Saltash pair triumph in Spain

TWO Cornish junior golfers achieved a remarkable double for the county when they scooped the top prizes in a prestigious tournament played in blazing sunshine on the fairways and greens of Andalucia in Spain nearly two thousand miles away from their home town last week.

Sixteen-year-old Sam Church, who plays out of China Fleet, had two shots to spare in winning the boys' event at the Andalucia European Junior Open, while Sammie Giles, 17, of St Mellion, took the girls' prize for the second year in succession by an impressive seven-shot winning margin.

The pair's triumph was made even more remarkable as they both live in the same town, Saltash, and went to the same school, Saltash Community College.

Sammie left the school last summer after taking her GCSEs, which Sam will be taking this year.

Incentive

Sammie also became only the second player to have won the girls' event twice, the other being England international Bronte Law.

"Sammie will have an extra incentive to go one better than that and make it a hat-trick next year," said her father Paul Giles.

"She was a model of consistency throughout the tournament and will be playing golf full-time from now on as her ambition is to turn professional after going as far as she can as an amateur."

She was never in danger of not winning this year's event, leading from start to finish and shooting the lowest round on each day of the competition.

She opened with two 76s to make the cut for the final round played over the famous Finca Cortesin course, where her 78 for a 230 aggregate total saw her to victory with seven shots to spare over her playing partner and runner-up Amy Rae.

Meanwhile in the boys' event Sam, who celebrated his 16th birthday during the competition, opened with a 75 and followed up with a 72 to lie just behind the overall leaders. The final round saw him take a one-shot lead after a birdie on the par 5 third hole before moving two shots ahead of his playing partner and main rival Sam Lemon with another birdie at the 16th.

Sam had a scare on the final hole when he found himself in two bunkers, but Lemon also hit trouble when his second shot found a greenside bunker. When he failed to get up and down in two Sam had two putts for victory.

He only needed one putt for the title but rolled his first one into the centre of the cup for a final round of 73 and a total of 220 to complete a notable double for Cornwall and Saltash.

Another St Mellion youngster Niall Hutton finished 11th in the boys' event with a 54-hole total of 240.

Carlyon Bay's Dave Saget and Ben Armstrong defeated 2009 champions, Falmouth pro Nick Rogers and China Fleet amateur Colin Kitt, by a closely fought 2&1 margin to move into the quarter-finals of the Perranporth Open Winter Foursomes when the postponed third round was completed on Sunday. The winners will now face James Davidson (Perranporth) and former county champion Jon Coleman (West Cornwall), who went through courtesy of a 3&2 winning margin.

Holder Porthpean professional Tony Nash and his new amateur partner Glen Powell, of Truro, had an easy passage into the last eight thanks to a walkover, while the last lady player left in the competition Kim Mundy (Truro) and her clubmate Paul Martin eased through with a fine 5&4 victory.

In the Plate competition the Truro father and son partnership of Andy and Jared Mortimore defeated the 2006 winners of the main competition Gareth Evans and Peter Darlington (West Cornwall) 2&1 to go through to the quarter-finals.

The organisers are now hoping to catch up on the original schedule by playing both the quarter and semi-finals of the main and Plate competitions on Sunday, February 12.

Results and draws see page 96.

Exeter's Chris Gill shot a brilliant four under par 67 to win the fourth event in the Cornwall and Devon PGA Winter Golf Series at Bude and North Cornwall last Friday.

China Fleet's Dominic Rehaag and Killiow's Richard Sadler shared second spot with one over par rounds of 72. Sadler maintained his lead at the top of the Order of Merit with 32.5 points from Rehaag on 26 in what has become a two-horse race for the title.

The fifth in the professionals' six-event series will be held at Newquay on Friday, February 10 before the final meeting at Perranporth on Friday, February 24, after which the team to take on the Cornwall amateurs at Trevose on Sunday, March 4 will be announced.

The fifth and final event in this year's Cornwall Amateur Winter Golf Series will be played at Perranporth this weekend. After the event, the team to take on the Cornwall and Devon professionals in the annual fixture at Trevose on Sunday, March 4, will be announced.

The team will comprise the top eight in the Order of Merit, which has already been won by Bowood Park golf manager Josh Greenaway, along with two wild cards.

Last year's beaten finalists Bowood Park will be hoping to reach the final of the Frank Wills Salver for the second successive year when they take on Newquay in the semi-finals of this year's competition at Trevose on Sunday (10am start). Waiting for the winners in the final, which will be played over the weekend of March 3/4, will be either Bude and North Cornwall or Trevose, who meet in the other semi-final at St Enodoc, also on Sunday (9.24am).

CGU secretary Peter Batty has announced the venues and dates for the semi-finals of the CAW Cornwall Bowl on Sunday February 12.

Holders Carlyon Bay take on Trethorne at Newquay (11am start), while Tehidy Park face Merlin at Perranporth (11.30am). The winners meet in the final over the weekend of March 3/4.