Cheshire champions enjoy that winning feeling

Sep 25 2007 by Harold Brough, Liverpool Daily Post

TEENAGER Tom Greenfield, from Royal Liverpool, is celebrating the three biggest wins of his golfing career – the Cheshire Junior Under-14s Championship, the Boys Medal at Hoylake and also finishing top in the first day of his club’s Autumn Meeting.

He won the Cheshire U14 Championship at Helsby with 76-5-71, Royal Liverpool’s Boys’ Medal for the U15s with a gross 74 and the first round of the Autumn Meeting with 75-5-70. His handicap has now been reduced to four.

The Boys Medal is one of Royal Liverpool’s oldest and most prestigious trophies, dating back to 1872 and with the past winners including two of golf’s most famous names, Harold Hilton (1869-1942) and John Ball (1862-1940), both Open winners.

The Hoylake links provided the boyhood playground for Ball, who became one of the greatest amateurs of all time, winner of the Amateur Championship eight times and the first Amateur to win the Open.

Hilton, born at West Kirby also learned his golf at Royal Liverpool and became the first player to hold the US and the British Amateur titles at the same time.

Ball was the first winner of The Boys Medal. Hilton’s name is on the trophy four times.

Tom Greenfield’s name goes in the book with the winners across the years and he has been given a silver medal to mark his achievement. He also won the trophy in 2006.

He followed his father Jeremy into golf, hitting his first golf balls at a driving range before joining Royal Liverpool when he was eight.

He is a student at Calday Grange Grammar School but plays golf most days during the summer holidays.

His golfing ambition is to play for Cheshire. He also wants to win the Cheshire Boys Championship – a feat achieved by his father in 1974.

Most of us play a lifetime without becoming a champion. But Jonathan Little, a member at Heswall, has that distinction and he has been playing for only three years.

He is the 2007 Cheshire Junior U16s champion.

Jonathan, working on his A levels at Pensby School for Boys, played football before a knee problem ended that career and decided to play golf. He is coached by his club professional Alan Thompson and plays and practices golf every day, which includes visits to a driving range in the winter.

His golf handicap is two. The Cheshire Boys title is his biggest win and he has been selected for England coaching.

His Heswall club colleague and friend, Charlie Berry, winner of the 16s last year, finished runner-up this time round. He is the nephew of Geoff Berry, club professional at Bromborough.