There are 106 Golf Clubs in Cheshire and 90 or so have
junior sections
The County sends a team of 6 to the EGU Northern Counties Group Boys
Championship, the winners of which qualify for the annual EGU
Boys Finals. Cheshire were English Champions in 1999 and have also qualified
for these Finals on a number of other occasions in the past ten years
Every year, a team of 8 players from Cheshire competes against Lancashire,
Nottinghamshire and a combined team from Shropshire & Herefordshire in the
“round-robin” Four Counties Junior Tournament. In 2007 at Fairhaven,
Cheshire were runners-up to Lancashire but still have a record number of wins in this prestigious
competition. In 2008, the Tournament will be played at
Stanton-on-the-Wolds (Nottnghamshire) on 26th and 27th
March
Cheshire also competes in a “Junior” Four Counties 36-hole stroke-play
short-course team championship at Broughton Heath, near Derby. Each team
comprises 6 players under 14 years old with Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and
Worcestershire being the other Counties. Cheshire won the first two tournaments in
2006 and 2007
Over the Whitsun weekend, a combined Cheshire Boys and Girls Team played
the "Inaugural Matthew Brown Cup Match" against the Juniors from the
Balearics at Son Parc Golf Club in Menorca. A full report on this very
successful trip can be found in the Junior
Newsletter. The Match will again be played at Son Parc in 2008 at the
beginning of May
The County plays full Boys matches (up to 18 years old) against
Lancashire, Yorkshire, and North Wales. Additionally, there
are mixed-age matches against Derbyshire, Lancashire and Staffordshire together with an
annual match against Cheshire Girls
Each year, Cheshire has a Club Junior Team Finals Day to produce the
best Club Junior team on a gross stroke-play basis from the various junior
leagues operating in the County. The Teams play for the R W Meston Trophy.
Details of this competition are given on the Club Junior Team Finals page. In 2007, Caldy won the Trophy for the
second successive year. The 2008 Finals Day is at Didsbury on 5th
October
During 2007:
Adam Wills of Sandiway was County Boys Champion
Jon Little of Heswall was Under 16s Champion, and
Tom Greenfield of Royal Liverpool was Under 14s Champion
Over the 2007-8 Winter, 140 boys received County coaching. Five Cheshire boys
had EGU North West Regional Coaching, Tom Boys (Royal Liverpool), Sam Connor
(Sandiway), Oliver Carr (Heswall), Jon Little (Heswall) and Martin Thomas
(Royal Liverpool)
Two recent “alumni” from the Boys Squad enjoyed great success in 2007,
David Horsey (Styal) represented Great Britain & Ireland in the Walker Cup
(Cheshire’s first such player) and Paul Waring (Bromborough) qualified from
the European PGA Tour School. Both are singularly outstanding achievements
Coaching Initiatives for 2008: As a trial exercise designed to further
develop the effectiveness of our Junior Programme, Cheshire will be taking a
group of 12 boys to Son Parc Menorca during the February Half Term for a
period of intensive Coaching under the direction of our Senior County
Coaches Alan Thompson and Peter Barber. Also new for 2008 is the
introduction of a new Under 14 Coaching Squad of 12 boys, most of whom were
selected as a result of our Driving Range Trials carried during November
2007. This programme will be carried out by Peter Barber and Rob Thompson
during the current pre-season period, Cheshire are very much appreciative of
support from the EGU which has allowed us to introduce this particular new
development
Details of all 2008 Cheshire Boys County fixtures together with all principal
County Boys and Junior Championships are available on the
Junior Fixtures page
In 2008, there are 24 Club Junior Opens notified to Cheshire in
addition to the Hoylake Schools Tournament played at Royal Liverpool in the
Autumn
Aims
To identify boys of all ages with golfing potential at the earliest opportunity
To make them known to their Club and the County
To facilitate coaching using their Club Professional and/or the County
coaching Professionals. County and EGU coaching grants are available to Clubs
(for information, contact the
County Secretary)
To improve networking between the Clubs and the County at Junior level