Dean Plant into Sussex Amateur Final
Two great semi-finals
Dean Plant won through against Harvey Evans , Royal Ashdown 2&1 to reach his first final.
Dean took the early initiative and capitlised on his opponents early nerves, but two loose tee shots and an Evans birdie on 7th saw Dean 1 down, a birdie 3 on the 9th levelled the match, but an unstoppable run of birdies to the 17th and a -4 under back nine resulted in a 2 & 1 win.
Dean was understandably delighted with his win, (pictured ) but it was tinged with disappointment for his great friend who didn't make the final.
The other semi-final produced no less excitement or drama as Mark Hilton birdied the 4th, 6th & 8th, only to see his young opponent , Joe Sykes from Goodwood , birdie 5 & 7 and when both players birdied the 10th, the game was level.
Uncharacteristic bogeys by Mark on 11 & 12 meant his was 2 down, but a fighting par on the 14th gained one back then Mark hit a perfect shot into 15 to 5ft , it looked like the match was going all-square, but the putt stayed agonisingly on the lip.
Neither player was backing off and another great iron shot by Mark looked like squaring the match, until Joe Sykes chipped in for a wining birdie and then closed the match off with an imperious iron shot to within 2ft on the 17th for a match winning birdie.
They were both sensational matches to watch.
Dean will play in the final tomorrow afternoon at 4.00pm , we wish him the very best in the final and congratulate both players for representing East Sussex National with great sportsmanship & skill.
Dean took the early initiative and capitlised on his opponents early nerves, but two loose tee shots and an Evans birdie on 7th saw Dean 1 down, a birdie 3 on the 9th levelled the match, but an unstoppable run of birdies to the 17th and a -4 under back nine resulted in a 2 & 1 win.
Dean was understandably delighted with his win, (pictured ) but it was tinged with disappointment for his great friend who didn't make the final.
The other semi-final produced no less excitement or drama as Mark Hilton birdied the 4th, 6th & 8th, only to see his young opponent , Joe Sykes from Goodwood , birdie 5 & 7 and when both players birdied the 10th, the game was level.
Uncharacteristic bogeys by Mark on 11 & 12 meant his was 2 down, but a fighting par on the 14th gained one back then Mark hit a perfect shot into 15 to 5ft , it looked like the match was going all-square, but the putt stayed agonisingly on the lip.
Neither player was backing off and another great iron shot by Mark looked like squaring the match, until Joe Sykes chipped in for a wining birdie and then closed the match off with an imperious iron shot to within 2ft on the 17th for a match winning birdie.
They were both sensational matches to watch.
Dean will play in the final tomorrow afternoon at 4.00pm , we wish him the very best in the final and congratulate both players for representing East Sussex National with great sportsmanship & skill.