Stephen Jensen (Trevose) was crowned English Senior Men’s Amateur champion for a second time in three years after a riveting final against Steve Sansome at Brancepeth Castle on Friday.
In a sensational match, Jensen looked set to go 5-down while heading towards the 10th green, but the 58-year-old produced a miraculous turnaround to win the title on the 18th hole in dramatic fashion.
Brancepeth Castle was in great condition as the sun shone and the first two holes of the day saw both make comfortable pars before the first bit of drama arrived on the 3rd. Jensen went left, prompting a ball search, and very unfortunately, the ball was found in the short rough albeit after the three-minute mark, meaning he had to head back to the tee. He eventually conceded the hole after Sansome hit the green in two.
The 4th saw them halve another and Jensen should have been all-square on the 5th after hitting the green, but the Cornwall golfer three-putted for bogey when Sansome had hit the bunker and couldn’t get up-and-down.
The long par-5 6th saw them halve another in pars before Sansome won three holes on the spin. Jensen found himself blocked out left from his tee shot on 7 and couldn’t get up-and-down for par, and Sansome holed a 12-footer on 8 for birdie. Jensen failed to make par on the 9th with his playing partner seeing his birdie putt nestle right on the cup, and all of a sudden he was 4-up.
It looked like it was going to be 5-up on 10 when Sansome (Birstall) hit a fine tee shot which left him a 20-foot putt, and Jensen’s tee shot got a wicked bounce off a mound, right-angling underneath a buggy and just staying in play. However, in a remarkable turn of events, Jensen made a tremendous up-and-down for par to reduce the deficit to three holes, as Sansome three-putted.
Jensen explained: “Steve hit a fantastic rescue and it confused me a bit because I was going to hit a five-iron, I stuck with it and it went long left. I had nothing to lose really, staring defeat in the face and luckily played an exquisite chip to four feet.”
The 2022 champion then brought it back to 2-up as he made a regulation par on 11 with Sansome missing a short putt, and on 12, Jensen drained a 15-foot eagle putt with Sansome set for birdie.
Despite momentum firmly with Jensen, Sansome stuck his approach on 13 to two feet, but the Cornwall golfer produced a stunning 25-foot putt to halve it in birdies. Sansome couldn’t quite get up-and-down for par on 14 after a wayward tee shot, and with the match all-square on 15, the Leicestershire golfer three-putted to go behind for the first time in the match.
Jensen’s tee shot on 16 rolled behind a tree from which he did well to recover from, and his chip for eagle hit the flag before Sansome’s eagle putt fell just shy, as the duo halved in birdies again. On 17 there was more drama as Jensen found long stuff in the trees left and after taking two shots to get out, he duly gave the hole to Sansome who had fired one down the middle, leaving the match all-square heading down 18.
Both hit fine tee shots on the last but Jensen showed his class and composure with his approach, as the ball finished a mere inches from the hole for the birdie, and Sansome’s 15-footer lipped out to end a mesmerising match 1-up.
Jensen said: “The momentum changed – when I played my semi-final against Danny Holmes, I was in the other shoes, I was flying and leading by five and cruising but two or three things changed and the momentum and mindset changes and that’s exactly what happened today.
“I followed up 11 with an eagle on 12, canned a fantastic putt on 13 – I just had to stay in it and rattle him a bit if I could. He’s a fantastic player and played well all day. I didn’t think I played that badly to be 4-down but obviously not as well as Steve, but the momentum swung.
“I won 14 and 15, we halved 16 with birdies and then 17, I’m glad I’ve not got to play that tee shot again! If I stood there till I was 90 I wouldn’t par it! Then coming up 18 he put me under pressure with a fantastic drive but I had 82 yards in and it ran up to about five inches for a stress-free birdie.”
Talking of his win, Jensen added: “I’m delighted to be the English champion once again, it’s always an honour to be a national champion, it’s what we all strive for and I’ve been very fortunate to win it twice in the last three years. I’ll be trying very hard to make it three in four next year! It’s one of the highlights of the calendar now and I look forwarded to trying to defend it at Burhill next year.”
Asked about celebrations, Jensen was quick to pay tribute to his wife who drove almost five hours to come and support him in the final. He added: “We are going to go out somewhere very nice for a meal and a couple of glasses of wine and reminisce about how wonderful the whole day was. She is a calming influence and I wouldn’t have done it without her. I got a little bit nervous against Danny in the semis and when she said she was going to come up, I said ‘please do’ as when things aren’t going your way, like on the 10th, she put her arm around me when I was walking up to the green and said: ‘Come on, we can still do this’. That’s what you need sometimes and I’m most grateful to have her here.”
Elsewhere in the tournament, last year's winner Stephen Creed (Stratford on Avon) lost to Danny Holmes (Rochester & Cobham Park) in the quarter-finals, while Holmes was beaten in the semis by Jensen.
The other semi-final saw 71-year-old Alan Mew (Stoneham) beaten by Sansome at the last. Mew was one of just two 71-year-olds in the field, at least five years older than the rest of the field, with the two finalists just 58 years of age.
