The Kenilworth GC junior open is always one of the most popular junior events on the calendar and this year's competition was no exception with 64 boys and 9 girls from across the county taking part last Friday.

With the course very soft as a result of heavy rain fall in the run up to competition, the early starters found the going difficult and for much of the day it looked like the scoring would be unusually high.  However, those players with higher handicaps further down the field had different ideas and the best score of the day came from Sam Broadhurst from Atherstone GC.   Sam, the 13 year old son of European Tour member and former Ryder Cup player, Paul Broadhurst, played some fine golf to produce an excellent nett score of 62 (81 - 19 = 62) to lift the Dick McMillan Trophy.  Hot on Sam's heels was Sophie Thompson from Marston Lakes who played solidly to finish second overall lifting the Kenilworth Junior Open Trophy for the best placed girl after coming up one shot shy of Sam's score with a nett 63 (88 - 25 = 63).  Luke Turbutt from Shirley GC took third place after finishing a shot further back following a nett score of 64 (87 - 23 = 64).

The Jack Savage Trophy, awarded to the best placed Kenilworth player went to Matthew Bull after carding a very credible nett score of 66 off a handicap of 33.  Kenilworth's junior captain, Robert Owens, took the prize for the best gross with a score of 75 whilst another home player, Alice Young, won the prize for the girls' best gross score after an 81.  Other Kenilworth players in the prizes included Matthew Bolshaw who had the best nett in Divison 2 but only after a countback was required to separate him from Cameron Koolhoven after both finished with scores of 68.  Meanwhile, Jimmy Bull was runner up in Division 3 after shooting a nett 69 to finish three shots behind his brother, Matthew.

The start list for the Kenilworth GC Junior Open which is being held on Friday 27 August 2010 is now available by clicking here.

Entries closed on Wednesday 18 August 2010 but last minute withdrawals mean that it may be possible to offer late entrants a tee time.  All such enquiries should be directed directly to the event orgainser, Richard Lane, who can be contacted on 07917 848747.

For the second consecutive year Kenilworth GC's juniors have taken part in the EGU Skills Challenge.  This national initiative sees children aged from as young as 6 taking part in a series of qualifying events at their home club with the leading three players at each age group, on a regional basis, going on to a regional final with the chance of securing a visit to the EGU's headquarters at Woodhall Spa in September for the National Final.

This year, it was two of the club's youngest members, Arine James, now aged 9, and his younger brother Chanon, aged just 6, who really shone in the qualifying stages with both of them winning a place in the 8 years and under category at the Regional Final which was held at The Warwickshire on Tuesday 10 August.  With their competitiors travelling from all across the Midlands Region both Arnie and Chanon were guaranteed a close battle as proved to be the case.  However, young Arnie James demonstrated superb golfing skills which were matched by his steely nerves to clinch a narrow victory and book himself a place in the final at Woodhall Spa in September. 

Well done Arnie!  We wish you all the very best of luck for the final.

The KGC Junior Open takes place on Friday 27th August 2010.

This event is open to boys and girls aged under 18 on 1 January 2010 with a handicap of 36 or less.  The following trophies will be awarded:

Dick McMillan Trophy – Best Overall Nett

The Jack Savage Trophy – Best Overall Nett by a Kenilworth GC junior

Kenilworth Junior Open Trophy - Girls Best Nett

There will be prize vouchers awarded for 1st, 2nd & 3rd gross and nett scores and for leading nett scores by divisions.  A 'lucky card' draw will be held at the prize presentation and, so long as the person whose card is drawn is present, they will receive £25.  The total prize fund is expected to be in excess of £600.

The Kenilworth GC junior open counts towards the Warwickshire Union of Golf Clubs Junior Order of Merit and is the last qualifying event of the year for junior looking for  those all important points!

Entries close on Wednesday 18th August 2010 so download and submit your entry form now by clicking here. 

