FORMAT: 36-hole stroke play / 4 rounds of matchplay
There was a landmark success for late bloomer Dan Cooke as the Canterbury golfer won the Kent Men’s County Championship at the first time of asking.
The 27-year-old, who is originally from South Wales, only starting concentrating on golf last year when his handicap dropped into plus territory for the first time. He also played cricket for many years.
The former Monmouthshire member qualified in ninth at North Foreland but really turned it on in the first two rounds of the knockout before seeing off Liam Burns (Chislehurst) in the semi-finals and then Sunridge Park’s Luke Spooner to become the first Canterbury player to win the title for 44 years.
“It was a bit of struggle on Friday but then all parts of my game really came together in the four matchplay rounds,” said Cooke.
Calmer conditions on Saturday led to much lower scoring in the knockout stages – Jack Kelso (Kings Hill) had led strokeplay qualifying on one over – and the Canterbury golfer really took advantage.
In the first round he dispatched Jack Shipton 3&1 having played 17 holes in three under par and in the quarter-finals got to five under in seeing off Kelso 5&4.
The following day his semi-final with Burns reached the 18th where the Chistlehurst player did have a chance to force extra time but his 25-foot birdie putt never seriously threatened the hole.
In the afternoon Spooner was two up thru nine but Cooke came alive on the back nine.
“Ten and 11 was where the momentum all changed,” added the new champion.
“I had been a bit flat in the early holes and I looked like I was going to lose ten as well but getting out of there with a half was a key moment.”
Having fallen two behind at the seventh, the Welshman was facing a tricky chip on ten while his opponent was 10 feet away in two.
Cooke pitched stone dead while Spooner missed and at the next hole the gap was halved as the soon-to-be-champion drained one from 20 feet for a two.
They were all square two holes later as Spooner bogeyed 13 and the Sunridge Park player also found trouble at the next where a double bogey would hand Cooke the lead.
And the Canterbury golfer kept up pressure by knocking it on the par five 16th in two and had two for it to double his lead.
More trouble off the tee for Spooner on 17 left him staring down the barrel and he failed to find the putting surface in three while his opponent was just short in two before chipping to six feet.
It meant Spooner had to chip in to keep the match alive and he went close but conceded straight after. Cooke will now represent his county at the England Golf Champion of Champions at Woodhall Spa in September (10-11).