The Farrington junior section are celebrating once again after another incredible weekend in Somerset County events.
Seventeen-year-old Victoria Watts won the Somerset Ladies Championship at Weston-super-Mare Golf Club. She made it through to the final sixteen ladies, after qualifying on the Friday strokeplay event in very windy conditions. The eight handicapper from Chew Magna then worked her way through the matchplay stages, beating current Ladies Champion, Amanda Mayne (Saltford) in the quarter-final by 5 & 3. She then beat Natalie Lawrence (Oake Manor) by 4 & 2 in the semis, followed by a thrashing of Charlotte Humphries (Burnham and Berrow) in the final by 7 & 5.
Victoria has now secured her place in the Somerset Ladies squad and her next goal is to win the Somerset Girls Championship in August to complete the double also achieved by fellow Farrington junior, Michaela Chivers, in 2010.
Farrington junior, Josh Hilleard, is also in the news again. Scratch handicap Josh won the Somerset Boys Championship over 36 holes on his home track at Farrington Park. The eighteen-year-old from Paulton shot a two over par gross 146 off the white tees on the Duchy course, to claim the title by two shots from Will Bennett from Windwhistle Golf Club. Over fifty of the best junior boys in the county played in the event and many struggled on the tricky Duchy Course.
It has been an incredible year for Farrington Juniors, who now have the Somerset Under-14s Champion (Josh Higgs), Somerset Girls Champion (Michaela Chivers), Somerset Ladies Champion (Victoria Watts), Somerset Men's Champion (Tom Small) and Somerset Schools Champion (Will Hobbs).
Farrington Men's B Team Avalon campaign started with the long trip to Minehead, with breezy but dry conditions. Junior Captain, George Abbott, and Mark Crook got the season underway, but they soon found themselves under pressure and by the twelfth were three down with one of the opposing pair-four under gross.
A great fightback saw them one up on the eighteenth tee, but unfortunately couldn't hold on and ended up with a half. B Team Captain, Paul Thomas, paired up with Danny Farnen in a close battle in the second match, both having putts to seal victory on the sixteenth green and both missing, but hanging on for a 2 & 1 victory.
The experienced pairing of Steve Symonds and Rob Thain were next out and were soon behind to a steady home pairing who carried on to win by a 4 & 3 margin. Dave Forshaw and Kailin Coombes had to watch the opposition hole out for an eagle and four birdies on the front nine holes, they battled back at the start of the back nine, finally losing 3 & 2.
The final pairing of Gary Padfield and Chris Shanks were also under pressure from the start with the big hitting home pair soon recording a 6 & 4 victory. The match ended with a 3½ to 1½ victory to the home team.
The following Sunday saw a very different team make the shorter trip to Tall Pines, the Bank Holiday made team selection more of an event, with four players making their first appearance for the team. George Hobbs and Mark Chandler got off to a flyer and were soon four up. The home pair fought back, winning three holes in a row to reduce the deficit, but with George having six birdies and Mark backing him up, they secured a 2 & 1 victory. Paul Thomas and Ali Shanks then had a tough battle with the home pairing, with never more than a one hole difference and one down on the par three eighteenth tee. Ali played the shot of the day to secure the half.
Gary Prater paired up with Mark Chivers in game three, the home pair were soon three up, but after reducing the deficit to one, a couple of putts were missed and the home pair recorded a 3 & 2 win. Andy Bryant and Eric Hogg had a very close game, with the home pair eventually hanging on on the eighteenth green for a half.
The last game saw Dave Brain paired with current Max Stone Champion, Matt LeFeuvre, with both playing steady golf they were soon four up, the trees then played a part and they found themselves one up playing eighteen. Dave got up and down from the edge of the green to secure the win one up, giving the team a 3 – 2 away win and eleven points to add to the 4½ points from the previous week.
The Mail on Sunday Farrington Ladies team secured their place in the Fifth Round of this competition, winning 4 ½ – ½ at home against Minehead and West Somerset. This is the first time Farrington has made it into the Fifth Round.