Hertfordshire’s Harry Goddard powered away from the field to win the North of England U16 championship by four shots at Heswall Golf Club.
The youngster from Hanbury Manor scored four-under 68 in the final round to make up a three-shot deficit and to streak away from his rivals. “I’m still under-15, so this was a good win for me, I was chuffed,” said Goddard, who was one-under par for 72 holes.
Goddard had to make up ground throughout the championship, having opened with three-over 75, while the early leader, Yorkshire’s Barclay Brown, had scored 69.
“I didn’t get off to a great start, I went par, par, quadruple bogey,” said Goddard. “But I didn’t let it get to me, I just knuckled down to see what I could do and finished the round three-over.”
The 15-year-old scored one-under 71 in the second round, but was still six shots behind Brown. “Going into the last 36 holes I just decided to see how many I could pull back, ” added Goddard. ” The weather wasn’t great in the morning, so one-over was a good score, and then I played really well in the last round.”
The joint runners-up were Charlie Wilkinson (Cheshunt Park) and Archie Palmer (Bramhall).
Goddard, who trains with an England Golf U16 squad, was third in the RB German Junior Masters, when he also scored 68 in the last round of the tournament. He remarked: “It gave me a bit more confidence to know that I could shoot that much under.”
Goddard’s next date is representing England in this week’s U16 international against Wales, and then he’ll play in the Italian U16 boys’ championship.