THIRD TIME LUCKY FOR BUOYANT KENT
 It
was third time lucky for Kent as they clinched the English
Seniors County Championship by beating Lancashire 5½-3½
on the final day at Rotherham. In the other match Devon beat
Shropshire & Herefordshire 5-4.
Having finished runners-up for the past two years, Kent were
on a mission in south Yorkshire but there was nothing lucky
about their victory which was secured after 7-2 successes
in the first two days (picture © Tom Ward) .
Little wonder their captain Nick Allen, who was also at the
helm in the other two contests, was delighted.
“I couldn’t be happier,” he said. “After
the disappointment of the previous two years this was what
we wanted. It is third time lucky but we didn’t come
here thinking it would be easy. We knew Lancashire, having
put out defending champions Cheshire, would be strong opposition
and that how it turned out.”
Kent took a firm grip by surrendering only half a point from
the three morning foursomes. They might not have dropped that
as Chris Reynolds and Peter Cowell were 3-up after ten holes
against Terry Brown and Glyn Rees but the Kent pair had to
win the last hole to grab a half.
The south east Champions easily won the second game through
the redoubtable Dick Seamer and Ricky Moore but Ian Mason
and Sam Smale had to battle to secure a 1 hole victory over
Michael Gray and Keith Gardner.
That meant Lancashire needed to win five of the six singles
to take the title and they were fast out of the blocks. But
Kent gradually eased their way back in although the top game
went to Tony Brown, who maintained his 100% record with a
5 and 4 win over Peter Cowell.
There was further success for Stewart King, 3 and 2 over
Ricky Moore but Kent replied with solid wins for Chris Reynolds
over David Eccleston and by Seamer against Bob Edgar. The
victory was particularly pleasing for Seamer, who finished
with five wins from five games, as he was in the Kent side
that won the Men’s County Championship in 1978.
“It’s nice to have done the double of men’s
and seniors county titles. I don’t think anyone else
has achieved that,” he said.
Kent didn’t feel safe until the final two matches were
in and both went to the final green,
Ian Mason was locked in an epic struggle with Lancashire’s
Glyn Rees, both players having held the lead at one stage.
But they were all square playing the last where Rees secured
a par four which was enough to seal his victory.
In the last tussle, Lancashire’s Michael Gray was 4-up
against Sam Smale at the turn but the England international
won three holes in a row from the 11th, all with birdie-threes
then got level with a par at the short 16th. He also won the
17th with a par four then found the green at the last with
a shot to eight feet to seal his victory and Kent’s
overall success.
The battle to avoid the wooden spoon was equally close but
in the end Devon came out on top by a single point.
The foursomes were shared equally but only after Jim Pettigrew
holed a crucial putt on the last to secure a half for Devon
in the bottom match having trailed throughout against Mike
Rooke and Anthony Smith.
Devon started well in the singles and were sufficiently ahead
in the early stages to secure a sound victory. But it didn’t
quite work out that way.
Brian Winteridge got home 4 and 2 against Gordon Reynolds,
having been behind at the turn, but the Devon man claimed
five of the next seven holes, with one birdie and six pars,
to take the point.
Basil Griffiths replied for Shropshire being ahead most the
way in beating Tony Stanton 5 and 4 but Jim Pettigrew kept
Devon ahead with a similar win over Anthony Smith.
Paul Vicary then eased to a 2 hole success over Rod Wassell
to put Devon on the brink of victory. But they were behind
in the two remaining games and when Gerald Smith got home
on the final green against Alex Waterson, Shropshire sensed
they could snatch a tie.
It certainly looked that way with Mike Rooke playing the
last 1 up against David Lloyd. But Rooke took four from 30
yards on the last for a double-bogey six which allowed Lloyd
to snatch the half that sealed Devon’s victory.
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