Dylan Shaw-Radford today earned applause from a large crowd at Silloth on Solway as he added the Carris Trophy to a growing collection of silverware already back home in Yorkshire.
The Huddersfield golfer closed with a brilliant final round of 67 to add to previous scores of 70, 65 and 71 to finish on -15 for the championship and win by three shots from Scotland’s Niall Shiels Donegan.
Italian duo Marco Florioli (69) and Filippo Ponzano (66) were tied for third place on -11.
The 17-year-old’s name will now join those of Justin Rose, Sandy Lyle, David Gilford and Ken Brown – major champions and Ryder Cup players - on the famous trophy that has been played for since 1935.
Shaw-Radford is no stranger to winning national events – earlier this year he battled through wind and rain to lift the Scottish Boys’ title at Murcar Links.
This time it was the stunning links of Silloth that proved a fertile feeding ground for the 17-year-old as he came out on top in the English Boys’ Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship for the Carris Trophy to claim a win that was richly deserved.
Going into the final round he was a shot adrift of Shiels Donegan, the Californian-based Scot.
An eagle at the fifth and then a birdie at the ninth allowed Shaw-Radford to turn for home with a two-shot lead having played the front nine in 33 blows.
It really was a battle between the duo in the final pairing despite the late charge from Ponzano and Florioli in the immediate groups ahead.
When Shiels Donegan dropped a shot on 16, Shaw-Radford’s cushion was three and he was able to finish birdie/par to close out the biggest victory of his fledgling career.
A crowd of around 200 locals, members and fellow competitors had gathered to watch the finale and Shaw-Radford was able to hold his nerve.
“I’ve beaten a lot of good people this week from different countries as well as England so it feels very good,” admitted the Yorkshireman.
“It was tricky – at the start of the day I was one back and just about moved ahead by the end of the front nine. But there was only ever one or two in it the whole back nine and it was quite nervy coming in.
“Niall was always hitting good shots so there was always pressure.
“I think winning the Scottish did help as I knew roughly what I needed to do, but it was still quite nervy to be fair.
“I’ve never played with that sort of crowd – there was quite a few people but I managed to do it luckily!”
Supporting Shaw-Radford this week were his grandparents. It was a special time for grandad John who was present on the final day to watch the drama unfold.
“It’s nice – he supports me a lot and helps out so it was nice to get it done when he was here," added the champion.
"He enjoyed being in the pictures too!”
Shaw-Radford was also part of the England team that won the Nations Cup at the championship. He teamed up with Josh Berry and Tyler Weaver to claim that prize ahead of Italy.
The Hazards Salver for the top under 16 boy from GB&I was won by Thorndon Park’s Charlie Croker on -3.
Meanwhile, the week was also notable for some long-lasting achievements.
The course record was taken by Florioli with a stunning nine-under par score of 63 in the third round. That beat the previous record by two shots.
And Blairgowrie’s Cormac Sharpe recorded aces in consecutive rounds at the ninth and the 16th holes.
Next year’s Carris Trophy will return to its spiritual home of Moor Park Golf Club from 25-28 July.
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