Read about each day of the tournament on the following links:
Senior Men’s Amateur Day 4: Final to host battle of the Steves (englandgolf.org)
Senior Men’s Amateur Day 3: 71-year-old Mew makes quarters (englandgolf.org)
Senior Men’s Amateur Day 2: 32 head to match play stages (englandgolf.org)
Senior Men’s Amateur Day 1: Bramhall’s Bradley starts brightly at Brancepeth (englandgolf.org)
Brancepeth Castle was in great condition as the sun shone and the first two holes of the day saw both make comfortable pars before the first bit of drama arrived on the 3rd. Jensen went left, prompting a ball search, and very unfortunately, the ball was found in the short rough albeit after the three-minute mark, meaning he had to head back to the tee. He eventually conceded the hole after Sansome hit the green in two.
The 4th saw them halve another and Jensen should have been all-square on the 5th after hitting the green, but the Cornwall golfer three-putted for bogey when Sansome had hit the bunker and couldn’t get up-and-down.
The long par-5 6th saw them halve another in pars before Sansome won three holes on the spin. Jensen found himself blocked out left from his tee shot on 7 and couldn’t get up-and-down for par, and Sansome holed a 12-footer on 8 for birdie. Jensen failed to make par on the 9th with his playing partner seeing his birdie putt nestle right on the cup, and all of a sudden he was 4-up.
It looked like it was going to be 5-up on 10 when Sansome (Birstall) hit a fine tee shot which left him a 20-foot putt, and Jensen’s tee shot got a wicked bounce off a mound, right-angling underneath a buggy and just staying in play. However, in a remarkable turn of events, Jensen made a tremendous up-and-down for par to reduce the deficit to three holes, as Sansome three-putted.
Jensen explained: “Steve hit a fantastic rescue and it confused me a bit because I was going to hit a five-iron, I stuck with it and it went long left. I had nothing to lose really, staring defeat in the face and luckily played an exquisite chip to four feet.”
The 2022 champion then brought it back to 2-up as he made a regulation par on 11 with Sansome missing a short putt, and on 12, Jensen drained a 15-foot eagle putt with Sansome set for birdie.
Despite momentum firmly with Jensen, Sansome stuck his approach on 13 to two feet, but the Cornwall golfer produced a stunning 25-foot putt to halve it in birdies. Sansome couldn’t quite get up-and-down for par on 14 after a wayward tee shot, and with the match all-square on 15, the Leicestershire golfer three-putted to go behind for the first time in the match.
Jensen’s tee shot on 16 rolled behind a tree from which he did well to recover from, and his chip for eagle hit the flag before Sansome’s eagle putt fell just shy, as the duo halved in birdies again. On 17 there was more drama as Jensen found long stuff in the trees left and after taking two shots to get out, he duly gave the hole to Sansome who had fired one down the middle, leaving the match all-square heading down 18.
Both hit fine tee shots on the last but Jensen showed his class and composure with his approach, as the ball finished a mere inches from the hole for the birdie, and Sansome’s 15-footer lipped out to end a mesmerising match 1-up.
Jensen said: “The momentum changed – when I played my semi-final against Danny Holmes, I was in the other shoes, I was flying and leading by five and cruising but two or three things changed and the momentum and mindset changes and that’s exactly what happened today.
“I followed up 11 with an eagle on 12, canned a fantastic putt on 13 – I just had to stay in it and rattle him a bit if I could. He’s a fantastic player and played well all day. I didn’t think I played that badly to be 4-down but obviously not as well as Steve, but the momentum swung.
“I won 14 and 15, we halved 16 with birdies and then 17, I’m glad I’ve not got to play that tee shot again! If I stood there till I was 90 I wouldn’t par it! Then coming up 18 he put me under pressure with a fantastic drive but I had 82 yards in and it ran up to about five inches for a stress-free birdie.”
Talking of his win, Jensen added: “I’m delighted to be the English champion once again, it’s always an honour to be a national champion, it’s what we all strive for and I’ve been very fortunate to win it twice in the last three years. I’ll be trying very hard to make it three in four next year! It’s one of the highlights of the calendar now and I look forwarded to trying to defend it at Burhill next year.”
Asked about celebrations, Jensen was quick to pay tribute to his wife who drove almost five hours to come and support him in the final. He added: “We are going to go out somewhere very nice for a meal and a couple of glasses of wine and reminisce about how wonderful the whole day was. She is a calming influence and I wouldn’t have done it without her. I got a little bit nervous against Danny in the semis and when she said she was going to come up, I said ‘please do’ as when things aren’t going your way, like on the 10th, she put her arm around me when I was walking up to the green and said: ‘Come on, we can still do this’. That’s what you need sometimes and I’m most grateful to have her here.”
Elsewhere in the tournament, last year's winner Stephen Creed (Stratford on Avon) lost to Danny Holmes (Rochester & Cobham Park) in the quarter-finals, while Holmes was beaten in the semis by Jensen.
The other semi-final saw 71-year-old Alan Mew (Stoneham) beaten by Sansome at the last. Mew was one of just two 71-year-olds in the field, at least five years older than the rest of the field, with the two finalists just 58 years of age.
Read about each day of the tournament on the following links:
Senior Men’s Amateur Day 4: Final to host battle of the Steves (englandgolf.org)
Senior Men’s Amateur Day 3: 71-year-old Mew makes quarters (englandgolf.org)
Senior Men’s Amateur Day 2: 32 head to match play stages (englandgolf.org)
Senior Men’s Amateur Day 1: Bramhall’s Bradley starts brightly at Brancepeth (englandgolf.org)
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