- Harry Cox (Hertfordshire) became the first person to win both the Boys' & Men's County Champion of Champions at Woodhall Spa, in the same weekend
- The Welwyn Garden City golfer won the boys' event by a single shot over 36 holes on Saturday
- The 17-year-old then finished level with last year's men's champion Levi Desmond, before winning on the 2nd play-off hole at the home of England Golf
- The Welwyn Garden City golfer won the boys' event by a single shot over 36 holes on Saturday
- The 17-year-old then finished level with last year's men's champion Levi Desmond, before winning on the 2nd play-off hole at the home of England Golf
Boys' County Champion of Champions
Hertfordshire's Harry Cox won the Boys' County Champion of Champions title at the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa on Saturday, after 36 holes.
Cox took the title with a score of 144 (-2), after placing rounds of 71 and 73 respectively.
Of the 27-strong field, there was a two-way tie for 2nd-place, with Warwickshire’s Joshua Gardner and BB&O’s Drew Rolfe only one shot behind, finishing on -1.
Cox topped the leaderboard after the first round with a score of 71 (-2), including five birdies, as he held a one-shot advantage over Gardner. Those were the only two who managed to go under par through the first round. Justin Cheu of Kent was only a couple more shots behind in 3rd at the time, scoring 74 (+1).
In the second round, Cox kept his composure and secured the victory with a level-par round, with Rolfe coming back from being five shots back to being within a shot of the eventual winner. On his second round, he scored an excellent 69 (-4), including six birdies. See the final leaderboard here.
On winning the tournament, Cox said: “It feels great to win. I have played this event for the last three years so it's great to finally win one.”
Despite the victory, they didn’t come without their challenges. Cox explained: “The course was tough. The wind picked up at the end of the first round for the rest of the day and the greens were hard to read. I made double-bogey on the 16th from the middle of the fairway but made a good par on the 17th to make up for it."
Hertfordshire's Harry Cox won the Boys' County Champion of Champions title at the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa on Saturday, after 36 holes.
Cox took the title with a score of 144 (-2), after placing rounds of 71 and 73 respectively.
Of the 27-strong field, there was a two-way tie for 2nd-place, with Warwickshire’s Joshua Gardner and BB&O’s Drew Rolfe only one shot behind, finishing on -1.
Cox topped the leaderboard after the first round with a score of 71 (-2), including five birdies, as he held a one-shot advantage over Gardner. Those were the only two who managed to go under par through the first round. Justin Cheu of Kent was only a couple more shots behind in 3rd at the time, scoring 74 (+1).
In the second round, Cox kept his composure and secured the victory with a level-par round, with Rolfe coming back from being five shots back to being within a shot of the eventual winner. On his second round, he scored an excellent 69 (-4), including six birdies. See the final leaderboard here.
On winning the tournament, Cox said: “It feels great to win. I have played this event for the last three years so it's great to finally win one.”
Despite the victory, they didn’t come without their challenges. Cox explained: “The course was tough. The wind picked up at the end of the first round for the rest of the day and the greens were hard to read. I made double-bogey on the 16th from the middle of the fairway but made a good par on the 17th to make up for it."
Men's County Champion of Champions
Hertfordshire’s Harry Cox became the first person to take home both the Men’s and Boys’ County Champion of Champions titles, following a tense play-off against last year's champion Levi Desmond on Sunday.
Desmond himself was chasing history, looking to become the first man to defend his title, but he was edged by Cox, who, after 36 regular holes, needed two play-off holes to take the win.
The first play-off hole (1st hole) saw Desmond find the bunker off his tee shot, with the newly-crowned Boys’ Champion of Champions arrowing his shot down the middle of the fairway. The pressure mounted on Desmond as Cox’s second shot found the middle of the green. Levi’s rescue shot from the bunker was excellent as he too found the green, before both two-putted to take it down a second play-off hole.
Both made the green in three on the par-5 18th and an excellent putt from Cox from eight feet for birdie mounted the pressure on Desmond once again. This time the Lincolnshire man couldn't match his counterpart as his putt drifted narrowly past the hole, giving the 17-year-old his second trophy of the weekend.
Cox reflected on his whirlwind weekend, saying: “I coped well with the pressure. I played well yesterday, but I played well again today. I just holed more putts. It was definitely tougher today.
