Twenty four juniors from three different clubs teed up in the first home competition of the year yesterday and the second event in the island wide Ray Lowe Sporting Foundation order of merit, the NSV Trophy and Gordon Rowlinson Cup – a fantastic turnout. Conditions were tricky with a cold wind but the golf was of the very highest quality and set the standard for what promises to be an exciting season.
In the NSV Trophy there were 12 players including Gus Carre, Charlie Czarnecki and Anton Swale who have moved up to the white tees this season, welcome additions to a very strong field. The winner was Alex Mills who has been in great form recently, he has been travelling regularly to the UK to train and compete with the Hampshire U14 Squad ahead of the season where he has impressed with his quality ball striking and all round play. His opening tee shot was a beautifully flighted long iron that drilled through the wind splitting the fairway setting him up for the rest of the round as he proceeded to reel off six pars in a row to make the turn in 38. He then came back in 39 matching his par tally on the front nine to card a 77 gross for 39 points – a wonderful round of golf. As a result Alex is now one round away from single figures which is inevitable, a prolific winner throughout his career, he will be a serious contender in both junior and men’s competition this season.
Runner up was Jayden Tucknott with a sublime 69 gross for 36 points. Based on his recent form this shouldn’t have been a surprise, but with a cold, biting wind followed by a heavy downpour later, this was a quite brilliant round of golf in testing conditions. Jayden was out in 36 with a birdie at the 7th and then produced a superb back nine of 33 which included birdies at the 14th and 16th. It’s well documented how hard he works on his golf and whilst most people would have put their feet up following such a tough round, after a short break he headed back out on the course for a friendly! In third place was Rory Mckenna who was just edged out on countback. His excellent 71 gross included birdies at the 8th and 14th and his game looks in great shape ahead of some major competitions in the next couple of weeks.
In the red tee Gordon Rowlinson Cup the winner was Lewis O’Brien with a brilliant 40 points. The Hampshire U12 star has been working very hard on his game recently, regularly dishing out wins against some of the older juniors in putting competitions. He recently acquired a new driver and hit a monster drive down the first leaving a short iron to the green where he made an excellent par. Further pars followed at the 7th and 9th and he made the turn in 42 returning in 45 including pars at the 10th, 13th and 17th for an outstanding 87 gross. In this kind of form he is going to be tough to beat this year. Runner up was Harry Ingrouille with 28 points, big hitter Harry is sure to feature in the red tee category this year.
In the blue tee competition there were eight players including three girls. The golf was exceptional with Evan Le Huray fresh off a win at La Grande Mare last week, scoring an incredible 27 points which included a birdie 3 nett 1 on the first and nett eagles at the 4th, and 9th! Evan made his competitive debut last season and he overpowered the course yesterday with some quality ball striking to secure victory by seven points from Luke Evans. Luke looks to be another very talented prospect, with a great swing generating impressive power. His 21 points included nett birdies on the 1st and 2nd and a brilliant par, nett eagle, on the 8th. In third place with 19 points was Mary-Anne Waterton who can be very proud of her round after a tough competition last week.
As for the moment of the day, that also came in the blue tee competition. After skipping up to the first tee all the way from the club house, Annabelle Tee approached her opening tee shot grinning from ear to ear like a Cheshire cat before promptly and effortlessly hitting a superb drive. Her sister Lucy then followed suit. We’re not sure if we’ve ever seen someone so happy to hit a golf ball in junior competition but it was a wonderful reminder of why we all love this beautiful game.
The Hurford Cup and Bowmaker Trophy due to be played on the 30th April have now been rescheduled to August 13th so the next junior competition will be on the 7th May at La Grande Mare – details to follow.