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Juniors

U14 v Sussex & Scotland

Surrey U14 Team v Sussex and Scotland

Testing conditions greeted the players in this inaugural fixture at Littlehampton Golf Club. It was cold and got steadily colder as the day went on. A steady wind on this links course required some specialist shot making. A good crowd of parents, coaches and supporters helped create a great atmosphere for a fixture that will hopefully become a regular feature of our diary.

Having our coaches, John Skinner and John Noble, present was a great boost for the team and invaluable from a coaching perspective as the Surrey Futures programme can be tailored to the development needs of the players. With Scotland fielding a mixed age team the competitive match was against our old rivals Sussex. The competition against Scotland was a fantastic experience for our youngest representative team and the determination and spirit of the team was much to be admired.

In the morning foursomes the team put up a fantastic performance in halving 6-6 with Scotland and Sussex with Sussex trailing Scotland 10-2. Ryan Lumsden and Jack Duguid took maximum points with the lead match involving Charlie Coleman and Robbie Hughes a thriller going to the final hole. Two down with three to play Charlie and Robbie dug deep with Charlie very quickly learning the art of the chip and run so essential for a links course. Robbie then put his 100 yard pitch on the 9^th to 4 foot for Charlie to hole the winning putt. This win epitomises all that is good about Surrey Golf – sound technique, mental toughness and a great desire to win. It was a pleasure to watch and to come back in that style against a 1 handicap 16 year old who hits the ball 50 yards past you says it all!.

The afternoon was a match of two halves. We ran out 19 points to 5 points winners over Sussex making the final match score 25-11. Against Scotland we struggled with only Travis Leach and Gaelan Trew taking points off Scotland. Gaelan did well to take maximum points in the afternoon and everyone scored points for the team over the day so a great team effort.

Perhaps our team spirit was best displayed by the fact that TJ Power and Sam Daly both unlucky not to be selected came along all day and supported the team. Well done boys.

Hospitality by Sussex was great with Littlehampton Golf Club providing a challenging course and great food. The Scotland Team were a great bunch of very talented boys who it was a privilege to play against. Matches against Sussex are always hugely enjoyable and played in great spirit and we look forward to our summer encounters.

As always thanks to our great support team of Peter Barratt and Steve McNeill and to all the parents for their support on the day.