Ludlow Brothers Lead the Way at PING Welsh Junior Tour
BROTHERS George and Harry Smith, from Ludlow, were the stars of the PING Welsh Junior Tour with George winning the Under 10s Order of Merit and Harry the Under 12s.
George also won the Tour Final at Abergele Golf Club in his age category, including five out of the six events through the season, while Harry was second in his final behind Ricky Mohun from Delamere Forest.
Oliver Jones, Llantrisant and Pontyclun, was third, with Padeswood and Buckley’s Lily Morgan the leading female.
Abergele’s Carmen Crisan won the Under 14s section of the Tour Final, where three of the top four were female. Swansea Bay’s Eve Clunis-Wheway was second, Brynhill’s Mason Gill third and leading male, with Lakeside (Garthmyl) player Eva-Grace Parsons in fourth.
Trystan Poole, St Mellons, was sixth and also the winner of the Under 14 Order of Merit.
In the Under 8s age group, Harry Wilcock, Padeswood and Buckley, was the Order of Merit winner, while the Tour Final was won by Celtic Manor’s Taio-Blake Burkitt, with Radyr’s Mason Churcher second and Jack Blythin, Padeswood and Buckley, in third. The leading female was Ffion Griffiths, Holyhead, who was sixth overall.
In the Under 10s final, Ethan Malam of Mold was second, Liam Chadwick, Padeswood and Buckley, in third, while Aberdare’s Olivia Dally was leading female and eighth overall.
“This was a great celebration of junior golf in Wales, with events across the nation building up to the final where Abergele Golf Club were great hosts,” said Wales Golf Competitions Coordinator, Rebecca Hawke.
“For many of the players, the PING Welsh Junior Tour is a first taste of playing in national events and most of our Wales squad players at older levels have been through this competition on their way through the ranks.
“However, it is also about having fun at such an early stage of their golfing journeys, playing shorter courses and using a modified Stableford scoring system to ensure fairness.
“The Under 14s play over 18 holes with a normal handicap in a Stableford format, with prizes for the top three players in every age group at every event, as well as for the Order of Merit and Final of course.
“We could not do that without the fantastic backing of our sponsors, PING.
“Abergele was a superb venue for the Tour Final, while we would like to thank Llanwern, Nefyn, Creigiau, Lakeside (Garthmyl), Langland Bay, and Mold for hosting the six regional events through the summer.
“It was great to see so many smiling faces, young kids enjoying playing golf, while some of the play on display was of the highest standard for those age groups.
“The PING Welsh Junior Tour has grown over the years, as a truly mixed event in terms of boys and girls competing on level terms.
“We always look hard at how all the events have gone each year and try to work out where to improve things for next year, so we will go through that process this winter before returning even better next year.”
The PING Welsh Junior Tour will start again in April next summer.
