Lucas Dennison came from six shots back at halfway to secure the English Schools National Championship at The Kendeshire.
FORMAT: 36-hole stroke play
The Kent player was thinking more about securing a top seven place as he began his second round with Marlborough’s Lewy Hayward defying the tricky conditions to open with a superb three-under 68.
No one else broke par in the morning while Dennison could only manage a 74 with 14 and 15 proving a tough ask for him and the rest of 48 players who had made it through regional schools qualifiers.
But as the putter warmed up for the Rochester & Cobham Park junior, the dominoes started to fall in his favour and a one-under 70 left him on top by two shots with Hayward dropping back after a second-round 78.
Dennison said: “After the first round, I knew I was on the edge with the top seven making it into the England side for the Wales match.
RELATED: 15-year-old Elizabeth Wilson displays great maturity to take schools title
“I knew I needed a good round and just played really steady all day. I didn’t do anything special but, in the conditions, I did well to keep the double bogeys off the card and managed to hole some putts to keep the momentum going in the second round.”
On the Hollows-Ruffet layout after lunch, Dennison, the 2021 Kent County junior champion, started on the 10th, finishing with a flourish as he played the final seven holes in three under.
He took advantage of par fives (third and fifth) but not before he got himself out of trouble on the former. He left his approach in a bunker 40 yards from the green and splashed out to 25 feet before coaxing the dangerous downhill putt in on the last role.
At the fifth – his 14th – he left himself an attractive chip up to the flag from 10 yards for his third and pitched it to four feet.
And he managed to round things off in style at the par three ninth as a testing 12-footer, down the hill, was dispatched with aplomb.
The A-Level student then had a long wait to see how he had done – he was in the second group out – but it proved worth it as he secured the title for the first time with Hertfordshire’s Harry Cox claming third, three shots behind the champion.