Juniors from all over the U.K. & Ireland gathered at Gainsborough Golf Club, home to tournament sponsor PING, for the 2018 American Golf Junior Championship final.
Juniors from all over the U.K. & Ireland gathered at Gainsborough Golf Club, home to tournament sponsor PING, for the 2018 American Golf Junior Championship final.
Defending champion, Aaron Mohun from Chester, took the overall title, with Amy Buchan from Newcastle Upon Tyne, Leah Ribano from Northampton, Fraser Russell from Troon, Ruaridh Clubb from Gifford, Hayden Sarfo from Droitwich, and Owen Williams from Penarth taking the honours in their respective categories.
Back to defend his 2017 title, 11-year-old Aaron Mohun didn’t miss a beat as he took the overall American Golf Junior Championship title scoring 46 stableford points to top the overall leaderboard as well as the Boys Handicap category. Aaron, who was taking part in his third final, reflected on the experience of defending his title after picking up the trophy in front of Sky Sports’ cameras, "It feels a lot better than last year because there was quite a bit of expectation. Everyone was saying before I came to the tournament, ‘you’re going to do great’ and that’s a lot of pressure. But it worked!"
"The American Golf competitions are really good because they get everyone together, not just the one or two who always turn up for everything. You get loads of different people of all different abilities playing the same tournament".
Winner in the Girls Nett competition was Close House member Amy Buchan. She played a fantastic round to record 39 points off a handicap of 11, narrowly edging out Jessica Brown from the Shire London who amassed 38 points in what was an incredibly tight category.
The round of the day went to Leah Ribano as she took the title in the Girls’ Gross competition. The 14-year-old shot an incredible 3-over-par round playing off a handicap of 6. After taking in the magnitude of her achievement she said, "I feel amazing, I’ve played the past 2 years now and not done too well but I’ve come back this year and won the trophy!"
The winner in the Boys Gross competition was Fraser Russell from Troon. Fraser played a very good round of 8-over, beating several boys with lower handicaps than his 7. Having taken the title by one shot, the birdies he hit on 15 and 17 were all important on reflection.
One aspect of the American Golf Championship that distinguishes it from most is the platform it gives to very young golfers and high handicap golfers. 2018 saw an incredible standard of golf across the Future Star categories which are played without handicap over a 9 hole shortened course. Taking the under 8s title after finishing second in 2017 was Hayden Sarfo. Hayden played an incredible round to complete his 9 holes in 5-under-par. Hot on his heels in the 9 and over category was Owen Williams from Penarth, and in the final category, Ruaridh Clubb from Gifford Golf Club came out on top in the Upper Nett competition.
The Junior Championship, which will be shown on Sky Sports in October, is a vital part of American Golf’s drive to get more people playing golf more often. In its fourth year, the Championship goes from strength to strength and with the quality of golf and personality on show through this year’s qualifiers and final, golf with American Golf has a very bright future.
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