ROBERT OWENS successfully defended his position as junior club champion at the Club but only after the first play-off in the history of the championship on Monday 2nd August.
After the morning round, it was evident it was going to be a two-horse race. Owens' morning round of 74 gave him a reasonably comfortable three shot lead over Daniel Lane who opened his challenge with a 77. 
The afternoon round saw the tables turned when Lane carded 73 to join Owens on a 36-hole total of 150 and set up a dramatic four hole play-off.
Both players made pars on the opening three holes but on the final hole, the 10th, Owens missed the green to the right but chipped up to less than a foot to secure a par and take the title after Lane found the right hand bunker from the tee and failed to get up and down for par.
The juniors had contested the Dudley Taylor Medal on Sunday. Luke Northwood continued his good form by carding 88, nett 59, to take the honours but only by virtue of a better back nine than Luke Hawkins 95, nett 59. Rees Herrod finished third in Division Two with 89, nett 69.
Exceptional scoring was also evident in Division One with Owens 69, nett 65, finishing top and scooping the best gross prize.  Lewis Barge 84, nett 67, was runner-up ahead of Toby Inskip 73, nett 68.
Kenilworth's junior section was well represented in the prestigious Warwickshire Boys’ Championship at Edgbaston Golf Club last week.  This competition, played off scratch over 36 holes, also incorporates the team championship for the Coventry Evening Telegraph Cup which is awarded to the team of three players, nominated in advance, with the lowest aggregate gross score. 
The trio of Robert Owens, Daniel Lane and Toby Inskip triumphed after beating Walmley GC on countback and lifted the cup for the fourth time since it was first awarded in 2000.
Both Owens (77 and 68) and Lane (73 and 74) finished in the top eight and the latter was also runner-up in the Warwickshire Boys’ Under 16 Championship which is competed for at the same time

The prestigious Warwickshire Boys’ Championship took place yesterday at Edgbaston Golf Club and Kenilworth’s junior section was well represented with seven juniors taking part.  This competition, played off scratch over 36 holes, also incorporates the team championship for the Coventry Evening Telegraph Cup which is awarded to the team of three players, nominated in advance, with the lowest aggregate gross score.  The trio of Robert Owens, Daniel Lane and Toby Inskip combined to produce the lowest gross score of the day after beating Walmley GC on countback.  The fact that this is the fourth time that the cup has been won by Kenilworth GC since it was first awarded in the year 2000 is a testament to the strength of junior golf at the club.

Both Robert Owens and Daniel Lane finished in the top eight with gross scores of 77, 68 and 73,74 respectively.  They will return to Edgbaston next week to compete for the Warwickshire Boys’ Matchplay title.  Daniel Lane was also runner-up in the Warwickshire Boys’ Under 16 Championship which is competed for at the same time.

Congratulations to all those that took part and represented the club so well.

Congratulations to fomer Kenilworth GC junior, Rory Kirwan, who enjoyed his maiden victory on the Jamega Tour this week in South Wales. 

Playing over the very long National Course at The Vale of Glamorgan, Rory followed his opening round of 71 with an excellent five under par 68 in the second and final round to post an overall score of seven under par which was good enough to win by two clear shots.  The winners cheque of £5,000 means that Rory now shares 1^st place on the Jamega Tour Order of Merit. 

Rory will be looking to continue his good form when the Jamega Tour visits Cumberwell Park in Wiltshire next Monday & Tuesday.

The second Kenilworth Junior Masters, held on Wednesday 7 April, saw 60 junior golfers, ranging in age from just seven to thirteen years old, from across the UK competing for the John Butler Trophy.  Sponsored by the Golf Society of Great Britain, this is one of a series of six national events designed to offer boys and girls aged under 14 the chance to compete against their peers. 

This year's field included some of the leading players in the country at this age group and, indeed, it was an England hopeful who was the runaway winner on the day.   Thirteen year old Josh Thorley, of Broughton Heath Golf Club in Derbyshire, carded an excellent gross score of 72 to beat last year’s winner, Lewis George, of Delamere Forest Golf Club and Jevann Parmar of The Leicestershire both of whom were eight shots adrift after finishing with rounds of 80.

Ryan Church from Oxley Park GC returned the best nett score of the day with an impressive score of 43 points off a handicap of 30.

The full results can be viewed by clicking here.

Kenilworth junior, Daniel Lane, claimed one of the two qualifying spots available in the 13 - 14 years age category of the Callaway Junior World Championships which are to be held in San Diego in July.  This event, established in 1968, can boast some familiar names amongst the previous winners including Phil Mickleson, Ernie Els & Tiger Woods.

The UK qualifying round, held at South Staffordshire Golf Club last Friday, saw OJ Farrell of Evesham GC claim the first available spot with a round of 74 whilst Daniel finished in a tie for 2nd place after posting a gross score of 78.  A par on the first playoff hole was good enough to earn Daniel the second qualifying position.

