DEVON STUN TYKES TO LEAVE ENGLAND BOYS' TITLE CHASE WIDE OPEN

On a day when winners became losers and losers became winners, it is anyone’s guess who will become  England boys' county champions after the event was turned on its head at Kedleston Park.  Devon, beaten on the opening day, responded by beating Yorkshire 5½ - 3½, while Staffordshire, also losers in round one, hit back by upstaging Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Channel Islands by the same score. That means there is everything to play for on the final day tomorrow (Thursday) when, depending on the results, the title could be decided on countback of game points and there is only one separating all four counties. After Devon followed up their 2-1 foursomes success by also winning the singles, their captain Graham Moore said: “The boys have exceeded my expectations today. After yesterday’s defeat, I couldn’t criticise them because they are all very young. “But we had a meeting to boost their confidence and they came fast out of the traps this morning and it could have been 3-0. “The foursomes have been our downfall in the past but we are more settled now and the boys stuck to our game plan and got their rewards.” The defeat is a blow to Yorkshire but they can be depended on to come back hard in their final match against Hampshire. Gary Brown, their captain, was gracious in defeat. “We didn’t play our best today and Devon deserved to win,” he said. “We will need an exceptional day tomorrow and need to come out with all guns blazing.” That was what was expected in the singles after Yorkshire went into lunch a point behind. But Devon stood their ground and Jacob Tinsley gave them the best start with a 2 and 1 win over Ben Brewster. However, Kealan Lowe replied for the Tykes by beating Tom Trowbridge by 1 hole after being 4-up after ten, but Danny Guy (image © Leaderboard Photography) stormed to a 5 and 4 win over Sam Wilkinson to put Devon on the brink of victory. A half by Robbie Thompson against Bradley Hudson meant they couldn’t lose while further halves from Harry Konig and Ollie Cowl against Jack Kelley and Ben Hutchinson respectively gave Devon their success. In the other match, Staffordshire came back from losing the foursomes 2-1 to take 4½ points from the six singles. Robert Burlison led from the front by beating Tommy Donaldson 5 and 4 while Gianmarco Petrozzi got home by 5 and 3 against the previously unbeaten Mason Banger. With Daniel Sutton completing a 2 and 1 win over Jordan Sundborg, the Staffordshire surge was on. Billy Watson gave Hampshire a lift with a 5 and 4 victory over Peter Booker but with Cameron Long getting home by one hole against Ryan Harmer the Midlanders’ victory was assured. The final game brought a half between Harrison Quirk for Staffordshire and Josh Oddy to leave one of the closest Boys' Finals ever. Hampshire captain John Moore was naturally disappointed. “I am a bit disappointed after winning yesterday,” he said. “But we didn’t quite click today when we needed to get off to a good start.” Staffordshire skipper Mike Tunnicliffe said: “The boys played to their known potential. There is everything to play for but we need to find some more points from the foursomes because you can’t expect to win so many singles each time.” For more information visit the championship website. Press Office England Golf pr@englandgolf.org 01526 354500