Sussex County Golf Union claimed victory over Kent at Haywards Heath Golf Club on 12th May, with an 8.5 – 3.5 win in their first match since taking delivery of their county kit – sponsored by Your Golf Travel.
The great result for Sussex County Golf Union came on a sunny Sunday morning at Haywards Heath, and with the new outfit they certainly looked the part and did not disappoint – getting off to a flying start in the match.
Traditionally, in terms of final results, foursomes is not the format of choice for Sussex, however on the 12th May 2013 that was all about to change.
Ali Dalgliesh and Richard Fung-on were first to tee off and managed to overcome James Smith and Danny Jones 2&1 – the first point was on the board. Toby Tree and Scott Nightingale were the second Sussex pairing to tee off and it wasn’t looking good for the pair for much of the match. However after a superb tee shot to the par-3 17th by Toby, followed by a magnificent putt from Scott, the match was all square going down the final hole. A half with their opponents Daniel Byrne and Charlie Hagger down the last secured a half point for Sussex and kept their noses in front.
Rich Leeves and Matt Greenfield were always on top in the game against the Kent Captain, Danny Curtis and his partner Darren Timms, ultimately winning 3&1. The recent Fairhaven Winner, Marco Penge and his partner David Wicks were also in top form on the day, beating Jerome Titlow and Mark Collins.
So at lunch the scores on the doors were:
Sussex – 3.5
Kent – 0.5
Haywards Heath Golf Club was in superb condition, especially when you consider the weather in recent months.
It was clear that Kent would come out strong in the afternoon for the singles, so Sussex put strong top order out.
Toby was too strong for Daniel Byrne, easily winning 4&3, and then Marco overcame James Smith by the same result, with local lad Jack Floydd on the bag – Jack would have been out there competing if it wasn’t for a broken arm that he suffered whilst skiing.
Scott was being overwhelmed by some extraordinary golf by Mark Collins and was dormy 3 down but in true Scotty fashion he managed to dig in and was unfortunate to be defeated on the 18th.
So, at this point, Sussex needed just 1 more point for the Victory.
Ali and England player, Jerome Titlow were having an outstanding game with 9 birdies between them in the first 11 holes! However, it was local player Ali who would come up trumps in the end and his 2&1 win was enough for Sussex to claim the overall spoils.
Richard Leeves, out with young Charlie Strickland on his bag, was also playing some good stuff and after a few scares close to the end he managed to seal a 3&1 win over Charlie Hagger.
Matt had a very up and down game, being 4 down at one point before getting back to all square. Captain Danny proved too powerful in the end though. David Wicks had a rampant win over Danny Rose, beating him 6&5. In the last game of the match, Rich Fung-On found himself up against an in form Darren Timms whose hatrick of birdies lead to a 5&4 win.
So final score:
Sussex – 8.5
Kent – 3.5
This was a brilliant start to the season for Sussex – bring on Surrey!