Patient Hallowes crowned English Club Champions
The Yorkshire lads from Hallowes Golf Club endured a nail-biting six-hour wait before being crowned the English Champion Club in the sunshine at The Wiltshire
A second day score of 218 gave them a winning aggregate of 431, one under par, and a four shot winning margin over Workington from Cumbria, who took the runners-up spot on countback over Stoke Park from BB&O.
Having started the second day just two strokes off the lead held by Sundridge Park from Kent, the Hallowes trio went about their work in clinical fashion (picture © Tom Ward).
In a breezy but sunny day when scores failed to reflect the conditions, Adam Hodkinson went round in level par 72 as did James Maw while James Smedley provided a valuable 74.
When they had signed their cards, around lunchtime, their 431 hardly looked good enough. But with all their rivals falling by the wayside one by one it was a target no one managed to get near. In the meantime they spent their time enjoying the sunshine and making frequent visits to the scoreboard.
We are a little surprised because we didn t think out score would be good enough, said Hodkinson. We thought it would be four or five strokes too many but we played solidly today although it was a little tricky.
It is the third team event the Hallowes trio have won this year. They took the Sheffield Team Championship by 22 strokes and the Yorkshire Team title by nine.
We felt confident coming into the event but after we saw BB&O s front nine scores we didn t think we had a chance, declared Hodkinson. But it turned out right and now we are looking to win the European title.
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Not that Hodkinson is likely to be involved. This is my last amateur event as I m off to the European Tour Qualifying School, he added. I wanted to win the individual and the team title here. We achieved one and I finished tied second in the other, so it wasn t a bad couple of days.
This is the fourth time a Yorkshire club has won the Champion Club title. Sand Moor achieved back-to-back wins in the 1990s while Rotherham came out on top in 2005.
Sundridge Park, just one clear of Brokenhurst Manor overnight, could do no better than 224 for 435 to slip back into fourth place
Workington took second place, also on 435, with their second day aggregate of 217 with Simon Young shooting 71, William Bowe 72 and Mark Cowan 74.
It was another near miss for Stoke Park, who were beaten for the title on countback two years ago. This time their 222, also for 435, gave them third spot ahead of Sundridge Park s second day 224.
The best second day return came from Ross Spurgeon with 68 which helped West Essex finish sixth on 437.
More information, news and results can be found on the Championships section of the EGU website www.englishgolfunion.org.