Three New County Champions Crowned At Hagley Gc 27Th July 2021

Three new County Champions Crowned at Hagley GC - 27th July 2021

Boys County Champion Harrison Leaver (Worcester G&CC) seen here with (l) County President, Ian Rone, and (r) Lord Cobham, owner of Hagley GC.

U16 County Champion, Phil Krone (Kings Norton GC)

U14 County Champion, George Stephens (The Vale G&CC) receiving the Jim Gray Trophy from WUGC Past President, Brian Morris.

2021 Boys County Championships - Report

Hagley Golf Club was in excellent condition to host the 2021 Worcestershire Boys County Championship on Tuesday 27th July 2021. The course was highly praised throughout the day by all the players, who found the greens a tricky, but fair test of their skills.

The format of the say is that the U18 & U16 Tournament is played over 36 holes, whilst the U14 event is played over 18 holes, with tee times in between the first and second round of the main event.

This year only 12 boys contested the U14 Championship, but it was pleasing to see a number of new faces prepared to test themselves over the Hagley course. Given that the draw was in descending handicap order, it was likely that the gross winner, and U14 County Champion, would come form one of the last groups, and three of the best 4 gross scores did in fact come from the final 3 ball. Oliver Badge (Hagley) posted an 85, and Hayden Sarfo (Worcester G&CC) posted an 83. Harry Evans (Gaudet Luce) from the penultimate group shot an excellent 80, but the winner was George Stephens from The Vale GC who recorded an excellent 78 gross to take the Jim Gray Trophy.

Harry Evans consolation for narrowly missing out on the gross prize was that he took the nett prize with a superb 65. This fantastic score was only just good enough for the victory, with Tom Gilbert (Halesowen) also scoring a 65, but losing out count back.

Full U14 scores can be seen by clicking here.

The U16/U18 event saw some highly commendable scoring, given the difficulty of the course, and the poor weather conditions.

The morning saw Louie Stott (Bewdley Pines) leading on 73, but closely followed by Mark Hewlett (Gaudet Luce) & Harrison Leaver (Worcester G&CC) on 74, Phil Krone (Kings Norton) 75 and Dan Wakeman (Hagley) on 76. Thus, the boys all knew that it was probably going to be a close run thing in the afternoon.

The weather, which had been rainy all day, took a turn for the worst late in the day, with the boys having to be called in because of lightning, with 4 groups still out on the course, albeit with a maximum of 2 holes to play. After a 45 minute delay the conditions improved, and the final groups were able to complete their rounds.

Alex Emms (The Vale G&CC) produced an excellent afternoon 73, to add to his morning 79 to finish 5th equal with Harvey Jones (Kings Norton).Mark Hewlett's afternoon 78 leaving him in 4th place, and Phil Krone taking 3rd on 151. It was extremely close at the top with Harrison Leaver adding a best of the day level par 72 to his morning 74 for a total of 146. This left Louie Stott in the last group needing an eagle three on the last to force a playoff. He duly drilled a 200 yard 2nd into the middle of the par 5 green, but couldn't quite hole his eagle putt. Thus, his 74, when added to his morning 73, gave him a total of 147, leaving Harrison to take the title by a single shot.

Phil Krone's 151 total would be good enough to win him the U16, Brian Peplow, Trophy.

Louie's consolation was to take the Rigbey Cup for best 36 hole nett on the basis that a player could only win one prize (unless winning both the main U18 and U16 titles).

For full U18 / U16 scores - click here.

Harrison will be asked to represent Worcestershire in the England Golf Junior Champion of Champions event, being held at Woodhall Spa GC on Saturday 11th Setember.

Harrison, Phil and George will be asked to represent Worcestershire as U18, U16 & U15 Champions at the Midland Golf Union Champion of Champion event at Peterborough Milton GC on Sunday 19th September.

As the only club that had three players in the 3 hole event, Worcester G&CC automatically won the Mirams Salver as Worcestershire Junior Club Team Champions. They will be asked to represent Worcestershire in the England Golf Junior Champion Club Tournament later in the year.

During the presentation ceremony County President, Ian Rone, thanked Hagley GC for hosting the event, and Lord Cobham replied that the club was delighted to host the County, especially the boys, and hoped everyone had enjoyed the day. In his acceptance speech Harrison also thanked the club for hosting, commented on the excellent condition of the course, and specifically thanked the greens staff, catering and bar teams.

The County would like to thank all the volunteers that helped run the day; starters Rex Harrison and Mark Hewlett Snr; referees, Tony Edwards, Clive Werrett and Di Wylde; and administration team of Debbie Pritchard and Brian Morris.