75 talented young golfers played in the Wee Wonders South West Regional Qualifier on the Manor Course at Farrington Park last weekend in what turned out to be glorious sunshine.
The threats of lightning never transpired and the event was a great success. The National Wee Wonders Championship aims to bring opportunity to up-and-coming young golfers of twelve-years-old and younger to compete in a fun and competitive event, with a view to qualifying for the Grand Final at St Andrew's, Scotland, in August. With such a great prize on offer, the event pulled in youngsters from all over the south of England.
The standard of golf was staggering again this year, with a six-year-old scoring a gross forty and five players scoring a gross four over par 31 or better, on the par 27 Manor Course. The hotly contested Boys 11–12-year-old section had the biggest entry, with eleven-year-old Sam Trott, from Weymouth, scoring an amazing one under par 26 to win by five shots.
The Girls 11–12 section saw an equally impressive display of golf, with eleven-year-old Abby Gray, from Farrington Park, shooting a gross forty. Nine-year-old Harriet Lockley, from Swindon, scored 34 to win the Girls 9–10, Max Shirvell, from Hertfordshire, won the Boys 9–10 and Harry Western, from Weymouth, won the boys 7–8, with 35. Round of the day came from six-year-old Charles Beeson, from Woking, with an incredible gross forty to win the 5–6- year-old Boys.
Results: Girls 5–8, Qualifier, Robyn Bailey, 47. Boys 5–6, Qualifier, Charles Beeson, 40. Boys 7–8, Qualifiers, Harry Western, 35, Harry Callow, 36. Girls 9–10, Qualifier, Harriet Lockley, 34. Boys 9–10, Qualifier, Max Shirvell, 32. Girls 11–12, Qualifier, Abby Gray, 40. Boys 11–12, Qualifier, Samuel Trott, 26.
Farrington Park Men
One of Farrington Park Men's major competitions of the year was played last weekend, in perfect weather conditions. On the first day of competition, in warm, but slightly cloudy weather, some excellent scores were achieved. Paul Thomas, Dave Jewell, Seamus Ivory and Adrian Cronin all scored nett 69.
However, the rest of the field were not far behind, but they were all beaten by Ali Shank's score of nett 68, to give him the lead at the half-way stage. This set up an exciting prospect for day two, with the scores so close together, it was difficult to predict the winner.
Jamie Rawlings set a target of a total of 137 nett for his two days of golf, to give an early lead for his fellow competitors to chase. This score stood for most of the day, until Mike Goodliff matched it during one of the closing rounds. With the overnight leaders beginning to finish, it was Dave Jewell, who held his nerve, despite, on the seventeenth hole, putting his first drive out of bounds.
He recovered to secure a brilliant score of five with his second ball. His final score of 135 nett proved to be the winning score overall and he became the Max Stone Chalice Champion for 2014. The Men's Section would like to thank the Farrington Park Ladies for all their help during the competition.
Results: day one, best gross, first, Martin Drayton, 75, second, Andrew Coles, 77. Best nett, first, Ali Shanks, 68, second, Adrian Cronin, 69, third, Seamus Ivory, 69. Day two, best gross, first, Chris Shanks, 72, second, Clive Stilwell, 79. Best nett, first, Andy Applin, 66, second, Trevor Dale, 69, third, Jamie Webb, 70, fourth, Rob Riccio, 70. 36 hole gross, first, Stu Ponfield, 150, second, Mark Adams, 151, third, George Hobbs, 157, fourth, Shane Phelps, 158. 36 hole nett, first, Dave Jewell, 135, second, Mike Goodliff, 137, third, Jamie Rawlings, 137, fourth, Mark Wintersgill, 140, fifth, Paul Thomas, 141.
Winter Pairs Competition
Congratulations to Paul Fackerell and Graham Downes, the winners of the Winter Pairs Knockout, in second place, Shane Phelps and Kevin Brimble. Louis Archer and Danny Durbin finished third.