Surrey Golf
Surrey Win 6 Man National Qualifiers
England Golf South East Group Men's Qualifier 2022
Suffolk were the hosts of the SEG qualifier on the 10th July with eleven counties vying to qualify for the National Finals later in the year.
The host county elected to hold the event at Bury St Edmunds Golf Club, one unfamiliar to us, but very familiar to the host county with four of their team being members of the club, an understandably wise decision.
The Surrey 1st Team was represented by Charlie Crockett, Harry Crockett, Harry Uzzell, Harvey Byers, Aadam Syed, and Ben Partridge, the first time the team has been filled with ex Surrey U14 RookieTour players, which is a testament to the tour. The format has been altered in the past couple years to best five from six in both the morning and afternoon rounds and we arrived at the course in a confident mood following strong individual performances and an excellent team victory over Dorset the previous weekend.
Charlie and Harry Crockett were sent out in the first of our three waves. Charlie played with his usual gusto but wasn't able to keep small mistakes off the scorecard and signed for a one over 73. Harry, starting on the 1st turned in one over but a weak finish led to a 78 and his score was eventually the one we would drop from the morning round.
Harry Uzzell, making his debut in the competition after a strong run of individual performances, followed a similar pattern to Charlie with many birdies unfortunately being eroded by small mistakes. On a firm and fast course it was easy to get out of position and Harry signed for a 76, four over par.
The layout of the course presented onlookers with a great viewing point of multiple holes and our last three players, Harvey, Aadam and Ben made the turn in strong positions one under, four under and three under respectively.
Harvey, with Simon Crockett on the bag, fired a superb three under back nine to return a bogey free 68, four under par. Aadam would play the back nine in level and Ben would pick up one more birdie for the final three to all return 68's. Their combined rounds consisted of 13 birdies and one solitary dropped shot.
At lunch we found ourselves seven under, two behind Suffolk and one behind Sussex.
The same order of waves went out in the afternoon and Surrey leapt off to the strong start we required. Charlie turned in one under and brother Harry two under. Soon after, our second wave of Harvey and Harry Uzzell made the turn in three over and one over respectively. At this stage we were in the hunt but with other county's making a run at the title we required something a bit special from the next few hours.
Aadam and Ben, were our tail players and continued their momentum from the morning. Aadam made a quick start, three under through five before finding difficulty around the turn where a few errant tee shots brought him back to level par through 11 holes. Simultaneously Ben appeared on the 2nd tee, his 11th, four under and still yet to drop a shot.
The aforementioned layout of the course meant that a few moments later Charlie appeared on the 17th, a par there and an excellent birdie on the home hole resulted in a 69, three under and a great start to the afternoon. Harry, using the disappointment of the morning as further incentive backed up his brother's score with a four under 68, a fantastic display of ball control.
At this stage many counties were getting excited, Sussex had a couple low scores in but also a couple high ones out on the course; Suffolk were consistent; Essex were making a strong run from the middle of the pack. We required an excellent finish.
Harvey, struggling with his swing, came through the 17th at five over for the round but delivered what turned out to be a priceless birdie up the 18th to sign for a 76, our highest round of the afternoon, with Harry Uzzell returning a 78.
At this stage all manner of rumours were flying about where the leaderboard stood. Suffolk finished at 13 under, Sussex were ahead of them on the board but with weak scores to come in at the end. We looked a long way behind but were aware of where our on-course players stood and what score we had to drop.
Aadam steadied the ship and reached the last hole one under for the round. Ben, hitting the ball distances only mere mortals could dream of, reached his last hole six under for the round, still bogey free for the day. A colossal drive from Aadam led to an easy birdie to finish with and a score of 70 moving us to 6 under on the leaderboard. However, once Ben had tidied up his par and signed for a 66 our overall team score jumped to 18 under and a winning margin of 3 shots.
Ben finished 2nd in the individual competition and Aadam tied for 5th. I would not be surprised if Ben is the first player ever in the event's history to go bogey free for the whole day, a momentous performance.
As a captain I could not have asked more of the players from the moment they arrived to the moment they left. It was a pleasure to stand, watch and encourage where possible and if it had been the case that we had fallen short I would not have been disappointed in the slightest. In the end it was our day in the sun.
I must pay thanks to John Noble, Jim Christine and Simon Crockett for their tireless work that makes my role so much easier. And to County Secretary Steve McNeill and County Treasurer Colin Barr for making the long journey to add further support.
The first team now progresses to the National Finals at Royal Norwich where we will face the winners of the North, Midlands and South-West groups.
David Corben
Captain
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