Skipper Burden leads rearguard action to save Hampshire from defeat in South East League curtain-raiser

The former English Champion of Champions, from Hayling GC, was one-down with three to play against former England junior Jacob Kelso.

The Kent man missed a putt from around eight feet for a birdie on the last which could have ended Hampshire’s hopes of winning a third Daily Telegraph Salver in a row.

Burden then holed from six feet having been left with a treacherous up-and-down from left of the green, after almost driving it pin high on the 333-yard 18th.

Minutes earlier, he had been left doubled over his putter after watching his 18-footer for par stop in the jaws of the hole. From above the hole, it looked almost impossible to leave the ball short, having picked the perfect line – but gravity had other ideas.

Kelso had already got out of jail on the penultimate hole, having been forced to take a drop from the ditch. He hit a great recovery around the corner on the 17th before getting up-and-down from 40 feet from the front of the sloping green.

With Rob Wheeler going down the last all-square having lost his ball on the 17th, Burden had got back to all-square with a birdie on the par-five 16th.

Burden had been a much happier figure after the morning foursomes as Hampshire enjoyed a 3-1 lead at lunch.

The only surprise was that Brokenhurst’s Martin Young – a veteran of some 100 county matches since the mid-90s – was beaten 7&6 playing alongside Rowlands Castle’s former county champion Tom Robson.

The hosts fought back and won all three remaining games as Stoneham’s Joe Buenfeld and North Hants’ former EuroPro Tour player Sam De’ath won the top match 3&1.

Wheeler, last year’s Order of Merit winner, partnered Test Valley’s Stuart Archibald in their 5&3 win against Kent’s Tommy Lamb and Lucas Dennison.

Burden, playing with Liphook’s Darren Walkley, were not hanging around either, shaking hands with Danny Jones and last year’s McEvoy Trophy winner Jake Potter after winning the 13th to go seven-up.

While Hampshire could feel confident over lunch thanks to that two-point, Burden knew their opponents would come out all guns blazing in a bid to regain control of the afternoon singles.

And it was not long before Kent had reduced the deficit to just a point as Buenfeld lost his drive on the short par-four 18th to lose by one, and Robson was having a torrid time in the fourth game against Conor Byers, losing 65.

Those results sandwiched another point for De’ath, who writes about golf equipment of Golf Monthly. But the writing was on the wall in the bottom half of the draw, as Burden focused on his own game in the penultimate match, unaware that around him Kent were gaining the upper hand.

Young restored the two-point lead briefly with a 5&4 win over Lamb, who was led to the slaughter by the Brokenhurst man who knows every blade of grass, every lie, and every contour of the greens on the classic Harry Colt course.

Wheeler earned a precious half but Archibald – the 2022 English Mid-Amateur Champion – lost on the last to teenage talent Jake Potter, last year’s McEvoy Trophy winner. And when Walkley, from Westbourne, was beaten 4&3 in the anchor match, Kent were tied at 51/2-51/2.

Just Toby and Kelso were left out on the course, but the Hampshire captain was able to cope with the burden of salvaging a draw.