Gloucestershire Golf Union
Gloucestershire U14/U16 take the trophies in SWCGA Championships
After last years success of winning both individual and the team titles, it was always going to be a tough ask to repeat our triumphs this year. Competition for places in the team was very difficult and there were numerous players who could have made the squad and performed to the standard required to win this event.
The nine players selected for the team were
Ethan Holway U16 Captain
Ashley Millington U16
Leo Powell U16
Ollie Crowley U16
Finn Ellis U16
Ted Ballard U16
Jaxson Perry U14
Ambrose Eaves U14
Oscar Linton U14
The event consists of an individual gross and nett medal competition played over 18 holes for the under 16’s and under 14’s plus the best 7 out of 9 gross scores counting for the team event.
After our practice round on Monday afternoon the boys were confident that they could put some good scores together in the main event the following day.
The championship was started with Finn Ellis hitting the opening tee shot for Gloucestershire, followed by Ashley Millington in the third group. The remaining team members went off over the next 2.5hrs. With the tee times staggered as they were it was hard to catch up with the action from the early groups. In fact, the first 2 players were through nine holes before our last player had started.
After 9 holes Finn was struggling with his game but was still ahead of his playing partners and showed some real grit to keep going on the back nine and keep it that way to the finish.
Ash Millington was not happy after 9 holes either with a score of 3 over par but he had a great back nine to shoot the best score of the day to finish with a gross 70, 1 under par.
Ethan Holway was going along nicely starting with 6 pars and was then unfortunate to have his pitching wedge snap hitting a shot into the 6th green. His woes continued after that as he wanted to hit the wedge into the green on the par 3 7th hole. He opted to hit an easy 9 iron that went over the green into the hedge and walked off with a double. Most players would of struggled mentally with this but Ethan just accepted the outcome and played on. He went on to shoot a score of +7, 78. All in all a great score with the misfortune he suffered on the 7th.
The next player through 9 holes was the defending U14 nett champion from 2021 Jaxson Perry, he reached the turn at 2 over and continued his solid play on the back nine to shoot a score of 75, +4.
Leo Powell really got it going on the front 9 and reached the turn at -1 and followed that up with another birdie on the 10th. He was unlucky to make a triple bogey 7 on the 14th but kept fighting hard to finish with a gross 75.
By now the wind was beginning to pick up for the late starters with the first hole playing straight into the breeze. Ambrose hit a great tee shot down the first but unluckily started with a double bogey six. He then showed some real fighting spirit to only drop a further 2 shots on the front nine, to reach the turn at 4 over. By now he had found his feet and form and went on to shoot a level par back nine with two birdies and two bogeys to come in with another gross 75.
Oscar Linton had a real tough front nine shooting 43 but showed some real grit and determination to turn that around on the back nine to shoot a 1 over gross 37. This was a real testament to his fighting spirit to not give up and it showed real maturity, for such a young age.
Ollie Crowley played the front nine really well and went out with one of the best scores of the day on the red course, completing it in 37 shots (+1). He had trouble with his putting on the back nine but continued to strike the ball really well and finished on +8 (79).
Ted Ballard was our last player on the course and was going along nicely being just 4 over par through 11 holes. I thought I would follow him around for a few holes to give him some support but that seemed to have the opposite effect on Ted who proceeded to drop 6 shots on the next 3 holes. At that point I decided I better leave him to it as he was playing well until the coach turned up. When I left normal service was resumed and he started making pars again.
We knew Ash Millington had won the U16 title with his score of 70 and we were also hopeful that either Jaxson or Ambrose had picked up the U14 title. It turned out that the tournament was set up that the red course was used as the back nine so Jaxson Perry beat his good friend and team mate, Ambrose Eaves on countback to take the title, with his gross score of 75.
This just left the team title up for grabs and we were announced the winners at the presentation with a combined score of 531 (+ 34) beating Wiltshire who finished second with a total of 550.
I would like to thank the SWCGA for organising the event and for Cumberwell Park GC for hosting us, the course and facilities were second to none. I would like to congratulate the team on winning the triple again and for their attitude and behaviour. They all behaved impeccably and represented Gloucestershire with pride. My thanks must go to Ian Edlin who took over the roll of U16 manager 2 weeks prior to the event but made sure all the admin over the 2 days was dealt with. Leaving the boys to do their thing out on the course. Thanks to Sam Edlin for being there on the day supplying the players with drinks, snacks and support. Thanks to all the parents who got the players there at the allotted times and for supporting them on the day. Without you all we would not have days and results like that. Thank you also to all the GGU Executives who turned up to support on the day.
Personally, I would like to thank all the GGU family who supported the team from afar with messages and emails wishing us luck before the tournament and during the day. Its great to know we are supported by all the teams who represent the county, the coaches and the managers.
Good luck to the first team in SW week next week and to all the teams and individuals for the rest of the season.
James Tuck
U16's Coach
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