Welcome to the BGC Junior Section

Update

Match vs The Warren

The Juniors had their past ever result on Monday, defeating a Thornton Cup and County starred Warren team 3 - 2. Match number 5 had to be conceded to The Warren as Bentley suffered a last minute drop out. The Warren, needing a win to claim a place in the quarter finals, had a combined handicap total of 22 for their first 4 players, Bentley's first 4 combined handicap was 50.

Todd Franklin played a 4 handicapper who has also represented the county in the past. Todd rocked The Warren by defeating their number 1 6&5. Richard Collins followed suite by defeating their number 2 by the same score line in the second match. This was Richard's last game for the Juniors before he retires from junior golf and he went out in style.

Josh Rumsey had the awkward task of being the first junior at Bentley to compete against a girl. Georgina Kilby of the Warren is 14 years old and plays off a 5 handicap, she is also one of the stars of the girls county set up. Josh had to give Georgina 2 shots as the CSS differs from the men's card. On the 15th tee, Josh had to give Georgina her final shot, he was currently two up. Josh birdied 15 to take the match to 16, which he wrapped up 3&2. Joe Fraine, a last minute call up, fought well but 4 months out of golf took its toll and he lost 7&5.

To win a four man match 3-1, recovering a combined 28 shot difference the way the Juniors did is a great testament to the attitude they play with. The Burstead came to support us as if we won, they qualified. The Burstead's junior captain commented that many clubs would have seen the difference in handicaps and would have been beaten before the game had started. This was not and has never been the case with the junior section and I am sure many of the boys will be in the Thornton Cup or Leslie Wood teams next year.

The Junior section season is now fully under way. We have now played two of our major competitions, and two Youth Shield matches.

The Jerry Lines Poulton Trophy
Josh Rumsey won his first Junior Competition with 36 points. Josh has had a fantastic year so far. Not long after winning the Jerry Lines Poulton Trophy, Josh claimed second place in Captains Day, and a week later won the Truman Cup with a net 64. Josh also claimed his first win in the Youth Shield, more of that below. Sam Hiller finished runner up with 34, and Todd Franklin third.

Leslie Wood
Congratulations to Todd Franklin who enjoyed a fantastic year with the Leslie Wood. Todd claimed 4 out of a possible 6 points, which in his first year was a great achievement.

Youth Shield
We started our 2006 campaign with an away match against the Burstead. Unfortunately, we came up against a very strong team with the great benefit of home advantage. The boys plugged away however suffered a convincing 5-0 defeat. The boys next match was against Maylands at home, the match turned out to be our closest ever match.

After 12 holes, Maylands were up by 3 holes in 3 matches, 1 hole in another, and 1 down in the last match. At this time, myself and the Managing Secretary decided that we should retreat to the clubhouse and prepare our losing speech. In the clubhouse, I bemoaned our juniors to anyone who would listen. Whilst doing this, the Bentley boys were producing one of the greatest comebacks in the clubs history. When I returned to the 16th, we were 1-0 down with all the other games back to 1 down or all flat. Todd Franklin, our number 1 player lost to a Thornton Cup player 3&2. Richard Collins narrowly lost up the last, fighting back from 3 down to all square on 17. Next up, Bentley's greatest red-head took only 5 shots to finish the last 2 holes, finishing 2,3 to claim a 2 hole win. Josh Rumsey claimed a fantastic victory on the 17th to leave the match in Rob Lee's hands.

Rob had a 3 foot putt for par, which if he holed, would take his match to extra holes. He holed it. Rob then produced a superb par on the first hole to give Bentley there first win of the year. It is well worth remembering that Bentley's junior section is still very much in its early stages. Many of these clubs we come up against have had a coaching/junior development plan in place for many years. Our youngsters come up against low handicappers with Leslie Wood/Thornton Cup experience. To claim a win against established junior sections like Thordon Park and Maylands in the last two years says a lot about the talent we have coming through. Well done to all the lads involved and good luck in the next few matches.

In the next few weeks, a list of summer events including coaching will be published.

If anyone has any questions regarding the juniors, please do not hesitate to contact me through the details below.

Ed King
Chair - Junior Development
Email - edward.king@ubs.com
Phone - 07841 922044