16-year-old George Whitehead from Hillside has won the 45th Peter McEvoy trophy at Copt Heath Golf Club, Solihull.
The 45th edition of the event was marked by the highest number of entries in the tournament’s four decade-long history (150), reflecting the growing reputation of the event and the talent among the junior ranks across Great Britain. George Whitehead (16) eagled the 15th and birdied the 18th for a round of 65 and a tournament total of 277, 7 under par. His last hole birdie avoided a sudden death play off from three players who finished on 6 under par.
The best round of the week was Scott Antoun with a 63 in round 4. Scoring was tremendous, particularly given the rain on the first day and the wind throughout. After winning, Whitehead said: “It’s a privilege to win – there are so many great players who have played this event like Marco Penge.
“I didn’t expect to win coming into this week so it’s very special. It was a really solid couple of days from tee to green and putting.
“I made three eagles which I was surprised at, I’m so happy with how everything went. The eagle on 15 in the final round – a 15-footer left-to-right up the hill – that gave me some momentum.
“When I was on 18, I knew I needed birdie to win or force a play-off and it was a good 20-footer for the win. I’m happy that all the England team did well.
“To beat all of them was good, and with all the crowd too. I’ve never really had that before, it was quite special and I felt like I controlled my nerves, so I was happy with that.
“I’ve got Fairhaven Trophy next up in a couple of weeks, so I’ll be going into that to try and win." Elsewhere, Scott Antoun (Wildernesse) shot the round of the tournament with a 63 (-8) in the final round, while another England Golf youngster in Alfie Turner (Trentham) enjoyed a 66 (-5) to finish just three back of the winner.
Sponsored by business consultants Champions (UK) plc, the event acted brilliantly for England Golf’s Performance Pathway, as the top 10 players and 18 of the top 20 were all in the National or Regional Squads.
