Congratulations to HSPSE pupil Tommy Fleetwood in finishing 2nd at the inaugural English Challenge event on the European Challenge Tour. Fleetwood, who earnt Walker Cup honours in the amateur ranks last September, fell at the final hurdle when a bogey at the last handed the title to Australian Daniel Gaunt.
Playing together in the final round the duo reached the par three 18th at Stoke by Nayland Hotel, Golf and Spa level on 17 under par, and when both men found the middle of the green with their tee shots, a play-off seemed the most likely outcome.
But when Fleetwood rushed his birdie attempt four feet past the hole and missed the return, Gaunt was presented with a par putt from three feet to capture the title, which he duly took.
The reward for the man from Melbourne was a cheque for €24,000 and a one-year exemption on the Challenge Tour, whilst Fleetwood - who dropped back into a tie for second place alongside Scotland's Craig Lee - will return to the amateur ranks at next week's English Amateur Championship.
Fleetwood expressed his disappointment at having not become only the fourth amateur to triumph on the Challenge Tour, but he could at least take solace from the fact that he had exceeded all expectations.
He said: "I can't really dwell too much on that final putt - having missed a short one for birdie yesterday, I think it's fair to say that the 18th green wasn't too kind to me over the weekend! All I was thinking of was holing that first putt to win the tournament, and I ended up running it past. I putted really well all day, but I guess you're going to miss a short one sooner or later, and it's just a shame it had to come at the last. I made enough birdies to win the tournament, but just didn't manage to keep the doubles off my card. At least I now know I can compete with these guys out here, which obviously gives me a lot of confidence.
"Credit to Daniel, because he started like a train - after seven holes, it looked like he was going to shoot a 60! But I managed to chase him down, and ended up losing by one shot. I wasn't even meant to be playing in this tournament, because I got in through an invite, so to finish second was pretty pleasing. Hopefully I can go one better at the English Amateur next week - if I play as well as I did here this week, I'll be tough to beat. Then I'll start preparing for life as a professional, and hopefully start earning some money. I've obviously missed out on a fairly tasty cheque here, but hopefully there will be other days."
