What an amazing day we had at Worplesdon for the Kitlocker SchoolsGolf National Final on July 4th. The course was looking superb with greens playing fast and true. The wind was up, and swirling, making club selection tricky.
Scratch Trophy
Single figure handicappers, in reality those who are seriously vying for the Scratch Trophy, teed off first on the back tees of the day (Worplesdon have allocated colours to the different tee placements, which is good). Even though these players are from different clubs and schools, they are pretty familiar with each other now.
Winner (73 gross): Harry Dickens, Salisbury 6th Form College
Runner up (74 gross) : Max Gibbs, Claremont Fan Court
Stableford Trophy
We also had the Stableford final taking place, which, thanks to the handicap system, is wide open to any of our young golfers who get into the the zone on the day.
Winner, 42pts: William Lawrence, Gordon’s School
Runner up, 41pts: Ioan Griffiths, Gordon’s School
School Team Trophy
Qualifying schools were competing against each other for the coveted trophy.
Qualifying schools were competing against each other, and to their credit Gordon’s were fielding two teams as a result of impressive performances through the season. Nevertheless, it was a competitive field.
Winners: Gordon’s B respresented by Barnaby, Max and William.
Runners up: Gordon’s A represented by Joshua, Charlotte and Dylan.
3rd place: Portsmouth Grammar School represented by Rohan, Coby and Sebastian
4th place: Reed’s School represented by Zach, Kit and Joe
5th place: Claremont Fan School represented by Max, Tristan and George
6th place: Bede’s represented by Oscar, Jack and Chris
Congratulations to all our finalists
Playing in the final is not only about competing for glory (and trophies and prizes, obviously) it is about so much more:
representing your school at sport
testing your skill against a top course
pitting yourself versus other quality players (and realising you belong in that world)
Stepping outside your comfort zone
Making friends with like-minded people
Making it possible
A big thank you to our tournament sponsors Kitlocker and RBA Wealth Management.
And we would like to thank our partners The Elexis Brown Foundation for identifying for us promising players who we sponsored through our tour. We were so thrilled that Josh (pictured) achieved a place in the final.
Hot shots – photography by Reece Armstrong
SchoolsGolf is dedicated to giving as many kids as possible a competitive game of golf on a top golf course. For a million reasons, we think youngsters benefit from golf – more on that another time. So given that we are trying to make golf as accessible as possible, we are sometimes questioned about schools having to join the programme and affiliate.
There are three things to unpick on the opening sentence:
- > as many kids as possible
- > competitive game of golf
- > top golf courses
There are few things that we have done to open up our tournaments to as many young players as possible – making a few tournaments Open competitions is one of them. We still want children to be representing their schools when they play, so permission needs to be in place from the relevent teachers and we have a simple form for that.
We look to provide a competitive environment for all our players. SchoolsGolf tournaments attract scratch players (scratch comp) and developing players (stableford comp and team comp). By having a few Open competitions we can look to attract players to certain tournaments to provide a strong field and to increase inclusivity.
Top courses – our open competitions are some jewels:
Sand Moor – what a great day (see previous post)
Seaton Carew
Sandiway – June 11th book here
Fulwell (girls tournament) June 24th – book here
Parents and teachers are welcome to book their school teams or individual young players onto as many of our competitions as they are eligible to enter. Pick and choose from the dates and clubs that work for you. Every event is at one of the country’s finest. Get in touch if you want more info.
We are really pleased to publicise the new SchoolsGolf Merchandise shop where winners can spend their hard-earned vouchers. Shortly after each event, the prize winners will be emailed their unique prize code.
At each event, the Scratch and Stableford winners and runners-up will receive a trophy and a £30 and £20 voucher, respectively.
We have partnered with Kitlocker for our Merchandise store to deliver this. Kitlocker.com began in 2005 with a vision to revolutionize university teamwear service. Founded by two Sheffield graduates, it pioneered client-specific online stores, simplifying kit ordering. Trusted by prestigious institutions like Oxford and Cambridge, as well as sports bodies like The FA, Kitlocker.com collaborates with brands like Castore, Nike and Adidas, ensuring prompt delivery of desired products.
We are loving this season’s trophies produced for us by Oak & Black.
Oak & Black work with reclaimed materials whenever possible and believe that with the right amount of focus, attention, and love, they can turn these materials into beautiful products and heirlooms that will bring joy for years to come.
Our players work hard to earn a trophy and we hope they will cherish these rewards for years to come.
