Rags to riches rise by Shropshire & Herefordshire
in English seniors' county championship

PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY ENGLISH GOLF UNION
Shropshire & Herefordshire, who collected the wooden spoon last year, could lift the English Seniors County Championship at Trentham if they can overcome defending champions Kent. After beating Devon 6-3, Shropshire & Herefordshire are level on points with former champions Cheshire, 5-4 winners over Kent, but they must win by a greater margin, assuming Cheshire beat Devon.
Shropshire have the advantage of being a game point ahead of their rivals, 10½ - 9½, but nothing can be taken for granted in golf.
But to add to the conundrum, Kent could also retain the title if they beat Shropshire & Herefordshire while Cheshire fail to overcome Devon.
Having seen victory snatched from their grasp on day one, Shropshire & Herefordshire were in determined mood against Devon and after taking a 2-1 lead in the foursomes they seized the initiative in the singles.
Garry Huggett set the ball rolling with an emphatic 5 and 4 win over Brian Winteridge in the top match. Huggett won the first two holes, the second with a birdie, and he added another at the 415yd ninth to go three up. He also won the 10th with a par 4, then wrapped up the win with a par on the short 12th. Paul Vicary maintained his 100% record for Devon with a 7 and 5 scoreline against Alan Molyneux but Anthony Smith and Stuart Lee put Shropshire in the driving seat with further victories.
Former seniors international Smith started like a train against Grahame Sanford with birdies on the opening two holes while a birdie 4 at the 547yd sixth put him three up. He also won the 10th and 11th with pars and although Sanford took the 12th with a birdie 3 and the 13th with a par, halves at the next two holes secured another point for Shropshire.
Lee had a battle with Devon skipper Richard Brown but gradually gained control and wins at the eighth, 12th, 13th and 16th saw him to a 4 and 3 victory.
That left Shropshire & Herefordshire needing one more point and it was secured by Glyn Hughes by a two-hole margin over Tony Stanton. They might have added to their tally when Steve Howell went four up after five holes against Michael Wigley. But he lost that advantage over the next six holes and when the match came down the last, Howell fired his approach to the par-5 out of bounds as Wigley claimed a two-hole win.
At one stage in the afternoon Cheshire, who took the foursomes 2-1 against Kent, looked as if they might be on the brink of defeat. They trailed in four matches but got themselves off the hook.
The top match between internationals Chris Reynolds and Roy Smethurst was something of a classic. Smethurst birdied the first two holes and also won the third with a par. Reynolds slowly turned it round and got level on the 12th.
But the Cheshire man turned the screw again with a birdie-four at the 14th and also won the short 15th with a par for a 2 and 1 win. Chris Hurst replied for Kent by a similar margin over Welsh cap Philip Jones, Hurst being level par when the match concluded, but Philip Slater kept Cheshire ahead with a 4 and 3 win over Roger Salmon, his fourth win in four matches.
Still Kent looked likely winners with Sam Smale ahead against Gordon Broster and Dave Jessup holding the upper hand over Alastair Brown. But while Jessup ran out a 3 and 2 winner, Broster came back to secure victory on the final green to give Cheshire that vital points.
Full details, scores and news for the English Seniors County Finals are available on the Championships section of EGU website, www.englishgolfunion.org