Tom Robson will be a name the cream of Hampshire’s amateurs will want to avoid when it comes to the matchplay phase of the County Championships which are being held at Liphook this weekend (writes Andrew Griffin).

The 29-year-old, who went to the same US college as Masters winner Danny Willett and was in the same Gamecocks team as two-time European Tour winner Matt Wallace, was the last player to land the Sloane Stanley Challenge Trophy when the Hampshire, Isle of Wight & Channel Islands Amateur Championship was held at the East Hampshire course back in 2009.

Nine years on, and Robson, from Rowlands Castle, has two victories at Alabama’s Jacksonville State under his belt and a record for reaching the latter stages of the Hampshire knockout that matches any of his county first-team colleagues.

Robson – probably because of the company he kept while at Jacksonville – quickly came to the decision that life as an aspiring tour pro was not for him, despite his considerable talents.

For the last two years, he has been assistant secretary at the Rowlands club where he has been a member since 2003, having joined Lee-on-the-Solent when he was ‘barely able to walk.’

While golf club secretaries will always maintain they are too busy to play as much as they would like, Robson believes becoming a ‘weekend golfer’ has not hindered his progress in the slightest.

He said: “I enjoy golf a lot more now that I’m not playing so much. I always get comments like, ‘Imagine how good you’d be if you practiced more,’ but I don’t think it’s necessarily true.

“I get bored just standing around hitting balls and would much rather go and play nine holes instead of doing structured practice.

“Liphook is one of my favourite places to go to and always has been, ever since I started playing in the club’s junior open.”

Robson led the 36-hole qualifier at Shanklin & Sandown six years ago. A year earlier, it took an unbelievable putting display from then unknown junior and future Walker Cup player, Jack Singh Brar, to end Robson’s hopes of another final at the Army Golf Club.

In 2015, he lost in the final to Darren Walkley at Brokenhurst Manor and, 12 months later, Martin Young beat him at Hayling in what was rated one of the best finals in recent memory.

Former county captain Young, who made Robson his vice-captain as they helped Hampshire win the English County Championship at Trevose in Cornwall last October, will be another senior player the many younger players will want to avoid.

Young, who stood down last year to make way for Blackmoor’s Colin Roope, has a chance to join the elite band of four players who have more than three Sloane Stanley’s to their name.

Liphook will be hosting the championship for the 12th time.