Poulton Park’s juniors are Cheshire champions again

Nov 25 2008 by Richard Williamson, Liverpool Daily Post

POULTON Park Golf Club retained the Cheshire Junior Championship Team Trophy for the second successive year.

They lifted the trophy for the first time at Helsby 12 months ago.

Playing at Eastham Lodge on the Wirral, the Warrington club produced a best two out of three scores total of 129 to hold off Caldy, Prenton and Heswall.

Poulton went on to represent Cheshire in the national County Finals at Harewood Downs in Buckinghamshire.

William O’Malley, who plays off 22, produced the best score of the day and won the overall individual nett prize with his score of 82 for a nett 60. Both Tom O’Hara and Paul Hackett produced nett scores of 69.

Club Captain Gilbert Harding said: “Poulton Park have put a lot of work into ensuring that our juniors get the best possible start in golf and we are one of the first 100 clubs in the country to achieve the GolfMark and ClubMark recognition for our work.

“This great achievement by the boys against strong opposition, is the icing on the cake and we are all very proud of them.”

At Harewood Downs the weather played a key factor as those clubs playing in the morning got the best of weather and the scoring very much showed this with nearly a 20 points difference to clubs going out in the afternoon.

Park’s chance disappeared as they teed off at the back of the field in the afternoon, their team score of 55 points leaving them 31st out 34 counties and well behind early pacesetters Stoke-by Nayland Golf Club.

Day Two was similarly very windy, but with little rain. Park produced a good score of 68 points (beating 24 counties on the day) and finishing 27th.

Gloucester’s Knowle Golf Club won for the second time with a total of 145 points.