Jack Warren secures Hampshire debut after Delhi Cup thriller

The consolation for the 26-year-old, who is a member of the greenkeeping staff at Hockley, is the points in the Order of Merit event – on top of those he collected after his showing at North Hants last month in the Hog – earned him one of the guaranteed spots in the Hampshire team to face Kent in the county's opening South East League match of the season this weekend.

Stoneham’s Jack Warren on the 11th tee at the 116th Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Channel Islands Amateur Championship at North Hants GC. (Image: Andrew Griffin/AMG Pictures)

Having rediscovered his love for the game over the winter, the former US college golfer who claimed the Hampshire Junior Championship back in 2017, was not left feeling down about the defeat – despite admitting he had blown his chances in regulation with two lost balls in his second round.

And on top of that, he had two putts to win in extra holes, before giving Wheeler the line having left his 12-foot birdie attempt at the fourth extra hole just short but right on the line.

Warren said: "I gave Rob the line, and from just slightly shorter a distance than my putt, he rolled it straight in.

"I have no complaints, I made a couple of mental mistakes in the afternoon that cost me a couple of bogeys and I made a couple of three-putts at the wrong time in the play-off.

"Robert deserved his win – he played great but my game is definitely trending and to earn a place in the Hampshire side after all these years is what I wanted.

"I am really looking forward to making my debut having really enjoyed my time representing the county as a junior. My game is certainly trending in the right direction."

Left to right: Hockley captain Malcolm MacKenzie, Robert Wheeler and club president Peter Dawson. (Image: Hockley Golf Club)

Wheeler is looking to make history as the first player to win the Cullen Quaich three years in a row – Liphook's former Euro Pro and Challenge Tour player Darren Walkley has three Order of Merit titles to his name between 2014 and 2023.

He led the Delhi at lunch by a shot after a sparkling 67 but also found the afternoon conditions more challenging as the wind got up around the top of Twyford Down.

Warren got off to the best possible start birdieing his first four holes, having started from the 11th and was six-under through nine.

That blistering start could not last and dropped shots at the third and fifth – followed by a bogey at the 10th – left him in second place after Wheeler made seven birdies but crucially gave three shots back.

Only two other players broke par leaving the top two – playing a group apart – in a shoot-out for the title.

Despite a second bogey at the third, Warren was soon in the lead as Wheeler dropped three shots before the turn and the former Belmont Abbey University made three birdies in four holes from the fourth to go four shots in front.

But that galvanised Wheeler, who won three events in last year's Order of Merit, and birdies at the 10th and 11th – followed by an eagle from nine feet on the long 14th – got him back on Warren's tail as a bogey at 17th from one of those two lost balls, left him needing a birdie-four at the downhill par-five last to force extra-holes.

Having halved the first in par fours, both players made a mess of the second – Warren missed a three-footer for the win, with both players settling for double-bogey sixes.

The third was also halved in bogeys before Wheeler cashed in at the 17th, which was the fourth and final hole.

Hockley's golf operations manager Ashley Payne confirmed the Delhi would have been tied for the first time in its 51-year history if Warren had holed his putt – or Wheeler had missed – because of the lack of light.

The top two finished five shots clear of the rest of the field.

Report by Andrew Griffin