Carly Booth and Stiggy Hodgson with their championship trophies at Dubai Creek. Image by courtesy of the Daily Telegraph. Double click on it to enlarge the size.
CARLY BOOTH WINS DAILY TELEGRAPH GIRLS' TITLE BY NINE
FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
By WILLIAM JOHNSON in Dubai
Stiggy Hodgson equalled the amateur course record of 67 at Dubai Creek yesterday to storm to victory in the boys' section Daily Telegraph's Junior Golf Championship.
Carly Booth from Comrie, the Scottish Under-18 and Under-21 champion and the European Young Masters' girls' title-holder, added the Daily Telegraph girls' title to her list of achievements in 2007. She won in Dubai by the runaway margin of nine strokes, following in the footsteps of fellow Scott Sally Watson, the Daily Telegraph girls' champion of 12 months ago.
Hodgson, 17, gradually gained the upper hand over his close friend, Andrew Cooley, coming home in a superb five under par. That overturned a narrow overnight deficit on Cooley and Oscar Sharpe, 15, to win the prestigious trophy by a margin of three strokes.
At the turn, Surrey teenager Cooley was still in front but a double bogey on the 12th, at which he had only a wedge to reach the green in two, brought about an ultimately decisive three-stroke swing.
A jubilant Hodgson said: "I felt really sorry for Andrew on that hole because he is a good mate but you can't afford to have friends on the golf course – you have to make them your enemies.
"I had a birdie putt at the same hole and I knew if I made it the consequences would be crucial and so it proved."
Hodgson went on to lip out of the hole with his six-iron to the 169-yard 14th. It was a fraction away from being the 20th hole-in-one of the Sunningdale player's short career and he still does not know how it failed to go in.
The new champion, who joins an illustrious list of former winners of a popular junior event which this year attracted more than 40,000 entries, felt under enormous pressure justifying his reputation of being the best player among the 12 qualifiers in view of his +3 handicap.
After holing a massive putt at the last to ensure a comfortable victory with a three-under-par score of 210, he said: "This is my biggest achievement of a great year and I'm so pleased because I have beaten some outstanding players to do this."
The girls' final was effectively settled on the second of the three stamina-sapping days at the Creek when Carly Booth, the remarkable 15-year-old from Comrie, Perthshire opened up a nine-shot lead over her eight rivals.
Booth, who also plays off +3, was content to preserve her enormous advantage and came home safely with it intact on 219, six over for the tournament.
Alexandra Peters, the only girl younger than Booth in the talented field, chased her home with a total of 228, which was emphatically better than Mikki Foster's third-place score of 235.
The long-hitting Booth said: "I am really happy. It is a great tournament. I made a few mistakes today but I knew I had plenty in hand."
FINAL TOTALS
At the turn, Surrey teenager Cooley was still in front but a double bogey on the 12th, at which he had only a wedge to reach the green in two, brought about an ultimately decisive three-stroke swing.
A jubilant Hodgson said: "I felt really sorry for Andrew on that hole because he is a good mate but you can't afford to have friends on the golf course – you have to make them your enemies.
"I had a birdie putt at the same hole and I knew if I made it the consequences would be crucial and so it proved."
Hodgson went on to lip out of the hole with his six-iron to the 169-yard 14th. It was a fraction away from being the 20th hole-in-one of the Sunningdale player's short career and he still does not know how it failed to go in.
The new champion, who joins an illustrious list of former winners of a popular junior event which this year attracted more than 40,000 entries, felt under enormous pressure justifying his reputation of being the best player among the 12 qualifiers in view of his +3 handicap.
After holing a massive putt at the last to ensure a comfortable victory with a three-under-par score of 210, he said: "This is my biggest achievement of a great year and I'm so pleased because I have beaten some outstanding players to do this."
The girls' final was effectively settled on the second of the three stamina-sapping days at the Creek when Carly Booth, the remarkable 15-year-old from Comrie, Perthshire opened up a nine-shot lead over her eight rivals.
Booth, who also plays off +3, was content to preserve her enormous advantage and came home safely with it intact on 219, six over for the tournament.
Alexandra Peters, the only girl younger than Booth in the talented field, chased her home with a total of 228, which was emphatically better than Mikki Foster's third-place score of 235.
The long-hitting Booth said: "I am really happy. It is a great tournament. I made a few mistakes today but I knew I had plenty in hand."
FINAL TOTALS
BOYS
Par 213 (3 x 71)
210 S Hodgson (Sunningdale) 74 69 67.
213 A Cooley (Chabham) 70 72 71.
217 J Carney (Solihull) 73 75 69.
222 A Wills (Sandiway) 70 77 75.
224 O Sharpe (Minchinhampton) 73 69 82.
228 T Robson (Portsmouth) 77 78 73.
229 A Hedges (Sundridge Pk) 76 79 74.
231 N Mannion (Teeside) 77 75 79, L Benford (Barton-on-Sea) 74 78 79.
237 M Pitcher (Thursley) 81 78 78.
243 R Tredgett (Chelmgard) 79 81 83.
246 R Burden (W Essex) 80 88 78.
GIRLS
GIRLS
Par 213 (3 x 71)
219 C Booth (Comrie) 74 72 73.
228 A Peters (Notts Ladies) 78 77 73.
235 N Foster (Accrington) 79 77 79.
236 C Douglass (Brocket Hall) 78 82 76, N Dunn (Harrogate) 77 80 79.
237 E Taylor (Gainsborough) 76 83 79.
243 M Carroll (Launceston) 79 76 88.
254 R McQueen (Troon Bentinck) 88 86 80.
posted by Colin |
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