Kenilworth's juniors visited Leamington & County Golf Club on Sunday for the second South Warwickshire League match of the season.

With Kenilworth's top player Rob Owens unavailable due to injury and newcomers Toby Inskip and Chris Byron on holiday a tough match was in prospect. 

The first win of the day came from Cameron Koolhoven, who was promoted to the main team having played as 1st reserve in the previous game.  His 5&4 win over John Urquart gave Kenilworth the all important first point of the match. Matt Budd was one of those who had stepped up to fill in for our missing regulars and he did us proud.  His 4&2 win over Alex Allen secured the 2nd point of the day for Kenilworth.  Inevitably, the run of good results couldn't last forever and Jacob Forster was the unfortunate player who came up against the big hitting Tom Callaghan who won that match 4&2.  It looked like Alice Young was in command of her game with a handful of holes to go but her opponent, James Matharu, enjoyed a very hot streak with his putter over the closing holes to win on the last hole.  Leamington had levelled the match at 2 points each with two games left on the course.

Daniel Lane secured the 3rd point for Kenilworth in the top game coming back from 2 down after ten holes to win by 2 up against Leamington's number one, George Wale.    Although Kenilworth couldn't lose the match, we needed no worse than a half in the last game to claim the two bonus points that are awarded for a match win.  And so the spotlight turned to James Leggitt.  Playing off a handicap of 12, James would normally play lower down the order in one of the matches played off  handicap but due to the absence of our lower handicap juniors was promoted to the third match which is played off scratch.  His opponent, Josh Bowden, playing off a handicap of 7 would have been the hot favourite to win on paper but thankfully James had other ideas!  Standing on the 18th tee at all square with all of the Kenilworth team watching nervously from behind the green, James hit the shot of the day when he steered a 5 wood to less than 2 foot from the pin on the temporary 18th green.  He tapped his putt into the middle of the hole for a win by the narrowest of margins and the all important point that gave Kenilworth victory by 4 - 2.

Thanks also go to Dom Butler and Ben Whidborne who played as reserves for Kenilworth.

Kenilworth will visit Nuneaton on Sunday 25^thApril for the third match of the season where we hope to maintain our unbeaten winning record!  For details of the team for the next match click here.

The draw for the Kenilworth Junior Masters which is taking place on Wednesday 7 April 2010 has now been made and is available to download by clicking here.

Kenilworth's juniors played their first match of the season on Sunday afternoon against Coventry Finham.  In many people’s eyes, Coventry's juniors started the season as league title favourites so a tough match was on the cards.  In the event Kenilworth's juniors made the most of home advantage to take a comfortable victory over their nearest neighbours.  Kenilworth's team included two newcomers playing their first match for the club.  Toby Inskip, playing off a 5 handicap, battled through a tightly contested match to beat Ben Goodison by 1up.  The other debutant, Chris Byron, playing off a handicap of 11, enjoyed a more comfortable victory beating Hayden Shirley by a margin of 3&2.  The other winners for Kenilworth were Daniel Lane who beat George Butler 4&3 and James Leggitt who cruised home with a 5&4 win over Adam Shanahan.  The visitors secured two wins with Louie Pett beating Rob Owens by 1 up whilst Danny Launchbury  won his match against Alice Young by 6&4.

Based on an anlysis of the results from last year's competitions the following members have each had their handicaps reduced by 1 shot:

Well done and good luck for 2010!

The deadline for the receipt of entry forms for the Kenilworth Junior Masters has been extended by one week to Wednesday 31^st March 2010.

For further information about this event and to download an enrty form please click here.

In 2010 Kenilworth Golf Club will be taking part again in the EGU's National Skills Challenge.  This year there will be just two challenges rather than three, the first challenge at Kenilworth GC will be held on Saturday 11^th April 2010 starting at 3.00 pm.

This event is open to all juniors aged under 18 on 1^st January 2010 but those wishing to take part need to register on the EGU website.

For further information please visit the EGU National Skills Challenge page in juniors' section on the website.

The Warwickshire Boys Trials will take place at Ingon Manor Golf Club on Thursday 8 April 2010.

To be eligible to enter the Warwickshire Boys Trials the following handicap limits apply -

If you wish to take part your completed entry forms and parental consent form should be passed to the secretary as soon as possible (entries close on 24 March 2010).  Please note, the cost of entry is met by Kenilworth Golf Club.

