Shanklin and Sandown Golf Club’s Ryan Harmer is determined to make good use of the experiences gained during his debut at last year’s English County Finals when he tries to help Hampshire end their hoodoo after 7 appearances in the last 15 years without a victory.
Harmer is 1 of only 2 players under the age of 25 in the 7-man squad who will face Staffordshire, Somerset and Northumberland over 3 days at Trevose’s spectacular links on the Cornish headland, starting on Friday.
Last year Harmer and fellow Islander Jordan Sundborg were challenged by county captain Martin Young to play their way into the team for the English finals in the final weeks of the season – Sundborg claimed the Solent Salver for the best aggregate score in the Mike Smith Memorial Trophy and the Stoneham Trophy, while Harmer claimed the Courage at Hockley a fortnight later in early September.
In August, Sundborg – who became the first Isle of Wight golfer to land the Hampshire Amateur Championship since the war by beating Young in the final at Royal Jersey in June – claimed the Stoneham Trophy at the Southampton club. But having returned to Scotland to start the second year of his golf scholarship at Stirling University, it was Harmer who got the nod from Young.
The former English Mid-Amateur Champion had been waiting to learn whether Walker Cup star Scott Gregory would put off turning pro for another couple of weeks, enabling him to travel to the West Country in search of only a second ever English County Championship for Hampshire since 1926 and one last hurrah in the amateur ranks. But having accepted an 11th hour invite to play in the Portugal Masters last Monday, to go with a chance to play on the Challenge Tour in Spain this week, Young opted to add Harmer to the quartet of players over 35 – including himself.
Ryan picked up 2 points from his 5 matches as Hampshire lost a Sunday shoot-out with Yorkshire who claimed a record 21st county championship, albeit their first in 9 years, including a gutsy 1-hole win over Ben Hutchinson although he could not stop the South East Champions losing 51/2-31/2.
He did record an impressive win over Warwickshire veteran Matt Cryer in the second afternoon’s singles but found how hard foursomes golf is at the highest level in the amateur game as he and Sundborg lost their match against Cornwall 6&4 although they would end up on the winning side.
Cornwall would have been formidable opponents on 1 of their top 2 links courses ha they qualified but Harmer is not too bothered about who Hampshire face having got the nod from his captain. The 21-year-old said:
“I am pleased to be part of the team again. Last year was a very good experience.
“I definitely won’t be afraid of any player if I am against them as a result of beating Matt Cryer last year.
“Playing on Saturday afternoon when we won five and a half points in the six singles left the whole team on a buzz which took us into the Yorkshire match on Sunday.”
In the morning foursomes, Harmer partnered his skipper in the final match of the morning but lost on the last green as the Northern Champions took a crucial 2-point lead into the singles which they did not surrender as the afternoon finished 3-3.
Ryan added:
“Foursomes is crucial but it’s all about teamwork with your partner to make the least mistakes possible. I feel my game suits foursomes.”
The winner between Hampshire and Somerset will face the losers of the match between Northumberland and Staffordshire on Saturday before completing the round-robin format on Sunday.
