Yorkshire golf: English champions set to return for crucial Roses clash

The Roses clash at Lindrick on September 3 will decide the destiny of the championship following Yorkshire’s 10-8 win over Durham at The Oaks and Lancashire’s 9-9 tie with Cheshire at the weekend.

And Berry hopes to have White Rose title holder Jamie Bower (Meltham) and Masham’s Dan Brown available for selection, as well as England B international Will Whiteoak (Shipley) and Hull’s Steve Robins and possibly The Oaks’ James Walker.

Bower won the Brabazon Trophy, England Golf’s men’s open amateur stroke play championship, in June and Brown recently kept the English men’s amateur title in Yorkshire hands for the third year running.

“It’s a nice position that we can go to Lindrick and know that if we win the league’s ours again,” said Berry.

“Lancashire and Cheshire tieing was the perfect result for us. It means we don’t have to beat them by any particular score, we just have to beat them.

“If Cheshire had won they would have been in the equation as well; if Lancashire had won they might have extended themselves too far away from us as far as points difference is concerned.”

Yorkshire battled to claim a one-point lead from the morning’s foursomes against Durham, wins coming from the pairings of Howley Hall’s Ben Hutchinson and Wheatley’s Kealan Lowe, Lindrick’s Bailey Gill and Ben Brewster, also Wheatley, and Pike Hill’s Martin Brown and Moortown’s David Houlding.

Malton & Norton’s David Hague and James Cass (Fulford) halved to give Berry’s team an edge going into the singles.

Four men – Hutchinson, Lowe, Brown and Houlding – would finish the day with 100 per cent records as Yorkshire also won the singles session by a point.

Rotherham’s Jamie Harrison and Ilkley’s Jack Lampkin were Yorkshire’s other singles winners while Fulford’s Craig Smith halved.

Anchor man Lampkin had missed a couple of matches through work, and Berry was thrilled to have him back.

“He is without a shadow of a doubt, for me, one of the best No 12 men in the country,” said Yorkshire’s leader.

“The kid he beat (Consett’s John Kennedy) was unbeaten in 11 matches and Jack went and beat him and it just shows how good Jack is at No 12. He knows he’s there for that reason.

“Jack likes the pressure, he likes to know what’s needed, and on the 16th he was two up with three to play and we knew if he halved that, we’d won.

“I relayed that to him and he hit a good shot and went on to win his match.

“We were obviously missing four or five players and we still managed to come away with a win. We had experience back in and young kids that are playing well.”

Despite the probability that he will have a bigger squad from which to choose, he is taking nothing for granted when it comes to facing Lancashire.

“It’s going to be a tough one, but to be able to strengthen our team for the last match is great,” he said.

In the meanwhile, the county’s elite will chase individual glory in the county championship, which starts at Moortown tomorrow.