Lancashire rose to the occasion in superb style as they came out on top in the English Men’s County Finals after a winner-takes-all clash with defending champions Gloucestershire yesterday.
FORMAT: team matchplay round-robin
Both counties had been highly impressive in winning their first two matches against Surrey and Derbyshire but the Red Rose men claimed their third successive 6-3 success at Royal Norwich to secure the title for the first time 2015 and their 13th overall.
In match four, Haydock Park’s Ian Kenwright, who was in that victorious side seven years ago, holed the winning putt. Lancashire had made a fast start in the singles after taking the morning foursomes 2-1.
How they finished…
For new captain Gareth White (Ashton-under-Lyne) it was a weekend of rollercoaster emotions and he admitted that, having been very calm in the early afternoon – as his top order got up early – the nerves kicked in as things tightened up towards the end.
He said: “I felt very calm during the front nine of the singles and at one point I allowed myself to think ‘we’ve got this’. However I suddenly got very nervous when the finishing line got near.”
White had identified the third match in the singles as a key clash with Bolton’s unflappable Matthew Lever taking on Gloucestershire lynchpin Nick Day, the recent English men’s champion of champions winner.
The Lancashire skipper added: “When I saw the draw I just couldn’t help but think that Lever match was going to be really important. Matthew is flat calm. You just wouldn’t ever know if he has just hit a good shot or bad one whereas Day is quite fiery so I thought that was a good match-up for us.”
SQUADS – LANCASHIRE
• Callan Barrow (Royal Lytham)
• Jack Brooks (The Mere)
• Andrew Haswell (Ormskirk)
• Ian Kenwright (Haydock Park)
• Matthew Lever (Bolton)
• Jack McPhail (Southport & Ainsdale)
• Jamie Van Wyk (Royal Lytham)
GLOUCESTERSHIRE
• Edward Butler (Lansdown)
• Nick Day (Henbury)
• Michael Day (Henbury)
• Joe Harvey (The Kendleshire)
• Joshua Millington (The Players Club)
• Jake Phillips (Cotswold Hills)
• Thomas Workman (Stinchcombe Hill)
DERBYSHIRE
• Joshua Ashton (Kedleston Park)
• James Booth (Matlock)
• William Harvey (Kedleston Park)
• Henry Hayward (Kedleston Park)
• Nick Newbold (Kedleston Park)
• Samuel Potter (Kedleston Park)
• Anthony Plummer (Kedleston Park)
SURREY
• Cameron Bell (Woodcote Park)
• Harvey Byers (Walton Heath)
• David Corben (Hindhead)
• Will Dugdale (Reigate Hill)
• James Palmer (Reigate Hill)
• David Primrose (Sutton Hill)
• Harry Uzzell (Wentworth)
Lever, who shares his time between the UK and Australia, needed all his level-headed qualities as the seven-time Gloucestershire champion won 16 and 17 to get it back to one down but both players would par the last to make it 4.5-1.5 to Lancashire. Five points would secure victory.
Behind them Kenwright was dormie two against teenager Joshua Millington so the title was in the bag but the 38-year-old county stalwart, who has now appeared for Lancashire 88 times, made sure of it by knocking in a three footer on 17 after the Gloucestershire player just missed his 10-foot birdie opportunity.
Earlier in the day Kenwright and Lever had notched their third consecutive foursomes victory against the formidable Gloucestershire duo of Nick Day and Edwards Butler (Lansdown) and then Jamie Van Wyk (Royal Lytham) and Andrew Haswell (Ormskirk) ensured their side went into the break after a critical comeback win over Thomas Workman (Stinchcombe Hill) and Millington.
The Gloucestershire pair had been two up with three to go but their opponents took the final three holes, Van Wyk holing out from four feet for a birdie and a huge point (see video below).
That moment seemed to spur on their team-mates with the Lancashire top order piling on the pressure straight after lunch.
Northern Order of Merit champion Jack Brooks (The Mere) was especially fast out of the traps as he birdied two, three and four to go three up against fellow England international Joe Harvey (The Kendleshire).
At the top of the order, Callan Barrow (Royal Lytham) was two up thru eight, Kenwright won the first two holes and was never behind, while Haswell and Southport and Ainsdale’s Jack McPhail were also up early before being pegged back down the stretch but by then it was too little too late for the 2021 champions.