"The pins were harder. Two of the holes were a lot longer as well. On the 18th when it was raining, it was playing a long long way, but in the end it was all good. On the two play-off holes, I hit the fairway on 1 and the putt lipped out but on the 2nd, I mishit my second shot where I was trying to hit the green in two. There was relief when I saw the ball go in!"
At one point on Saturday night, there was a chance that Cox wasn’t even going to take part, let alone win, the men's competition. He said: “It was one of my best mates' 18th birthday parties, but I thought I would scrap that and come here. In the end it was definitely worth it! The weekend has been long but very good in the end.
"Next up I’ve got club championships next Saturday, and then it is the end of the season, and I will go again next year.”
Before the play-off, a tense finale was guaranteed for those at Woodhall Spa with four players having a total score of four-under coming down the final three holes. Durham’s Martin McCririck put the pressure on with an excellent second-round score of 69 (-4), which included an eagle and three birdies, as he held the clubhouse lead. But man-of-the-moment Cox then followed with a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole, with Desmond tapping in for par to take it to a play-off.
Desmond, Cox and Antony Plummer (Derbyshire) sat as joint-leaders after the first 18 holes, with all shooting 71 (-2). Desmond enjoyed six birdies but bogeys on the final two holes saw him relinquish his advantage, as Cox did the opposite in birdieing the final two holes of the first round.
Dorset’s Lee James, Durham’s McCririck and Bedfordshire’s Robert Sutton were all two shots back in tied-4th after the first round, with Sutton celebrating an eagle-two on the 3rd after holing from 168 yards.
But in the end, Cox and Desmond battled for glory with McCririck 3rd (-4) and Plummer 4th (level par). See the final leaderboard here.
Priest crowned Senior Men's County Champion of Champions
Hertfordshire’s Harry Cox became the first person to take home both the Men’s and Boys’ County Champion of Champions titles, following a tense play-off against last year's champion Levi Desmond on Sunday.
Desmond himself was chasing history, looking to become the first man to defend his title, but he was edged by Cox, who, after 36 regular holes, needed two play-off holes to take the win.
The first play-off hole (1st hole) saw Desmond find the bunker off his tee shot, with the newly-crowned Boys’ Champion of Champions arrowing his shot down the middle of the fairway. The pressure mounted on Desmond as Cox’s second shot found the middle of the green. Levi’s rescue shot from the bunker was excellent as he too found the green, before both two-putted to take it down a second play-off hole.
Both made the green in three on the par-5 18th and an excellent putt from Cox from eight feet for birdie mounted the pressure on Desmond once again. This time the Lincolnshire man couldn't match his counterpart as his putt drifted narrowly past the hole, giving the 17-year-old his second trophy of the weekend.
Cox reflected on his whirlwind weekend, saying: “I coped well with the pressure. I played well yesterday, but I played well again today. I just holed more putts. It was definitely tougher today.
"The pins were harder. Two of the holes were a lot longer as well. On the 18th when it was raining, it was playing a long long way, but in the end it was all good. On the two play-off holes, I hit the fairway on 1 and the putt lipped out but on the 2nd, I mishit my second shot where I was trying to hit the green in two. There was relief when I saw the ball go in!"
At one point on Saturday night, there was a chance that Cox wasn’t even going to take part, let alone win, the men's competition. He said: “It was one of my best mates' 18th birthday parties, but I thought I would scrap that and come here. In the end it was definitely worth it! The weekend has been long but very good in the end.
"Next up I’ve got club championships next Saturday, and then it is the end of the season, and I will go again next year.”
Before the play-off, a tense finale was guaranteed for those at Woodhall Spa with four players having a total score of four-under coming down the final three holes. Durham’s Martin McCririck put the pressure on with an excellent second-round score of 69 (-4), which included an eagle and three birdies, as he held the clubhouse lead. But man-of-the-moment Cox then followed with a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole, with Desmond tapping in for par to take it to a play-off.
Desmond, Cox and Antony Plummer (Derbyshire) sat as joint-leaders after the first 18 holes, with all shooting 71 (-2). Desmond enjoyed six birdies but bogeys on the final two holes saw him relinquish his advantage, as Cox did the opposite in birdieing the final two holes of the first round.
