On Saturday 12 July, we had 82 Players competing to qualify for the Matchplay stages of the 2025 County Championship, at Arcot Hall Golf Club

It was a late finish due to the size of the field, with a 2 man play off starting at around 8:30pm, with Mark McCarthy of City of Newcastle and Max Paterson of Morpeth fighting for the 16th and final spot in the knockout phases. A par 3 on the 2nd play off hole was good enough to see Max go through.

The Renwick Medal, awarded to the leading 36 hole qualifier, went to Andrew Minnikin, securing the Medal for the 4th time, with scores of 65 and 70.

On to Wednesday and the 8 knockout matches, where there some excellent matches. Harrison Sewell needed 7 birdies in 8 holes to defeat home favourite Paul Caldicott. Number 1 seed Andrew Minnikin had to dig deep to beat Max Paterson, a victory he secured on the 17th.

The quarter finals did not disappoint, with Phil Ridden needing to be 7 under (including a hole in one on the par 3 11th) to beat County colleague Dan Bullen. Angus Buchanan fought well to beat Andrew Minnikin, while Harrison Sewell nudged out Freddie McKenna. Ben Brown put up a strong performance and fought off a big fight back from Mark Wharton to win on the 17th.

As the weather forecast worsened, the threat of rain didn’t deter a large following for Ben Brown who took down Phil Ridden with a 2&1 victory, in the first semi final. Phil wasn’t at his best on the Greens and Ben took full advantage, setting up a showdown in the final against Harrison Sewell who defeated the unusually out of sorts Angus Buchanan.

The weather looked grim for the final, prompting a tee time change, seeing the final getting underway at 8am, in a desperate attempt to outrun the rain.

The final lived up to its billing with Harrison taking a 2up lead in into lunch – that’s only part of the story, however, as Ben chipped in on an incredible 3 occasions in the space of 11 holes.

Inspired at lunch time, Ben came flying out of the blocks with 5 birdies in 6 holes to find himself 2 up after 26 holes, a lead he didn’t let slip, eventually running out a fine 3&2 winner. In the process, Ben became the first County Champion from Backworth Hall.  An excellent achievement, well done Ben.

A huge thanks to everyone at Arcot Hall Golf Club, the support we received during the week was fantastic.

The course was excellent for the duration and the food and hospitality matched.

Thank you Arcot, we look forward to returning next year for the Men’s County match against Yorkshire.