The National Finals took place at Princes & Royal St Georges on 14/15 April
Winners Haberdashers take the Team Trophy
Bedford take the runners up Trophy
Team scores
Individual Winners
Winner Calum Hill (Merchiston) 72, 71 143
Runner up Harry Wetton (Bedford) 72, 74 146
3rd William Aldred ( Haberdashers) 76, 71 147
Teachers winners
Iain Henderson (Wellington) Best gross
Stuart Clarke (AKS) Best Nett
Individual standings after the 2 days
The ISGA National Finalists descended on Princes for the first day of the 2 day tournament. After a dreadful winter the teams were hoping for some better weather. They were rewarded with some sunshine and a southern wind. The links courses of the Shore & Dunes at Princes proved a testing game for the Boys and Girls who had qualified from over 100 schools to take part in the Finals.
The scratch strokeplay event is one of the highlights in the calendar for Independent Schools Golf, with this years event being held after the Halford Hewitt. Many of the players will hope to be able to compete in the Hewitt one day. All students were handed ISGA pitch mark repairers and a sleeve of the new BRIDGESTONE B330 tour balls logo’d with the ISGA crest
Teachers also took part in the event with some good and not so good scores, but we are sure they all enjoyed the experience. After the end of Day 1 Bedford were in the lead by 3 shots over Loretto, followed by Haberdashers.
All enjoyed the hospitality of the Princes Golf club in the evening whilst trying to get a glimpse of the Masters on the TV in the far corner.
All the schools received their trophies as Area winners. Some remained in the clubhouse to watch the end of the Masters whilst others retreated to the bar in the Lodges where most of the schools were staying. The new Lodges proved a hit as the accommodation is outstanding.
An early full English breakfast in the restaurant overlooking the course before the players made their way to Royal St Georges to play the Open Championship course.
Callum Hill (Merchiston) held the overnight lead along with Harry Wetton (Bedford) who both carded a 72 at Princes.
All players had a chance to improve their score and move up the rankings to claim a Silver or Gold medal. The sun shone as the first boys teed off in reverse leader board order. Some of the later pupils and Teachers were able to enjoy lunch in the Royals St Georges Club House before their tee times. The wind picked up as the day went on to produce some testing golf for the players.
The first few players began to come in around 1.45 with some very good scores, one of the players who had a 92 the day before came in with a 73 a great improvement on his game to push him up to Silver medal place.
All the players enjoyed sandwiches on the terrace at Royal St Georges, whilst waiting on their playing partners to come in. How would favorites Millfield, Wellington & Loretto all past winners of the National Finals fare in the testing conditions?
Bedford tried to hold onto the lead but were beaten by 2 shots after the excellent rounds by Wiliam Aldred and Amar Vaghela from Haberdashers who carded a 71 and 74 respectively.
A remarkable achievement for Habs who have qualified 3 times for the National Finals, in fact they were last with the same team only 2 years ago so shows a great spirit to come and beat the favoured schools to win the event.
The team of William Aldred, Amar Vaghela and Aiden Kovenklioglu were presented their trophy from Colonel Checketts OBE of Royals St Georges along with 3 GALVIN GREEN waterproofs
Callum Hill (Merchiston) held his nerve to shoot an excellent round of 71 for a total 143 to take the Individual trophy, a GALVIN GREEN waterproof and dozen BRIDGESTONE balls. In second place Harry Wetton (Bedford) 146 picked up his trophy and a GALVIN GREEN top. Third place William Aldred (Haberdashers) picked up his trophy and a GALVIN GREEN belt.
The teachers gross competition was won by Iain Henderson (Wellington) and Stuart Clarke (AKS) who picked up their engraved letter openers.
All competitors picked up the new ISGA medals, Gold, Silver & Bronze recently minted with the ISGA logo
Special thanks to Princes and Royal St Georges for their welcome and smooth running of the 2 days to make the tournament a firm favourite for all the teams involved
Extra thanks also go to GALVIN GREEN and BRIDGESTONE for their support on all the ISGA competitions
Applications are now open for next years knockout
Day 1 Photos
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Day 2 Photos
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