Junior Masters National Final thriller

Dateline: 2 October 2005. Newport, Wales

There was truly some thrilling golf at the National Final of the YMG Juniors Masters 2005, held at The Celtic Manor Resort on Sunday.

Played in crisp October sunshine around the challenging Coldra Woods course, the standard of golf from the young competitors was at times breathtaking. There were some truly stand-out performances as competitors as young a 5-years old fought it out for a place on 'the plane to Spain' and a trip to the YMG Masters Grand Final at the La Manga Club, Spain in November.

Champs through...
Last year's champions Alice Ruane (Chesterfield) and Rhys Pugh (The Vale of Glamorgan) once again booked their flights to La Manga with some excellent play, as Alice topped the '13+ Girls' category, chased home by Emma Naughton (also a Grand Finalists in 2004), while Wales' Rhys Pugh secured is place in the Grand Final by finishing runner-up to Manchester's impressive Paul Drinkwater in the Boys' '11 to 12 year old' group,.

Round of the day...
The outstanding round of the day however, came in the '9 to 10' age group category, where Max Orrin (pictured above) from Kent completed the 3,500 yard course in a level par score of just 59 shots, before proceeding to make it all the was to the sixth extra hole with the 19 shots left over. Runner-up Ross Dutton - all the way from County Armagh - also performed superbly to make it to the fourth extra green and with it ensure his participation in the Grand Final.

A very close second for the round of the day had to go to Tim Harry, who made sure that Wales had a second representative at the Grand Final when he topped the '7 to 8 year old' Boys' group. He made it all the way to the fifth extra fairway, with Copt Heath's Maxwell Martin snapping at his heels to ensure they both made the Grand Final team.

Family celebration...
Meanwhile, there was a double celebration for two families, as twins Lisa and Leona Maguire from Ballyconnell finished first and second in the '9 to 10 year old' girls group, and sisters Lianna and Annabel Bailey from the Copt Heath Club in Solihull also made getting to the La Manga final a family affair when they took first and second in the '7 to 8 year old' and '6 and under' girls' categories respectively.

Lianna was pursued all the way by Ferndown Forest's Kyra Horlock however, who, for the second year running, earned her place in the November sunshine of the Grand Final in Spain. Meanwhile, Kent's little Emily Lloyd scooped the top prize in the '6 and under' girls', while Billy Spooner showed his tremendous talent by racing to top spot in the boys' 6 and under category, pursued by County Dublin's Stephen McDonald.

Back to La Manga...
Nottinghamshire's Sophie Godley was another to book a return trip to La Manga in consecutive years, when she drove her way to the top spot in the '11 to 12 year old' girls' and she will be joined by Leicester's Jamie Leigh-Voss, who finished just one hole behind.

Which just left the big boys, where there was a titanic struggle for the two Grand Final places. In the end, it was Dorset's Chris Dodd who emerged victorious, finishing just ahead of Northern Ireland's Gareth Owen and a clutch of other talented players, but in the end it was Chris and Gareth who took the last two places on the plane for Spain and the Grand Final of the YM Junior Masters 2005.

The Grand Final will take place from 11th - 14th November and, as YMG Managing Director Dave Gosling insists, it promises to be something very special:

"Talanted youngsters..."
"We have some fantastically talented youngsters heading for the Grand Final," says Dave, "At last year's event in La Manga we saw some truly outstanding golf and as tense a finish as you could image.

"But having seen the quality of golf played in all categories at The Celtic Manor Resort today, I really believe were in for an even more exciting final than last year, which is a really mouth-watering prospect.

He continued: "Even more gratifying however, is seeing the fantastic standards that the youngsters are now achieving as they progress through the YMG Junior Golf programme. All of the young players at the National Final had such fantastic golf swings and brilliant technique and I know this is set to continue and the standard is only going to get higher and higher."

(ends)