Surrey A Team v The Roehampton Club

Surrey Golf

Surrey A Team v The Roehampton Club - Sunday 22nd October

Though despite the brighter conditions, you could tell summer had finally left us as the bitterness of Autumn was definitely biting through.

Surrey A Team:

Mark Scott (Captain)
Sean Phillips
Adam Syed
Terry Nichols
Derek Carroll
Dylan Shepherd
Keith Collins
Ben Palmer
Jacob Aaholm
Oliver Haine (AM only)
Andy Inglis (PM only)

Morning Foursomes Result 1 ½ - 3 ½ to Roehampton.

Afternoon Singles Result 5 ½ - 4 ½ to Surrey A Team

Final Score 8-7 to Roehampton

A quick coffee, bacon roll and catch-up with some long-standing friends at Roehampton, and 8am was quickly upon us.

Leading Surrey off was our dream team"¦. 2 x former Surrey County Champions and regular Surrey 1st players Adam Syed and Terry Nichols headed to the tee.

Sadly, for Surrey, them came up against the formidably pairing of Connor Hamilton and Mike Hamblin, who, through some outstanding golf stole the victory on the last!

Well, so much for that plan!

Surrey Captain Mark Scott then renewed his unbeaten Surrey foursome's partnership with 1st team player Ben Palmer, to take on the might of Roehampton Club Champion and former Challenge Tour player Scott Stanley paired with Rob Finley.

After a couple of opening bogies on 1 and 2 for Surrey, normal service resumed with a split centre drive on 3, and both pairs then played the next 16 holes comfortably under par to secure a half point for both Surrey and Roehampton.

A very fair result given the number of chances both teams missed due to the slightly unfamiliar slow greens we were all facing this morning at Roehampton.

Match 3 then saw Surrey veteran Keith Collins and 1st Team player Jacob Aaholm battle against former Roehampton Club Champ Luke Gorman and Shaun Feldon.

Surrey got off to a great start going up early, and then had a very short putt on the par 3 14th to go 3 up that sadly missed the edge giving Roehampton the kick they needed to get back into the game.

From here it was Roehampton all the way securing the seemingly unlikely point winning 2 up on the 18th green. You could tell from the shellshocked look in the Surrey players eyes, that this game slipped away from their grasp!

Next for Surrey was the big hitting Sean Phillips and Surrey Colt Dylan Shepherd, take on the even bigger hitting Dave Birn and Ben Walmsley.

Despite some great stuff from Surrey early on, the Roehampton pairing was just too solid and went on to take the match comfortably 3&2.

Last to take to the field in the morning was Oliver Haine and Derek Carroll for Surrey, against Dante Mama and Greg Whitaker for Roehampton.

In a game Surrey desperately needed to win to keep the afternoon hopes alive, it all came down to the 18th!

A good drive from Surrey, followed by a sensible shot to the front portion of the green, was enough to give the Surrey pair two putts to clinch victory as Roehampton found trouble from the tee and had to chip out sideways and ultimately made bogie.

This very important final point of the morning was also Oliver and Derek's maiden point for Surrey A after a few close games last season that just didn't go their way.

So, 3 ½ to 1 ½ in Roehampton's favour over lunch"¦. definitely not an unsurmountable lead, but one that's going to take a lot of effort and some great golf from Surrey to beat such a strong singles line up in the afternoon!

There was certainly much to consider as both Captain's sat down to work out their singles lineup!

So here goes"¦.

Surrey started by sending out its powerhouse early to get "˜Red' on the board as quickly as they could!

This meant Sean Phillips, who had been one of Surrey's MVP's all season long taking down flagship players at The Addington, Reigate Heath and Purley Downs, was hoping for an easier game today, but instead came up against Roehampton powerhouse Luke Gorman.

This match ultimately proved critical overall, as Luke chipped in on the last for yet another birdie to clinch a half point for Roehampton.

In the same fourball, saw the big match-up of Surrey's Adam Syed (who was playing in his first competitive match since a recent broken wrist injury) pit off against Roehampton's Captain Scott Stanley, who had been on great form all day.

This form continued as Scott made 8 birdies in his 65 to take out Adam 2&1.

Such was the quality of this 1st fourball of singles matches, that they worked out afterwards they had made 26 birdies between the 4 them!

Quite astonishingly good golf from both teams!

The quality of golf didn't stop there, as the next group saw Surrey Captain Mark Scott want revenge on Dave Birn for his narrow defeat on the 18th green last year, and Terry Nichols taking on the very solid Shaun Feldon.

An excellent par save on 17 from Shaun after driving the ball in trouble, combined with a birdie putt from Terry that did everything but drop, keep their game tied with just 2 holes to go.

Again, another excellent long par putt from Shaun dropped on 17 as Terry's flag hunted 4 iron left him another chance to go ahead.

Once again, the putt just wouldn't drop and on to last they went all square.

To this point, both players had made around 5 birdies each on their way to the 18th hole, when finally, a chipping mistake from Terry from the back of the green left Shaun with two putts from around 25 feet to claim the match.

Terry was far too much of a gentleman to see Shawn take a single putt and off came his hat and outstretched hand to congratulate Shaun on a great victory for Roehampton.

In the other match in the group, Mark and Dave were both about as solid as it got, with both players under par as the game went all the way to the 17th.

Never down in the match, Mark's solid iron play all afternoon long finally wore Dave down, and as the birdie putt dropped from about 15 feet from behind the hole on 16 to go 1up, this gave him a slender lead going onto the 17th tee.

Another solid par on 17 was enough to give Mark his revenge from 2022 and take the match 2&1.

This should lead to a very interesting decider between these two in 2024!

The bottom half of the singles draw saw Roehampton's Ben Walmsley prove just too strong for Derek Carroll, and big hitting Connor Hamilton take out former Roehampton teammate Andy Inglis.

Both Roehampton players won their games comfortably in the end 4&2.

Finally, the tide started to turn, and the tail started to wag for Surrey!

Keith Collins took his match against Dante Mama 3&2, Dylan Shepherd who's been in good form all season took down Greg Whitaker 6&5, Ben Palmer continuing his unbeaten record this year for the Surrey A Team beating Mike Hamblin 2&1 and Jacob proving just too much for last minute stand in Rob Finley winning comfortable 7&6.

Afternoon score, Surrey 5 ½ Roehampton 4 ½

Sadly though, despite this monumental effort by all the Surrey players to get a result in the afternoon, it just wasn't enough to save defeat at the hands of one of the toughest teams in the County.

Final Score 8 - 7 to Roehampton.

As always, I'd like to thank my players for their effort and support, Scott Stanley and the entire Roehampton team for their sportsman's ship, company, hospitality and continued support for this event year on year.

It's one of my favourite days of the year, and long may it continue!

Mark Scott

Surrey A Team Captain

2023