Hayling’s Ben Wall has emerged as this year’s Solent Salver champion, following a titanic battle with fellow Hampshire ace Scott Gregory.
Wall finished top of the pile after a thrilling two days of action in the Stoneham Trophy and Mike Smith Memorial.
The highlight was an epic playoff for the Stoneham Trophy, which saw Corhampton star Gregory beat his county teammate at the sixth extra hole.
That prevented Wall from claiming a clean sweep of the prizes, following his success in the Mike Smith Memorial.
In that opening event, Wall had stormed to victory, firing 14 birdies across his two rounds at Brokenhurst Manor.
He carded efforts of 68 and 64, to finish on a score of eight-under-par, with Gregory in fine form too, shooting 67, 68.
Meon Valley’s Harry Ellis was also in contention, eventually finishing third, after rounds of 68 and 69.
The competitors then teed it up in the Stoneham Trophy – the second event of the Solent Salver.
Again, it was Wall and Gregory – the runner-up in this year’s English Amateur Championship – who led the way.
Wall followed up an opening round of 72 with a 67 in the afternoon, to tie Gregory (70, 69) at the top of the leaderboard.
That sparked a three-hole play-off, which ended up extending to six.
The first was shared with eagles, with the pair heading into sudden death after a third tied hole.
It took until the sixth for the match to be decided, as Wall missed a ten-foot putt to hand Gregory the prize.
Nonetheless, it was a fantastic weekend for the Hayling youngster, who bagged the overall Solent Salver prize for his 72-hole total, becoming the third ever player from his club to take the honour.
As he was at Brokenhurst, Ellis finished third at Stoneham.
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