Bigbury course record falls to 16-year-old two-handicapper
The Devon Boys Championship turned into one of the most extraordinary competitions of the year after overall winner Joel Warne broke the course record at Bigbury yesterday.
FORMAT: 36-hole stroke play
What made the achievement all the more remarkable was the 16-year-old had never previously broken par before he produced an eight-under-par 62 in the first of two stroke play rounds. Club professional Sam Edwards’ 64 had been the record for the last 13 years.
Warne also came within millimetres of achieving something virtually unique in golf. At the 18th his birdie attempt just shaved the hole. Had it dropped it would have been his ninth consecutive three. A closing par four meant he came home in 28 and he also went bogey free.
“I still can’t quite believe it,” said the two handicapper from Stover. “So many times I have been a couple under par early in a round, only to let it slip and end up over par.”
Scores from the 2022 Devon Boys won by Joel Warne in remarkable fashion
Warne went into the competition buoyed by a one over par effort in the British Junior Golf Tour at Belton Woods the previous day.
And he had a dream start, birdieing the first two holes. His 4 iron to 10 feet at the opener was just the boost before he drained a 30-footer up the hill at the second.
He then reeled off seven consecutive pars although came very close to a birdie at the fifth when his putt was left in the jaws.
Warne added: “When I got to two under I kept trying to make pars and not do anything too heroic. I played it as safe as it could.”
His run of pars was ended in dramatic style at the 11th where he chipped in for eagle from 40 yards having navigated a bunker and a precarious-looking dry lie in stunning fashion.
He then had a prophetic chat with his playing partner Stanley White (Saunton) as they walked up the 12th.
“I said to Stanley I might be able to get to eight under and he said: ‘I don’t think you will do that’.
“After that, that became my target.”
With a run of short par fours to come, Warne kept his driver in the bag and used his three wood off the tee to brilliant effect.
At the 12th he chipped to five feet and knocked in the birdie putt to get to five under and, at the next, drove close to the green before chipping to a foot.
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A third birdie in a row follow at 14 where he almost holed out for eagle and two holes later got to the magic eight under. The Stover junior went straight over the out of bounds and his bravery was rewarded with a two-putt birdie from the fringe.
At the 17th he made a solid par before pulling his approach at the last, the ball finishing pin high but there would be no remarkable finish to a remarkable round.
His 62 left him ten clear of his playing partner at halfway but the Saunton junior clearly took inspiration from what he had witnessed in the morning to race to five under through the front nine after lunch.
With Warne four over at the turn the gap was down to one but the new course record holder played the back nine in one under, which included a birdie at the last after he stuck a wedge to six inches.
The final margin was three shots and the hero of the hour’s five-under overall total also meant he won the U-16s prize.