with a -2 of their own. This left things down to Tim Shin. He was playing beautifully, a minor hiccup in the middle of the back nine was not to deter him, he finished his round off with aplomb to shoot 70 (-2) and to give BB&O victory in this event for the first time in 15 years! But there was more good news for BB&O: David Langley’s sensational -9 total meant he took the individual prize and added another trophy to his ever expanding mantelpiece!

Overall it turned out to be a resounding victory for BB&O, with a -10 total in the end meant a victory by 12 shots. To win by this margin, to shoot a 10 under par total and to have 10 out 12 scores under par is almost unprecedented in this event and really is a truly fantastic achievement! In addition to this to have 4 players in the top 10 of the individual event and to have the winner of that event really capped off one of the finest days in BB&O’s history!

Ashley Walton - County Captain

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