Junior champs

The Dandara Junior Golf Championships were held at Mount Murray Golf Club on Sunday, with the conditions being again a hot and sunny day.

The sun tan lotion and liquid refreshments were a must in the golf bag that day.

This championship competition is split into five categories, with the boys competing in the under-18s and u16s over 36 holes, and the u14s boys, plus u18s and u14s girls playing 18 holes.

The boys u14s competition was for the Will Kirkpatrick Trophy over 18 holes and local knowledge of the course shone through on the day, with two club mates taking the top two spots.

Mount Murray’s Freddie Dancox claimed first place with a round of 80 gross, finishing ahead of Sam Crawford who shot 91 Gross for second place.

The u16 competition for the Trustum Cup was played over 36 holes, with the top places going to home players again. It was Tom Cain who just missed out on first with a round of 79/81 for 160 gross to the in-form Freddie Dancox who had a great round of 80/78=158 gross.

The u18s competition for the Wyon Smith Trophy was again played over 36 holes. After the first round it was Douglas’s Tommy Fenlon who was top of the leaderboard with 75 gross ahead of Dancox on 80.

At the end of second round Freddie’s 78 - taking his total rounds to 158 gross - was no match for the defending champion Tommy who recorded a second round of 72 for a total of 147 gross, thus retaining the u18s trophy for another year.

The girls u14s and u18s competition was played over 18 holes.

The girls u14s championship went to up-and-coming junior Jenna Crawford from Mount Murray with a round of 98 gross.

In the u18s girls championship it was last year’s runner-up Emma Noon - also from Mount Murray - who took the honours with a round of 96 gross.

The Isle of Man Golf president Roy Clague was on hand to give out the prizes to the winners along with Mount Murray’s captain Colin Halsall, who both had been out watching some of the juniors during the day.

Many thanks were given to Dandara for its continued support of the junior golf in the island and for supporting the championships again this year.

The next round of the Dandara Junior Order of Merit is Sunday, August 5 at Douglas Golf Club.

GARY JAKEMAN