Darren Walkley holding his finish, holing out for an eagle 2 on the last hole of the day
Report by Andrew Griffin
NOT even a spectacular hole-out by Liphook GC's former EuroPro Tour player Darren Walkley could fire Hampshire to their first English County Finals in seven years, as Essex pipped them at the death in theSouth East Qualifier.
Darren, who played with Europe's best prospects on the mini-tours - before quitting the pro game during the pandemic after five years in the paid ranks - striped his drive up the hill on the last.
In front of a growing crowd of players and county officials from the counties in contention - Walkley swept a sweetly struck 58-degree wedge, and watched as the ball bounced before tracking into the bottom of the cup.
Darren said: "I had 55 yards and was just trying to get it close to make a birdie. I knew it had a chance and that it would run out with a bit of break like a putt - so I tried to allow for that."
The eagle two gave Walkley a second round 67 - five better than his morning effort, which had been Hampshire's highest score in the first round, and therefore discarded with only the best five counting.
But cruelly, within a couple of minutes, theleaderboardwas updated to show Essex's England international Zach Chegwidden had come home in 68.
That four-under score gave Essex their first victory in the event since 2009 when they denied Hampshire a hat-trick of successive wins at Suffolk's Aldeburgh.
Walkley, who missed the Six-man shootout a year ago, having lost the county championship final a month earlier - was back in the Six-man team for the first time since he won the 2015 Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Channel Islands Amateur Championship.
The full-time carpenter had briefly given his team-mates hopes of reeling in lunchtime leaders Berkshire, Bucks and Oxfordshire's 16-under score in the morning round.
The wind had whipped up around Brighton's Devil's Dyke on the Sussex Downs, sending their scores soaring after lunch. B.B.&O. took 22 shots more, while Hampshire added a four-under total to their first round score to post a total of 708, only for Essex to shoot 706.
A wistful Walkley reflected: "It was great to finish by holing out like that in front of everyone, but it didn't mean anything in the end, which was a shame.
"Perhaps if I had played better in the first round, things might have been different and we could have been going to the finals in September."
Hampshire plugged away valiantly all day in search of their eighth win in the South East Qualifier since 2001, including three in a row from 2015-17, when they claimed the English County Championship crown for just the second time in their history - and the first since 1996 when a teenage Justin Rose was in the team.
Darren added: "Nobody goes out intending to hit bad golf shots so no one is to blame that we didn't win. We have a great team spirit that took us to our first league title in 11 years last year.
"When we got the draw and I saw I was the last player out for us, I had a funny feeling that it would come down to me to try and get us over the line."
Walkley, who made three birdies and three bogeys in his level-par 72, opened with three quick birdies as he plundered the Dyke's unusual start, with three par-fives in the first four holes.
He made another birdie at the par-five 11th and got to four-under with a three at the 15th - only to give it straight back after failing to get up-and-down on the 16th, as he finished in a share of fifth overall out of the 66 players competing from the 11 counties in the South Eastern Group.
Saunders, who shot a three-under par 69 before lunch, with six birdies and a double-bogey, was four-under with four to play, having gone out in three-under.
But he dropped five shots to fall down theleaderboardfrom second to 12th thanks to his 73.
Young, who claims the unofficial record for most appearances in the Six-man, had also made a fast start in round two making three birdies in a row before reeling off 12 pars in a row in the worst of the wind, which suddenly dropped over the last few holes.
He eventually finished in a share of 12th, having got to four-under overall, finally posting two 71s, with Bramshaw's Joe Buenfeld matching that score exactly, having also got to four-under before dropping three shots between the 13th and 17th.
Charlie Forster, Hampshire's newest international cap, who will make his Great Britain and Ireland debut against Europe later this month, looked to have run out of steam a little with a second round 75, having led the way with a fine 69 before lunch.
La Moye's Jo Hacker, who made his South East League debut against Sussex at The Dyke, three years ago after claiming his first county championship, finished over par for the day, carding rounds of 72 and 74.
The Jacksonville University graduate, who was based at Florida's Sawgrass for four years, got off to fast start with three birdies in a row from the second in ideal scoring conditions.
Despite starting on the more difficult back nine after lunch, he got to the turn in one-over.
But he could not repeat his team-mates' efforts, who had been 10-under for the first four holes on the front nine in round two, playing the first three par-fives in one-over.
On a tough day, Hampshire flew the flag proudly and came excruciatingly close to punching their ticket to County Finals but it wasn't to be this year. This makes it Hampshire's second runner up finish in 2 years and we're sure Toby Burden and his team will do all they can to make sure 2025 is our third time lucky!!