U14 Boys win the Keith Tripp Trophy for the first time since 2012 at Lingdale GC

Team pictured with Keith Tripp (left to right) Max Edwards (Peterborough Milton GC), Harry Bliss, Harry Odell, Oscar Cope, Riley Hammond (all Northants County GC), Sam Mayman (Peterborough Milton), Josh Bland, (Keith Tripp), Daniel Rees, Ollie Golby (all Northants County GC).

The Northants U-14 Boys Team gained an historic victory over Derbyshire, Cambridgeshire, and hosts Leicestershire & Rutland at Lingdale Golf Club winning the Keith Tripp Trophy event on Sunday August 10th for the first time since 2012 ! 

With 7 out of 8 gross scores counting for each team, Derbyshire surged into a big lead after the first four groups had completed their rounds with three of their team scoring sub-80 rounds, including the best gross score of the day by Jamie Hunt, a one-over par 72. Meanwhile Northants, who were runners-up to Cambridgeshire in 2024, were having to dig deep after a mixed start in tricky conditions on the challenging Lingdale course on this hot summer’s day.

Captain Josh Bland battled back after going out-of-bounds at the difficult par 5 4th hole to achieve the team’s best score of the day - 77 which included two birdies on the front 9. It was proving a difficult day for Daniel Rees, Oscar Cope, and Riley Hammond as wayward tee shots and unlucky bounces cost them scoring as well as they had hoped, but they still produced highlights which contributed positively to the team total. Riley’s birdie on 13, and Daniel’s excellent pars at all the tough par 3 holes were crucial to the final result, and Oscar gave 100% throughout.

Sam Mayman, Ollie Golby, Harry Odell and Max Edwards showed our team’s strength in depth and ultimately made the difference by outscoring all their rivals in each of the remaining fourballs, giving our team a winning total which was just TWO shots better than Derbyshire ! There were several moments of magic by Sam Mayman in his round of 79, including a birdie at 5, a string of great pars, and although he double-bogeyed the last hole, a difficult downhill par 3, Sam’s score was still extremely important. Ollie Golby had a superb first few holes including a wonderful tap-in birdie at the difficult par 5 4th hole, and he kept going despite a couple of setbacks to card an excellent score of 80. Harry Odell, our youngest player, kept the dreaded double-bogeys off his card to grind out a useful 82 for the team, and in the last group Max Edwards ended a string of bogeys on the back nine with two absolutely crucial pars on holes 17 and 18 to score 83 which (as we discovered much later) was enough to clinch the title for Northants by such a narrow margin.

Thanks to excellent preparation and a useful practice round beforehand, plus a fighting team spirit on the day, the boys managed to pull off an incredible result and we look forward to trying to retain the trophy next season. With playing reserve Harry Bliss also shooting 82 at the back of the field we can hopefully look forward to this strong squad going on to further success. Well done everybody, and thanks to the Northants President Catherine Tildesley, and parents and relatives who supported us on the day, and our Director of Junior Golf Adam Print and all the NGL coaches for all their hard work. A special thanks goes to the L&R Golf Union organisers and Keith Tripp for hosting such a great event every year.

Derek Mankelow (U-14 Team Manager)

Proud Officials !

Results

Return to News Page

Created by intelligentgolf version 10.1.2.