The entry form and parental consent form can be downloaded by clicking here.

The 2010 Warwickshire Schools Championship is being held on Tuesday 6 April 2010 at Rugby Golf Club.

The competitiion is open to boys and girls aged 18 years or under on 31 August 2009 attending, on full-time basis, a school or college in Warwickshire or the West Midlands.

You may enter as an individual but there is also a team prize for three players from the same school.  The winning team will qualify for the English Schools Team Championship final, to be held at Came Down Golf Club, Dorset on Wednesday 7 July 2010.

The winner of the Warwickshire Schools U16's Shield qualifies for ESGA U16s to be held at Delamare Forest Golf Club on Monday 19th July 2010.

Entry forms can be dowloaded cy clicking here and must be submitted by Wednesday 24 March 2010.

As a thick covering of snow remains on both the golf course and the practice ground it is unlikely that we will be able to go ahead with the first of the SWL winter coaching sessions scheduled for tomorrow, Sunday 21 February. In view of this we have decided to postpone tomorrow's planned coaching.  The first session will now take place, weather permitting, on Sunday 28 February @ 9.30 am.

The junior winter series competition that was due to take place tomorrow afternoon has also been cancelled.

In 2010, we are looking to strengthen and develop our SWL squad by giving as many of our juniors as is possible the opportunity to benefit from free coaching from Steve Yates and/or James Crompton and, hopefully, go on to represent the club in South Warwickhsire League matches.

The SWL coaching sessions will take place on the following dates:

The other clubs in the South Warwickshire League are Coventry Finham, Coventry Hearsall, Leamington & County, Nuneaton, Rugby and Stratford-upon-Avon.  Between Easter and September we play a home and away match against each of the clubs in the league.  The matches normally take place on Sunday afternoons.  The SWL represents a great opportunity to play other courses in the area and to develop your matchplay skills.  The season conludes with the SWL Finals Day which, this year, is being hosted by Kenilworth GC on Sunday 26 September 2010.

If you were 18 years of age or under on 1 January 2010 (you do not even have to be a junior!) and have a handicap of 28 or below and would like to be part of the SWL squad for the coming season we would like to know as soon as possible.  So, please add you name to the list that is posted on the junior notice board without delay or contact Richard Lane.

The annual junior presentation dinner takes place on Friday 20 November starting at 7.00 pm for 7.30 pm.

All juniors, together with their friends and family, are welcome to attend so please add your name and number of people attending to the list on the junior noticeboard in the clubhouse or e-mail the details to richard@the-lanes.co.uk.

This year's menu, priced at £10 per head, is roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes & vegetables followed by apple pie & custard.

Played for the first time in 2008, the Carrick Cup is competed for between the junior South Warwickshire League team and the men's Mid Warwickshire League team.  Last year the juniors suffered a heavy defeat and were keen to seek their revenge this time around. 

With the first three pairs playing off scratch there were good wins for Rob Owens over Ben Hammond and Alice Young produced the best golf of the day to beat Dean Sparrow.  The only point for the Mid Warwickshire League in the scratch games was won by James Lammond who came back from two down to overcome Daniel Lane.  The remaining matches, played off handicap, saw James Leggitt halve with David Howe whilst Dom Butler beat Maurice Langman and Jay Underwood beat Tony Hammond who kindly stood in at the last minute for the Mid Warwickshire League team.

The final result was a win for Kenilworth's juniors by 4.5 points to 1.5 points.

Our thanks go to our President, Mike Carrick, who not only donated the trophy for this event but also kindly sponsored a BBQ after the match.

This winter we are going to try running a monthly nine hole junior competition so that juniors will have a chance to play some competitive golf over the winter months.  Whenever possible, these will be qualifying competitions so will give those taking part an opportunity to get their handicaps cut.

These ‘winter series’ events will all start at 1.00 pm and take place on the following dates –

• Sunday 15 November 2009
• Sunday 13 December 2009
• Sunday 17 January 2010
• Sunday 21 February 2010
• Sunday 21 March 2010

An entry sheet for the first event has been posted on the junior noticeboard. Please add your name if you wish to play.

Robert Owens proved the importance of consistent play over 36 holes to add the Junior Club Championship to the Men's Club Championship title that he won a little more than a week earlier.

