Junior News Nov 2009

Jack RichardsonAs the seventh successful season of the Junior Academy comes to a close, Durham City Golf Club can proudly reflect on the place its takes within the local community and the development of these youngsters within the game.

The Saturday morning sessions see up to 40 youngsters enjoying an introduction to golf under the watchful eye of the junior leaders.  The Club has also been successful in taking the game to local schools.  As these players develop and begin to come through the ranks it is great to see many of these young people becoming members of DCGC & adding to the foundations laid over many years.

The open Saturday morning classes finish soon but will be replaced by the advanced class, which has met regularly on Wednesday evenings throughout the summer.  Using the bursary awarded to Mary Vine following her receipt of the Sir Henry Cotton Award for services to Junior Golf, the Club purchased a junior 'Explanar'.  Expect to see some fine swings with the aid of this wonderful bit of kit as these youngsters develop.

Talking of fine swings, Jack Richardson (pictured) has had an excellent season, getting his handicap down to 5 and recently represented the County Boys against Lancashire at Blackpool.  This was followed with a match versus Cumbria for the Durham County Junior Golf Society U-16's at Appleby.  All of this was packed around achieving his third hole in one, this time on the 17th at Wynyard and just one day after his 14th birthday.  Keep up the good work Jack!

The junior team, under the captaincy of Steven Wake, finished fourth in a very tight league this year.  They were only five points behind the eventual winners Crook.  With only 10 points available per match you can see how close they came to overall victory.

With a strong group of players the Club trophies have been shared out pretty evenly this summer, with Chris Morgan winning the Junior Championship with gross 78,74 - 152 and going on to represent the Club in the Junior Champion of Champions event at Close House GC.

Matthew Bellamy won the Boys Junior Open, whilst Danielle Brady continues to lead the way with her third consecutive victory in the girl's competition.  With Rebecca Woolley winning her first trophy, the Joe Schofield Cup, to add to those won earlier in the season by best friend Shauna Holmes and other young girls coming through the ranks, competition amongst these young ladies could be interesting for years to come.

The junior section is very fortunate in having an understanding and interested membership at DCGC.  We would like to thank you all for your continued support of the Junior section.