The Men’s County 1st team travelled to Orsett Golf Club in Essex for the annual England Golf South East regional 6 man qualifying, with the winners qualifying through to the National Finals later in the year. 11 counties take part in this 36 medal stroke play off scratch competition, with 5 out of the 6 scores counting per round towards an overall team score.
The team arrived in good spirits for the practice round on Friday and after a restless night, the hotel did not have air conditioning and the rooms were uncomfortably hot, so much so that Max Hopkins took his pillow and slept in his car, arrived at Orsett ready for the day ahead.
The recent hot weather and the breezy day made for difficult playing conditions making control from the tee very difficult, even with long irons. Many players found trouble off the tee and with long approaches as a result of well struck shots being slightly off line and bouncing into the well placed and abundant gorse bushes.
Despite this the team produced some excellent scores in the morning with Max Hopkins leading the field at six under par and Team Manager Laurie Owen at three under par. The team’s best 5 scores aggregated left us in third place at the halfway stage at one under par behind Essex, the host county, at seven under and Hampshire at three under.
The tricky conditions resulted in some long rounds which meant a quick turnaround and rushed lunch for many, in fact Will Lyons was still in the recorders area 10 minutes before his afternoon tee time. Thankfully the organisers gave his group extra time to enable them to have some lunch before facing the afternoon round and sent a referee to monitor one of the players in the afternoon.
The team needed a monumental performance in the afternoon if we were to overhaul both Essex and Hampshire. Unfortunately this was not to be the case, although the effort was there we did not get the required rub of the green. Once again Max Hopkins produced a solid round of one under par with Rio Saigal on the same score and both Laurie Owen and Zach Little at level par. Our total for the day of two over par was a credible team performance but just short of the mark with Essex finishing at one under par and Surrey at one over. So third place overall one better than last year.
Despite the obvious disappointment, there was still cause for celebration as Max Hopkins won the individual title with his score of seven under par just beating Henry Styles of Essex into second place, avenging his defeat in the 2025 English Amateur Championship.
Overall a solid team performance played in good spirits. Our thanks to Sam Little who provided moral support during the day as well as keeping the players hydrated, to Orsett Golf Club and its members for the use of their course and to the SEG Golf Union for their organisation.
Individual and team scores can be found here. SEG County Quaifier 2026 Event :: Tournament Results