An opening round of 76 left Robert Owens trailing Mike Antona by two shots after eighteen holes with Daniel Lane a distant third following a round of 83. In the second round Mike struggled to maintain his form and after a poor start slumped to a score of 79.  Meanwhile, Daniel was trying to recover lost ground and produced the best score of the day with a gross 73 to close the gap on the two leaders.  Ultimately, however, the day belonged to Robert Owens, a birdie on par 5 16th hole extended his lead to two shots over Mike Antona and although Mike hit back  on the 17th with a birdie of his own Robert held his nerve to sink a testing five foot putt on the final hole for a par to match his first round score of 76 and to secure the title by a one shot margin.

The results can be found by clicking here.

Robert Owens and Daniel Lane were selected to represent Warwickshire U16’s in their match against Staffordshire at Uttoxeter Golf Club over the weekend.

The format for the county matches is eighteen holes foursomes matchplay in the morning followed by singles matchplay in the afternoon.  Although Warwickshire suffered a narrow defeat losing by 8.5 to 9.5 points, both Robert and Daniel won both of their games to claim four points for Warwickshire.

The inaugural Kenilworth Junior Masters, sponsored by the Golf Society of Great Britain, was held on Wednesday 15 April 2009. This competition saw 53 junior golfers, ranging in age from six to thirteen years old, from across the UK competing for the John Butler Trophy.

An early morning thunderstorm caused the start of the competition to be delayed by 20 minutes but more significantly left the course playing quite long as a result of the soft fairways.  Coupled with a strong wind for much of the morning, the conditions made low scoring difficult.

The best score of the day was a gross 78 from 12 year old Lewis George, a 6 handicap golfer from Crewe Golf Club.  Lewis was a shot behind home favourite, Daniel Lane, playing the last hole but Lewis secured a birdie on the par 3 eighteenth hole after a six iron tee shot left him a six foot birdie putt which he duly holed to finish seven over par.  Meanwhile, Daniel, playing off a handicap of 7, finished his round on the par 4 ninth hole where a visit to the greenside bunker resulted in a dropped shot for a round of 79.  Third place went to William Aldred, handicap 5, of Mid-Herts Golf Club who was a shot further back with a gross score of 80.

The best nett score was recorded by Kenilworth's Bruce Fitzpatrick who scored an excellent 41 stableford points (five under par) playing off a handicap of 18.

The full results can be viewed by clicking here.

Three of Kenilworth's juniors, Robert Owens, Daniel Lane and Alice Young were in action on Tuesday 14 April at Ingon Manor which hosted the 2009 Warwickshire Schools Championship.  Robert Owens was the best of the three finishing strongly with a birdie on the last hole for a four over par gross score of 76.  For a period of time it looked like Robert would be in a play off to decide the winner of the championship until Copt Heath's Patrick Skakel came in with a gross 75 to win by one shot.  Robert took second place on a count back after four other players also finished on 76.

Well done Robert!

The Spring 2009 edition of the KGC Junior Section newsletter is now available to download by clicking here.

THE annual junior dinner and presentation took place at the club on 21st November. The evening, which attracted a record attendance of 88 guests, was a celebration of the outstanding achievements of Kenilworth's gifted juniors at club, county and national level throughout the season.

The junior section at the  club, which currently boasts 72 members, continues to go from strength to strength and with many of the younger members picking up major trophies on the night the future of the Kenilworth's juniors continues to look bright.

For the last 20 years John Butler has been the driving force behind junior golf at Kenilworth  and it was fitting that his period as chairman came to an end at the dinner.

John Butler has served Kenilworth Golf Club as both captain (1998) and President (2004- 2007) but no one would doubt that his real passion has always been the promotion of junior golf both at Kenilworth and more widely.

Under John Butler's chairmanship Kenilworth's junior section has thrived and the status of junior golf developed beyond recognition.

One his greatest achievements was to steer Kenilworth Golf Club successfully through the process of becoming the first club in Warwickshire to be awarded the coveted Golfmark award - even now only three other clubs in Warwickshire have met the exacting standards required.

Next year Kenilworth  will host the inaugural Kenilworth Junior Masters, one of a series of six events across the United Kingdom sponsored by the Golf Society of Great Britain, for junior golfers of all abilities under the age of 14.

In recognition of the outstanding contribution made by John Butler the trophy for this prestigious event has been named after him and was unveiled by current president Mike Carrick, at the junior dinner.