THE SUN HAS SET on another fabulous Middlesex Men’s County Championships. The venue was the wonderful Wyke Green Golf Club. The action started on Friday morning with the 36 qualifier for the Round of 16. 60 competitors battled a tough course set up, with greens running at 12 on the stimp and strong winds to qualify for the knockout match-play part of the competition. 15 players qualified automatically but a play-off was required between 3 players for the last remaining slot in the K/O draw. Andre Bothma from Northwood GC, Amar Vaghela from Stanmore GC and home player, Rymer Smith completed the trio. Amar was eliminated on the first extra hole and Rymer defeated Andre with a par on the second extra hole.
DAY 2 saw the Round of 16 with some interesting match-ups. Mikael Khursheed, Tayan Wagjiani, Michael Okon, Rob Lyon Freddie Tucker, Robin Lockrose, Alfie Reynolds and Andrew Whitford all progressed to the afternoon Quarter Finals. Tayan, Rob, Freddie and Alfie all emerged victorious and progressed into the Semi-Finals.
DAY 3 started in bright sunshine. The first match was a titanic tussle between Fulwell’s Robbie Lyon and Sudbury’s Tayan Wagjiani. Tayan took an early lead only to be pegged back by Rob. Rob was leading as the match neared it’s conclusion, only to be pegged back by Tayan. What a match! We needed extra holes to separate these two great competitors. On the fourth extra hole Tayan chipped in for birdie, despite never having been on any part of the cut grass on the hole. Rob’s birdie putt lipped out. Great golf from two great competitors! In the second semi-final, Alfie was up early but Freddie’s persistence paid off. Steady golf from Freddie saw him 2-up standing on the 17th tee. Freddie missed the green on the left, while Alfie’s tee shot ended up on the front fringe of the green. Freddie chipped on to five feet which meant that Alfie was left with a birdie putt for the hole. His stroke was true but the ball agonisingly grazed the edge of the hole. All eyes were now on Freddie. His nerve was solid and he rolled his ball into the centre of the cup for a 2&1 victory.
THE FINAL was nip and tuck with Tayan up early but Freddie clawing back the deficit. The quality of the golf on show was superb, as you would expect from these great golfers. 3 consecutive holes were halved in birdies in the middle of the round. However, ever steady Freddie managed to pull away from Tayan. He was 3 up on the long par 3 sixteenth hole. Both players missed the green and chipped on, both leaving lengthy par putts. Tayan needed to hole his from 12 feet to keep the match alive. His putt was never going to short but pace just kept the ball out of the hole. This gave Freddie a 4&2 victory and means that he is our 2026 Champion. Highgate are all proud of you. Well done boys.Â
We had a fabulous championship that will live long into the memory, hosted by Wyke Green GC. Michael Deller-Merricks and his team did us proud. The hospitality was first class, Pauline & her team made sure that the food was the best in town but the star of the show was the course. Huge thanks & praise must go to Graeme Vincent for his pin positions and to Course Manager, Jimmy Butler for providing us with fabulous playing surfaces and fast, tricky greens. Special thanks also to Club Captain, Jonny Bramley for being there every day to greet the players and help out wherever he was needed. Lastly, thanks to Middlesex volunteers, the Referees led by Robbie and Ketan, our starters, David Nicol and Ruth Holmes, and our President, Di Rowlands. All of these volunteers give their time freely to support this great game in Middlesex! We couldn’t have done this without you.
See you all Mill Hill GC on 4th to 6th June, 2027.
