Staffordshire’s Jenson Forrester created a piece of golfing history on Sunday by becoming the first winner of the English Under 18 Championship for boys and girls.
The championship, which was held at Farnham Golf Club in Surrey, broke new ground for junior amateur golf in England as it was the first time a 132-strong field was split evenly between boys and girls with one trophy up for grabs.
After 18 holes of stroke play on each of the first two days, 36 holes were scheduled for the final day. However, with heavy rain and electrical activity forecast for late afternoon the decision was taken midway through the third round to curtail the fourth round to just 10 holes.
And it was Jensen, a 17-year-old from Walsall, who took the spoils, firing rounds of 71, 66, 70 and 38 for the final 10 holes to take the title by three shots from Farnham’s own Lottie Woad, with Jack Bigham (Harpenden) a further shot back in third. Close House’s Maggie Whitehead, who was the only other player to be under par for all four rounds, finished fourth.
As well as picking up a handsome trophy, an additional prize for Forrester’s victory is an invitation to play in a Challenge Tour event – a reward thanks to Modest Golf Management’s support of the championship. Hosts Farnham Golf Club also recognised Forrester’s achievement by presenting him with honorary membership. As the highest player girl, Woad secured a place at a forthcoming LET event, also courtesy of Modest Golf Management.
Clutching the trophy, Forrester said: “Hopefully, I can take this into school tomorrow. I’m hoping to get the day off, but it depends on whether my mum lets me! It feels amazing – I’m so happy. I started off well today. I had 150 yards on the fifth hole and put it to a foot and that settled the nerves. I made a seven on the eighth, but I kept it together and then made four birdies in a row.
“Overall, it was a really good event – boys and girls should play with each other and be more involved in championships. Every England Golf event is really well run and exciting to play in.”
England Golf president elect Les Wilson praised the efforts of Farnham in staging the event. He said: “The staff and volunteers at Farnham have been fantastic all week and we are indebted to them for the way they have helped us run this championship. It’s been so good to see the boys and girls competing for the one trophy and the standard of golf on show has been amazing.”