KENT WIN ENGLISH SENIORS' COUNTY TITLE
AFTER BEING RUNNERS-UP IN 2005 & 2006

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.
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 three up after 10 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 one-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 3s and then drew level with a par at the short 16th. He also won the 17th with a par 4, and 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 two-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 one up against David Lloyd. But Rooke took four shots to get down from 30 yards on the last for a double-bogey 6 which allowed Lloyd to snatch the half that sealed Devon’s victory.
Click here to go to the English Golf Union website for the final results, news and photos, www.englishgolfunion.org