Kent Golf Limited
English Men's County Finals report
Last updated: 3 Oct 2023
The National County Finals were played on a magnificent Southport & Ainsdale Golf Course last week and were fiercely competed by Yorkshire, Gloucestershire, Lincolnshire & Kent. A really tough links course on the west coast of Lancashire.
On Day 1, Kent played the usual favourites, Yorkshire. Ahead at lunch by one game, with the foursomes going Kent's way 2-1, it was still all to play for in the afternoon. Unfortunately, it didn't quite go Kent's way, and Yorkshire finished the day with a 5 1/2 to 3 1/2 win. The other result went Gloucestershire way (5 to 4).
Kent knew that evening that they had to beat the other two Counties to win the tournament, but were very much reliant on either of Gloucestershire or Lincolnshire to beat Yorkshire as well.
Day 2 very much went Kent's way with a very good 7-2 win over Gloucestershire. Yorkshire, however, didn't slip up and narrowly beat Lincolnshire.
Day 3 therefore meant that Yorkshire were still in pole position on 4 points, with Kent & Gloucestershire on 2 points a piece. Kent needed to beat Lincolnshire to stand a chance of winning, and Gloucestershire needed to beat Yorkshire to win. Those results would give a three way tie, and only games won would provide a winner. The rest is history, as although Gloucestershire did their bit in beating Yorkshire in a tremendous game, Kent were unable to defeat Lincolnshire in another closely fought game. Lots of 'ifs & buts', but it wasn't to be for Kent in 2023.
The overall result saw Yorkshire win by the narrowest of margins, and this was not too dissimilar when Kent won in 2019 with the last putt in the last match on the final day. Such fond memories, which unfortunately will not be repeated this year.
Congratulations to Yorkshire on becoming the 2023 County Champions.
On a personal note, I would like to thank all the lads who were part of the 1st Team Squad, not only this year, but also those in the past 4 years of my Kent Men's County Captaincy. It has been great to be part of an elite group of golfers. This year we have missed out on the two events that we wished to win. Back in August we missed out qualifying for the SEG Men's League Finals by 1 match, and now we missed out on winning the National Final by possibly 1 match win. It's tough at the top!
Qualifying for the National Finals back in July at Farleigh Court GC was a tremendous day. Two of the players who were part of the winning team on that day were unable to make the National Finals due to other commitments. My thanks to Liam Burns & Ollie Lewis-Perkins for being part of the team that 'got us there'.
Mason Essam, Ben Quinney & Connor Bell will embark on their professional golfing careers very soon and I'd like to wish them all well. It is the start of a tough career, as they well know, but it could be so rewarding. Tom Sherreard, Danny Jones, Conor Byers & Jacob Kelso, I hope will continue to make themselves available for the Men's squad and look forward to more National Finals in the future. Jacob was an absolute star at the Finals. As the reserve he only had one opportunity to play and did add to the match score. He spent most of the 3 days walking the course, ball spotting, caddying and generally supporting the needs of his fellow squad members.
I would like to thank Chris Reynolds (President) and his wife Rosa for coming along and supporting the Kent Team in S&A. Also thanks must go to Jim Pocknell (Past President), for his generosity and his avid support of the Kent 1st Team for many years, and Duncan & Karen Kelso for their support & generosity over the year/s. Finally, special thanks must go to Benn Barham, who has been an excellent coach to the 1st Team Squad, also over many years. The players have tremendous respect for him and long may this continue.
Paul Cannons (Past Captain)
Team Kent players at the National Finals were:
Mason Essam (Dartford)
Conor Byers (Langley Park)
Danny Jones (Wildernesse)
Connor Bell (Royal Blackheath)
Ben Quinney (Rochester & Cobham Park)
Tom Sherreard (Kings Hill)
Jacob Kelso (Kings Hill)
Created by intelligentgolf version 10.1.2.
