Yorkshire Boys Finish 2nd in EG Boys Qualifier
The EG Boys Northern Qualifier was played in Northumberland at Ponteland GC, a fabulous golf course where I noticed since my last visit some eight years ago the many trees have been removed. The day started in good conditions with the sun out amongst the clouds, but things were to change during the day with this very indifferent weather we now appear to receive!
Our first man out was Alex Boyes who got to a poor start and was 5 over after 7 holes, however he pulled it back with birdies on 8, 9 and 13 to be 2 over, but then finished bogey, bogey, birdie to be 3 over, not the start he had anticipated! George Cooper played steady golf to finish with a level par 72. Harry Phillips had a tough day finishing 6 over. Ollie Scott in his first outing playing the Little 6 played par golf till the 13th where he birdied to go 1 under and thus where he finished for his morning round, a brilliant effort! Jonty our Boy’s Captain got off to a poor start and was 3 over after five, but then a barrage of 7 birdies and 1 bogey brought him home with a 3Under par round, the best from the team. Josh Stephens was our final player, and he had a steady round to come home with a 1over par. Our lunchtime total was 360 from the five scores counting which was a good score, but not good enough as our rivals, Cheshire played some great golf to lead with a total of 352.
So, it was all to play for in the afternoon! However, the weather turned with two heavy downpours with hurricane type winds and hail stones thus suspending play twice as the greens started to flood and the players couldn’t stand up!
Alex started well with 3 birdies in the first 6 holes, but then a double bogey followed at eight and a further 2 bogeys and 2 birdies to finish he had a 71, I under! George was next out and got off to a bad start with a double bogey at the first and a bogey at 16 to finish 3 over. Harry, again couldn’t get it going and finished with a counting score 76, 4 over. Ollie played good in the afternoon, especially with the interruptions to finish 2 over. Jonty battled through the conditions and sadly nothing was dropping for him to finish with a 77. Our final player Josh had 4 bogeys and 2 birdies to finish 2 over. Our afternoon score of 370 was not good enough to catch Cheshire who once again played great golf to finish with 361 and take the title of Northern County Boys Champions with a final total of 713, a tremendous 7 under par. Congratulations to Cheshire Boys and we wish them well and hope they bring the National trophy back up north when they play in the final at Elsham in Lincolnshire.
I must say I was delighted with the way our boys performed especially in the horrendous conditions of the afternoon. To finish the championship with 5 of our players in the top 10 was a tremendous effort and all credit to them. Thanks to Team Yorkshire who I am so proud of, and we look forward to next year’s championship.
Philip Woodcock
