Men’s England Qualifiers – Championship Report
This year’s 6’s Qualifier took place in Staffordshire, at Trentham Park golf club. The weather was set to be a drizzly day but all in all set fair. Preparation was done, and the Warwickshire team felt confident of success. The qualifier was played over 36 holes, with 5 out of 6 counting in both the morning and afternoon rounds.
Hitting Warwickshire’s opening tee shot off the tricky 1st hole was Nick Brooker from Olton. As expected, he got us off to a good start. However, the opening few holes were a struggle for Nick, moving a few over par through the early stages of his round. Meanwhile, Rob Bardsley starting off the 8th tee, pitched in on the difficult opening hole. He was off to a good start until he made a 7 down the 12th hole. Both Nick and Rob dug in to both post respectable scores in the morning. 72 for Rob and 73 for Nick.
In the middle section of the draw, Fin Stokes and Darryl Gwilliam were out on course battling away. Again, both players didn’t have their best stuff but grinded out good front 9’s. Fin made a few mistakes, but every time he did, he fought back with a birdie or two. He ended up posting a solid 72. Unfortunately, Darryl dropped a couple of shots late on to post a 76.
Bringing the Warwickshire team home were Seb Cave and Sam Easterbrook – both England internationals applying their trade in America at college, were back to help the Warwickshire team qualify. Both players got off to average starts – Sam left it late for his charge, with 5 birdies on his back 9 to post 67. Seb started his charge a little earlier, and fired in 7 birdies to post a 65, the low score of the morning.
All of this, led to the Warwickshire team posting -6 and taking an afternoon lead of 2 shots over Lincolnshire, whilst Leicestershire & Rutland were 5 shots back on -1.
The afternoon started in a similar fashion, with both Nick and Rob struggling to get off to fast starts. Nick went to +4 early doors but showed his class with a few birdies on his back 9, to post another good round of 72. Meanwhile, Rob was moving in the wrong direction. A birdie down the last, meant he posted 75, which the team hoped would be a none counting card.
The day moves fast, with all teams on the course at the same time. This can often lead to it being difficult to know where you’re standing. One thing that was clear though, towards the end of the day, is that both Lincolnshire & Leicestershire & Rutland fancied their chances. News on course wasn’t great for team Warwickshire, with Darryl falling to a 79 in the afternoon. Fin Stokes battled hard all day, and posted a 71, which was a great effort and kept Warwickshire in it.
Still out on course were Sam & Seb who were both very capable of firing in two low scores. Which at this point was clearly needed, as both Lincolnshire and Leicestershire & Rutland’ early starters had shot some fantastic scores. Lincolnshire looked to have a firm grasp on qualification with their captain posting a 64 and their 2 remaining players on course with good rounds going.
Sam was again cruising to a low score, moving to -4 with 6 to play. Unfortunately, on the other side of the course, Seb was not having the same success he had in the morning. With 6 to play, we needed something special. Sam gave himself chances coming in, but his ever-reliable putter went cold on him. Meaning he finished with rounds of 67, 67 a total of -8, a magnificent effort. Seb pushed on for birdies too, but unfortunately this led to a couple of mistakes, meaning he finished with rounds of 65, 74 for a total of -3, again a great effort.
The Lincolnshire team finished strong, with an afternoon total of -12, which meant they finished with a total of -16. 8 shots ahead of Leicestershire & Rutland in 2nd, and 14 shots of Warwickshire on -2, coming in 3rd place.
It was a valiant effort by Warwickshire but unfortunately, we miss out on the finals again. Next years’ qualifier will be held in Worcestershire, where we again will give it our best shot to qualify for the finals.
Scores from the event can be found here : EG Qualifier Scores
Rob Bardsley
County Captain
