Woburn’s John Kemp was crowned winner of the English Senior Men’s Stroke Play Championship at Gog Magog, as he finished as the only player under-par for the tournament.
His final round of level-par was enough to see out victory by four shots ahead of his nearest competitor and final round playing partner, Rupert Kellock (Sunningdale).
Following his win, Kemp said: "It feels great. I won the Logan Trophy before and that was really difficult to win, and I missed the cut for this last year coming off an injury so to win it is fantastic.
"I wanted to try and keep under-par for the final round. If I could do that I knew the guys chasing would have a hard job. I didn't realise it was going to be so windy so I did well to dig in. I was just trying to stick to my game-plan and once I got out in 2-under, thanks to the long birdie putt on 9, it really got my momentum going."
Asked about celebrations, Kemp added: "My wife and I are off to Luxembourg for the European Senior Amateur but we're going to have a night of celebration at Le Touquet on Sunday first!"
Both Kemp and Kellock enjoyed brilliant second rounds of -4 (66) at Gog Magog on Thursday to see them in a tie for the lead heading into the final day, while Andrew Smith (Royal Ashdown Forest) and Nick Bell (Stoneyholme) shot -3 (67) on day two to see them just a shot back. All four players had shot 73 at Saffron Walden on the opening day although Bell had stolen the spotlight following his amazing run of -8 through eight holes on day two, which included a hole-in-one in back-to-back eagles.
However, Bell and Smith fell away early on on day three but Danny Holmes (Rochester & Cobham) started brightly with birdies on 2 and 4 and following bogeys from Kemp and Kellock, Holmes moved within two of the lead. Richard Jones (Lindrick) and Ian Ashenden (China Fleet) made charges up the board, as did 2023 Senior Men's Amateur Championship winner Stephen Creed (Stratford-on-Avon), after four birdies, but all found it tough going on the final stretch as they dropped shots.
Kemp was left to battle Kellock but after both holed birdie putts on 9, Kellock drifted away after several dropped shots early on the back-nine. Kemp maintained his composure late on to complete a final round of level-par, finishing on -3 overall, four shots ahead of 2nd-placed Kellock, while Jones finished 3rd on +3. Creed, Holmes and Welshman Chris Dinsdale all finished on +4.
Elsewhere, Woburn’s Brendon Moss had a storming front-nine as he enjoyed three twos in his nine-hole score of just 30 (-5) and despite two more birdies on the back, a double at the last saw him finish -4 for the day and +8 overall. Steve Sansome (Birstall) was one of only two players alongside Moss to break par on the final day, as his impressive -3 catapulted him to a 4th-place finish.
There were also celebrations for last year’s champion Ronnie Clark (Scotland) who enjoyed his eighth career ace, but only his second in competitions. He explained: “I hit a 6-iron and thought it jumped out the back but it turned out that it pitched nine inches short and went in! It wasn’t the best title defence but it was nice to get my first competition hole-in-one in nearly 20 years.”
Kemp was the leading player aged 55-59, while there was consolation for Kellock as he won the award for top player aged 60-64. Welshman Nigel Evans (St Mellion) edged Pyecombe’s Martin Galway on countback to win the award for top player aged 65-plus. Check out the final leaderboards here.
Following his win, Kemp said: "It feels great. I won the Logan Trophy before and that was really difficult to win, and I missed the cut for this last year coming off an injury so to win it is fantastic.
"I wanted to try and keep under-par for the final round. If I could do that I knew the guys chasing would have a hard job. I didn't realise it was going to be so windy so I did well to dig in. I was just trying to stick to my game-plan and once I got out in 2-under, thanks to the long birdie putt on 9, it really got my momentum going."
Asked about celebrations, Kemp added: "My wife and I are off to Luxembourg for the European Senior Amateur but we're going to have a night of celebration at Le Touquet on Sunday first!"
Both Kemp and Kellock enjoyed brilliant second rounds of -4 (66) at Gog Magog on Thursday to see them in a tie for the lead heading into the final day, while Andrew Smith (Royal Ashdown Forest) and Nick Bell (Stoneyholme) shot -3 (67) on day two to see them just a shot back. All four players had shot 73 at Saffron Walden on the opening day although Bell had stolen the spotlight following his amazing run of -8 through eight holes on day two, which included a hole-in-one in back-to-back eagles.
However, Bell and Smith fell away early on on day three but Danny Holmes (Rochester & Cobham) started brightly with birdies on 2 and 4 and following bogeys from Kemp and Kellock, Holmes moved within two of the lead. Richard Jones (Lindrick) and Ian Ashenden (China Fleet) made charges up the board, as did 2023 Senior Men's Amateur Championship winner Stephen Creed (Stratford-on-Avon), after four birdies, but all found it tough going on the final stretch as they dropped shots.
Kemp was left to battle Kellock but after both holed birdie putts on 9, Kellock drifted away after several dropped shots early on the back-nine. Kemp maintained his composure late on to complete a final round of level-par, finishing on -3 overall, four shots ahead of 2nd-placed Kellock, while Jones finished 3rd on +3. Creed, Holmes and Welshman Chris Dinsdale all finished on +4.
Elsewhere, Woburn’s Brendon Moss had a storming front-nine as he enjoyed three twos in his nine-hole score of just 30 (-5) and despite two more birdies on the back, a double at the last saw him finish -4 for the day and +8 overall. Steve Sansome (Birstall) was one of only two players alongside Moss to break par on the final day, as his impressive -3 catapulted him to a 4th-place finish.
There were also celebrations for last year’s champion Ronnie Clark (Scotland) who enjoyed his eighth career ace, but only his second in competitions. He explained: “I hit a 6-iron and thought it jumped out the back but it turned out that it pitched nine inches short and went in! It wasn’t the best title defence but it was nice to get my first competition hole-in-one in nearly 20 years.”
Kemp was the leading player aged 55-59, while there was consolation for Kellock as he won the award for top player aged 60-64. Welshman Nigel Evans (St Mellion) edged Pyecombe’s Martin Galway on countback to win the award for top player aged 65-plus. Check out the final leaderboards here.
ENDS
Contact details:
Tom Vale, Press & Media Manager
Tel: 07912 240850
Email: tom.vale@englandgolf.org
www.englandgolf.org
Contact details:
Tom Vale, Press & Media Manager
Tel: 07912 240850
Email: tom.vale@englandgolf.org
www.englandgolf.org