Dorset’s Lee James, Durham’s McCririck and Bedfordshire’s Robert Sutton were all two shots back in tied-4th after the first round, with Sutton celebrating an eagle-two on the 3rd after holing from 168 yards.
But in the end, Cox and Desmond battled for glory with McCririck 3rd (-4) and Plummer 4th (level par). See the final leaderboard here.
Priest crowned Senior Men's County Champion of Champions
Yorkshire's Stefan Priest won the 2024 Senior Men's County Champion of Champions by two shots after being the only player to shoot under par at Woodhall Spa's Hotchkin Course.
32 players battled for the title over the course of 36 holes across Saturday and Sunday, with Priest managing two-under on Saturday to keep him in contention.
In his second round, the Yorkshireman rolled in three birdies in a -3 front nine to race into a commanding lead, and although he dropped shots after the turn, the 60-year-old held on to win the tournament by two shots ahead of nearest competitors, Barry Giblin (Lancashire) and Richard Latham (Lincolnshire) - the latter playing at his home course.
Giblin had a poor start to his second round as he made a costly triple-bogey on the par-4 2nd, but he battled back with three birdies and a bogey-free rest of the round, to finish on +1 overall.
Elsewhere, Dennis Mathers (Northamptonshire) led the way after day one thanks to six birdies in a round of -3 (70), which was the best round across the two days in the tournament, but a +5 on day two saw him slip to finish in 4th. Click here to see the final leaderboard.
Priest spoke about his win reigniting his love for the game, saying: “I'm 60 now and at the start of the season I was struggling a little bit. Winning a Yorkshire Championship and then winning this has really got me buzzing again.
"I love Woodhall Spa, I have been coming here since I was a kid and I love the Hotchkin (course). I got off to a nice start, played some solid golf, for the first day, and was very pleased with that. The Hotchkin is such a great course. The work they have done on it in recent years has only enhanced it. The feeling of being on the Hotchkin makes you want to play well, and I really enjoyed it.
"From finding the game quite easy (through the front nine on day two), it all suddenly became difficult. Into the back nine I was making mistakes and Richard (Latham) had made three birdies on the bounce so from having a comfortable lead against him, I knew we were close, so did feel a bit of pressure. I had to go back to one or two trusted swing thoughts and deep breaths and committed myself to some good shots.
“I'm proud of myself that I didn't compound the errors. I played the last three holes well and I was very pleased with that. Hopefully I can press on next season before I get too old, and have another good year!"
32 players battled for the title over the course of 36 holes across Saturday and Sunday, with Priest managing two-under on Saturday to keep him in contention.
In his second round, the Yorkshireman rolled in three birdies in a -3 front nine to race into a commanding lead, and although he dropped shots after the turn, the 60-year-old held on to win the tournament by two shots ahead of nearest competitors, Barry Giblin (Lancashire) and Richard Latham (Lincolnshire) - the latter playing at his home course.
Giblin had a poor start to his second round as he made a costly triple-bogey on the par-4 2nd, but he battled back with three birdies and a bogey-free rest of the round, to finish on +1 overall.
Elsewhere, Dennis Mathers (Northamptonshire) led the way after day one thanks to six birdies in a round of -3 (70), which was the best round across the two days in the tournament, but a +5 on day two saw him slip to finish in 4th. Click here to see the final leaderboard.
Priest spoke about his win reigniting his love for the game, saying: “I'm 60 now and at the start of the season I was struggling a little bit. Winning a Yorkshire Championship and then winning this has really got me buzzing again.
"I love Woodhall Spa, I have been coming here since I was a kid and I love the Hotchkin (course). I got off to a nice start, played some solid golf, for the first day, and was very pleased with that. The Hotchkin is such a great course. The work they have done on it in recent years has only enhanced it. The feeling of being on the Hotchkin makes you want to play well, and I really enjoyed it.
"From finding the game quite easy (through the front nine on day two), it all suddenly became difficult. Into the back nine I was making mistakes and Richard (Latham) had made three birdies on the bounce so from having a comfortable lead against him, I knew we were close, so did feel a bit of pressure. I had to go back to one or two trusted swing thoughts and deep breaths and committed myself to some good shots.
“I'm proud of myself that I didn't compound the errors. I played the last three holes well and I was very pleased with that. Hopefully I can press on next season before I get too old, and have another good year!"
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