Juniors represent Golf At Goodwood on international stage

Over 600 players, from 46 nations, aged 5-18 years-old competed in Europe’s premier junior tournament to showcase the next generation of stars. The championships were held on some of Scotland’s historic golf courses in East Lothian, including Gullane, Craigielaw, Luffness, Longniddry and The Glen.

Golf At Goodwood were represented by four junior Members in Alfie Simpson (aged 12), Joe Sykes (age 11), Jamie Burchell (aged 10) and Harry Callow (aged 10). All players carry a tremendous amount of talent and this tournament was there to test every skill in their locker.

In the Boys 11 category on the Craigielaw course, Joe Sykes finished runner up with a score of 4 over par over three rounds. The standard of golf for this age group was beyond excellent with the winner finishing on 9 under par. Sykes played some outstanding golf but the highlight of his performance was how calm his temperament was over the three days. His attitude and application to the golf course was on par with the top tour players in the world. This result will no doubt provide a great stepping stone and experience for future tournaments.

The Boys 10 category over the Craigielaw course saw Jamie Burchell finish tied 11^th and Harry Callow in tied 35^th place. Both were fantastic achievements as this was the first time they had entered such a big tournament with such a strong field of players. In addition to the competitive nature of the event, the windy dry conditions on a links course provide a new challenge for the players with new shots learnt over the week.

Alfie Simpson competed in the Boys 12 category around The Glen course. The standard for this group was extremely strong with top players competing from the USA, South Africa, Asia and Australia. Simpson had a great start in his first round with a score of 2 over par but faded away over the last two rounds finishing Tied 55^th out of 100 players. Again this was a new type of challenge for Simpson as he had never played in the tournament before and experienced a links golf course of its kind.

Golf At Goodwood Academy Manager and PGA Professional, Chris McDonnell, also went to the US Kids Golf Championships to help the young players prepare and assist during the tournament.

“All the boys from Golf At Goodwood did extremely well considering they hadn’t faced a links course before with windy conditions. This type of event certainly gives young players the chance to compete against one another and it was very pleasing to see the Golf At Goodwood players finishing in the top half of their age groups.”