DEVONGOLF
DEVON GOLF
DEVONGOLF BOYS WERE SO CLOSE.......
The South West Regional Qualifier for the England Golf Boys' County Championship was held at Salisbury & South Wilts Golf Club. The Cathedral Course is a par 71, 6,485 yards long and often used for South West events.
Devon Boys are the holders of the National trophy from 2019, led by the DevonGolf Head Coach and U18's Team Manager Gary Milne. Covid meant Devon could not defend the trophy in 2020, which left only Fred Bishop (Exeter) in the 2021 team as a result of David Baldwin having to self isolate at the 11th hour who was part of the 2019 team success.
Fred Bishop was joined by Josh Hill (Woodbury Park), Ollie Amos (Stover), Isaac Bond (Torquay), Toby White (Thurlestone), Ethan Jeffery (RND) and Noah Mulligan (Thurlestone) who was drafted in to replace David Baldwin (Tiverton) as a result of track and trace.
Hopes and spirits were high and the boys acquitted themselves well as the first round progressed. Josh Hill was level through 16, Ollie Amos 1 over through 9, Toby White 1 over through 8, Noah Mulligan 4 over through 8, Isaac Bond 3 over through 7 and Ethan Jeffery 5 over through 6. The scores improved after the very tricky first 5 holes which were proving tricky to navigate.
After the morning round, the Boys' Team Total was 11 over, 6 shots behind Gloucestershire and 7 shots ahead of Wiltshire lying third. Individually, Josh Hill was tied first after a solid 1 under par 70 and Devon went out for Round 2 with high hopes. Josh Hill continued his fine play and was 2 under through 15. Fred Bishop was level through 14, Ollie Amos 1 over through 14, Toby White 2 over through 11, Noah 3 over through 14 and Isaac Bond 5 over through 10 and Ethan 3 over through 6. Again the first 5 holes were difficult and, after that, the boys rarely dropped shots.
Round 2 finished with Josh Hill playing superb golf to finish 5 under (137) over the 36 holes, giving Devon great hope. Josh won the individual trophy, 2 shots ahead of Milan Reed (Gloucestershire). Having upped their game in Round 2, the Devon Boys clawed back the 6 shot deficit from Gloucestershire. Fred Bishop finished level par, Ollie Amos 2 over, Isaac Bond 9 over and Toby White and Noah Mulligan were both 14 over. The top 5 scores in each round from the 6 nominated players put Devon in tied first place and it was the 6th score for the team which determined the winning county and qualifier - and Gloucestershire emerged as the winners. Congratulations!
Team Manager Gary Milne said, "It's heartbreaking for our boys, the defending champions, but I am so proud of their resilience and effort." It's good news for the team going into next year as DevonGolf will retain Josh Hill (17), Ollie Amos (16), Isaac Bond (16), Noah Mulligan (13) and Tony White (16).
Created by intelligentgolf version 10.1.2.
