

Men's County 6's Midlands Qualifier at Overstone GC
The England Golf Men's County Championships (Midlands Qualifying) was held this year at Overstone Golf Club in Northamptonshire on Saturday 9th July 2022
The players chosen to represent Warwickshire were:
Rob Bardsley - Moor Hall GC
Seb Cave - Bramcote Waters GC
Tom Cleaton - Rugby GC
Dan Bardsley - Moor Hall GC
Sam Easterbrook - Wishaw GC
Louis Sanders - Copt Heath GC
(Official Reserve - Alex Ford - Copt Heath GC)
This annual event is contested between the 10 Midlands counties and is a 36-hole medal event with the best 5 from 6 scores (am & pm) counting towards the lowest combined County total.
First out for Warwickshire was Louis Sanders at 8am off the 10th. A chip-in eagle on 18, 3 more birdies and another eagle 3 on Louis's last hole gave Warwickshire a flying start with a 67 (-5). Tom Cleaton followed with a three over 75 and then Rob Bardsley moved us in the right direction with a 6 birdie 68 (-4). Dan Bardsley made 4 birdies, but a couple of poor holes and it all added up to a 76 (+4). Seb Cave had more bogies than birdies resulting in a 75 (+3) but Sam Easterbrook improved our lunchtime score by posting a 71 (-1).
So, with scores of 67, 75, 68, 76, 75 & 71, the 76 was dropped and Warwickshire went to lunch with a -4 total (356 shots). One shot behind Derbyshire at -5
The afternoon rounds began with Louis Sanders scoring a 73 (+1) and Tom Cleaton improving with a very solid level par 72. Rob Bardsley was again steady with a 74 (+2) and brother Dan improved on his morning score by one to post a 75 (+3). Seb Cave got it going on his PM front nine with 2 eagles and 3 birdies to be -5 after 9 holes!! Another birdie on 14 but too many bogies resulted in an excellent 70 (-2) but Seb felt a real "˜low one' was there. Sam Easterbrook was level after 9 but dropped a couple coming in after an exhausting day to post a 75 (+3)
Warwickshire's best 5 afternoon scores were 70, 72, 73, 74 & 75 giving a total of +4 (364) together with our morning total of 356 (-4) gave us a Level Par total for the day
Morning leaders Derbyshire afternoon total was 363 (+3) together with their -5 morning score meant an overall total of -2, beating Warwickshire by two shots. Congratulations to Derbyshire who will represent the Midlands region at the England Golf Men's County Finals at Royal Norwich in late September 2022.
Full results can be seen in the below Midland Golf Union link
https://www.midlandgolfunion.co.uk/competition.php?compid=3772
Individual results can be seen in the link below:
https://www.midlandgolfunion.co.uk/competition.php?compid=3771
Warwickshire support on the day was fantastic as usual, my thanks go to President Mark Reynolds, Bob Harrison & Bridget, Graham Barton & wife, and the ever-present John Duncombe. The usual appreciation to Pete Clarke, Nev Gardner, Stuart Bloxham, Malcolm Eustace, Tom Whitehouse (County coach) and Alex Ford (our official reserve) for their work, support, and caddying duties for both the practice day and tournament day.
Karl Smith
County Captain