The British Junior Golf Tour Summer Cup: report, results and photos

Many thanks to Macdonald Hotels Hill Valley Resort for hosting and presenting the course in great condition, to the Pro Shop team (Rob, Jonjo and Charlie Ashbrook) for all their help over the three days, and to the Lady Captain for being our starter for the younger age groups on Days 2 and 3.

A typically varied and interesting Summer Cup that provided varying tests of golf for the players, but we are becoming used to this after three years of this event! Consistency was the order of the week, as the leading players in every division did just that, producing quality golf and good scores every day, regardless of the conditions.

Micah Blowers (227) led the way in this respect in the Junior Open category with rounds of 77, 77 and a very impressive 73 under pressure to secure the title, five shots ahead of Tyler Weaver (232), who produced a final round charge into second with a brilliant 72 to go with his 81 and 79. Jack Lee (234) came out on top of the countback for third after a 3-way tie with Max Weaver and Connor Westbrook.

Sunny Wang (240) topped the Girls Gross Division after rounds of 79, 79 and 82, Grace Gallagher (248) had a slight blip in the middle, but rounds of 79, 89 and 80 were good enough for second and the rapidly-improving Maisie Whittall (257) came home in third after rounds of 88, 82 and 87.

The Net Division saw Connor Westbrook’s (213) consistency take him to the title with improving rounds of 73, 71 and 69, which were good enough to push the Gross champ Micah (215) into second after his 73, 73 and 69 totals. His total was matched by Grace (215) with rounds of 68, 78 and 69, but Micah edged the countback.

It was fantastic to see three girls inside the top six at the end of the week, as we look to keep on increasing those girl numbers.

Just two shots separated the top two in the 11-12 Division, with Ronnie Groves (237) taking the Summer Cup title, posting rounds of 76, 81 and 80, ahead of Maxi Moore (239) in second with scores of 79, 82 and 78, and Bailee Taylor (247) in third having shot 85, 80 and 82 over the three days.

The Boys 9-10 Division saw Fraser Walters (116) storm to victory carding rounds of 37, 39 and 40, ahead of Oliver McDonnell and Louis Rickett, who tied on 123, but Oliver’s 41,42 and 40 placed him above Louis’ 39, 43, 41 for second and third, respectively.

Alicia Kelly (141) took home the Girls Division title after a fine week of 47, 43 and 51 ahead of Amelia McGinty (209) in second following her rounds of 81, 61 and 67.

Alexander Dunmall (121) headed the 7-8 field after superbly consistent rounds of 39, 42 and 40. Dominic McKenna (126) took home the overall runner-up trophy with rounds of 41, 43 and 42, just in front of Sully Donald (127) a single shot back in third after rounds of 44, 41 and 42.

Marcus Karim (121) claimed the 6 & Under title, but was pushed all the way by two newcomers to the BJGT. His totals of 40, 38 and 43 were good enough to take the win, with Abhay Kapoor (123) climbing the leaderboard on the final day to claim second after improving rounds of 42, 41 and 40. Johnny Hughes (124) was in third just a single shot further back after his fine efforts of 43, 38 and 43.

The level of consistency and competition is incredible in every age division – players are learning that they need to come and play their best, as there are so many fantastic junior golfers playing on the BJGT.

However, this event in our calendar is about so much more than just golf: the fun had off the course, the shared interests, and the friendships made undoubtedly make it what it is and we are delighted to be able to offer opportunities like this.

We hope that the experience fuels everyone’s fire to keep practising, keep improving, and keep playing on the BJGT, the leading junior golf tour in the UK! Thank you for your support!

Summer Cup – Day 1

We are thinking of renaming this 3-day event, as for the third year in a row absolutely horrendous conditions met the players, with rain lashing the course for most of the day.

However, undaunted, the juniors all took to the course to battle their way round and still managed to produce some wonderful golf and fantastic scores.

Junior Open Category

The Boys Junior Open Gross Division was headed by Micah Blowers with a fine 77 in terrible conditions, but he was only a single shot in front of Max Weaver, who, in turn, finished one shot ahead of Harry O’Shea. Harry took third place on countback from Jack Lee after they both posted 79s.

Sunny Wang and Grace Gallagher led the way in the Girls Gross Division after impressive 79s, but Sunny came out on top of the countback by virtue of a better back 9, with Isabel Negron-Jennings in third after a round of 85.

The Net Division saw Grace Gallagher take the honours, carding a superb five under par total of 68, ahead of William Bailey in second following a fine 72, with Sunny, the Girls Gross winner, coming out on top of a countback with Micah Blowers and Connor Westbrook, who all carded 73s for third.

Junior Open Category

Ben Bolton played his way right into contention with a fine round of 74 (+1) to take the win on Day 2 in the Junior Open Boys Gross Division. Harry O’Shea and Theo Morris needing a countback to separate their 76s, with the former coming out on top, leaving three shots separating the Top 3.

Sunny Wang seemingly took control of the Girls Gross Division with her second successive 79, ahead of Maisie Whittall, who continued her good form with a fine 82 in second, and Isabel Negron-Jennings in third, two shots further back.

The Net Division saw a 3-way tie of 70s at the top, with the countback coming out in favour of Ben Bolton, who claimed his second gold medal; Maisie Whittall claimed her second silver medal in the runner-up spot, and Fred Gannon finished third.

Junior Open Category

Tyler Weaver returned to form in the Boys Gross Division of the Junior Open, as he carded the round of the week with a -1 total of 72 to take top spot, but only by a single shot from Micah Blowers, who also had his best round of the week with a level par 73. They were chased home by a 3-way tie for third on 76 that saw Jack Lee edge out Max Weaver and Connor Westbrook.

The Girls Gross Division was headed by Grace Gallagher, as she stopped Sunny Wang making it a hatrick of victories for the week, with her 80 bettering Sunny’s score by two shots. Sunny edged ahead of Chloe Williamson for the runner-up place on countback.

The Net Division saw the lowest round of the week from Ethan Roos in group 1, as he produced a fabulous 66 to end on a high, but it was again incredibly close, with Fred Gannon only one shot behind in second, and Marcus Wildblood in third after a fine 68.

9-10 Category

The Boys 9-10 Division produced an incredible finish that saw Jack Dirkin stop Fraser Walters being three-time winner, as he was the only player to break 40 to take the win. The action behind Jack involved Fraser, who was playing with Oliver McDonnell, and saw the pair produce not only matching rounds of 40, but incredibly, they had identical scores on EVERY hole!

This meant that the countback was impossible to resolve, leading to joint runners-up and fittingly matching trophies. However, in order to separate them for OOM places, a ‘chip-off’ was held on the putting green in which Fraser’s ball finished closer to the hole despite Oliver almost holing his effort in response.

Alicia Kelly was a three-time winner over the week as she secured top spot for the third time in the Girls Division with another good round of 51.