Stockport’s Daniel Hayes delivered a masterclass on the final day of the Carris Trophy, as he was crowned champion at Ormskirk Golf Club.
The England Boys golfer raced out the blocks early on with three birdies in his first four holes, and went on to shoot a four-under 67 to contribute to an overall -16 to win by two shots ahead of nearest competitor Arthur Carlier from France.
Carlier did pile on the pressure with three birdies from holes 8-11, but bogeys on 16 and 18 saw his hopes of winning fade away, despite a fine round of 69.
Following his win, Hayes, whose home club is Bramhall Golf Club in Cheshire, said: “It’s big. It feels good. I’ve had a lot of second-place finishes over he past 18 months so it feels nice to finally get one over the line.
“I think the key was just keeping it in play by taking two-irons and three-woods when you needed to instead of driver, as you can make some big scores from the rough.
“I probably won’t do much celebrating as I’ve got to head to the English Amateur, so I’ll be straight back into it!”
Another England Boys’ youngster, Monty Holcombe (Walton Heath) finished third after an even-par final round, finishing -11 overall, while 14-year-old Teessider Thomas Hartshorne was a further shot back in 4th to win the Hazards Salver award, presented to the top under-16 Great Britain & Ireland player.
In the Nations Cup, England 1, consisting of Hayes, Ben Bolton and Drew Sykes, were crowned winners, as Hayes and Bolton’s scores of -9 and -6 on the first two days counted towards their overall score of -15, which was nine ahead of their nearest competitors (Netherlands 2).
For the final leaderboard, click here.
