South East men’s qualifier turns into great battle with Sussex and Suffolk
Surrey’s men’s team have endured a couple of near misses in recent South East men’s qualifier but it went their way at Bury St Edmunds on Saturday.
FORMAT: 6-man team 36-hole stroke play
The southern powerhouses finished second in 2016 and 2019 but they had enough in the tank to see off Sussex by three shots and will play in the England Golf county finals for the first time since 2014.
Reigning national champions Gloucestershire and surprise Midlands winners Derbyshire will be there to meet them at Royal Norwich in September (23-25). The Northern final takes place at Hallamshire Golf Club in Yorkshire on August 3rd.
Surrey captain David Corben, who was a non-playing leader this year, has been a stalwart of the county side since their last victory and he was just delighted they did themselves justice at the Suffolk venue.
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He said: “We’ve been knocking at the door in recent times and went there quietly confident but you can play well and come up just short.
“To be honest I wasn’t too bothered if we won or not. The main thing they did what we asked them to do.”
For Surrey there was stand-out effort from Epsom’s Ben Partridge, who went through the day bogey free although he was pipped to the individual title by Sussex’s Joe Sullivan (Chartham Park).
Corben spent plenty of time with Partridge during his second-round 66, including his last four holes. In the morning he shot a 68.
“We were concentrating on getting around those players who didn’t have a caddie and I watched a fair of Ben because he was on his own.
“He went bogey free and, to be fair, he never looked like dropping a shot. He was in complete control.”
Partridge and 2020 Surrey champion Aadam Syed, who was six under for his two rounds, were Surrey’s late finishers. The Foxhills player had a sticky patch around the turn in the afternoon but birdied both par fives on the back nine and closed with a 70 to help his team finish 18 under par overall.
At halfway the top three were separated by just two shots with the home county leading by one as all six of their players shot between 69 and 73. Sussex were just one shot further back and one shot better off than the eventual winners.
However Suffolk’s afternoon total was five shots higher than their first round effort while Surrey improved by four. Addington Palace’s Harry Crocket responded superbly to a disappointing morning round with a bounce-back 68 while his big brother Charlie was just one shot behind.
The lowest round of the day came from Sussex star Sullivan, who accumulated eight birdies and nine threes as he shot a seven-under-par 65 after lunch.