Harry Malin’s impressive start to the season went up another level as he came from four back on the final day to win the Welsh Open Youths at Creigiau.
FORMAT: 54-hole stroke play
The Bognor Regis junior this year has finished eighth at the Fairhaven Trophy and claimed runner-up placings at the Bernard Darwin Youth Salver and Peter McEvoy Trophy.
But this time around things went his way, assisted by an excellent closing 67 (-4), which left him one clear of Rotherham’s Jack Whaley.
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There was also considerable relief for the 17-year-old in terms of gaining his WAGR status after a number of near misses.
“I’ve been knocking on the door for so long… not just last season but the season before,” said Malin.
“There have been countless times when I have just missed out on WAGR, even when, say, had I finished second on my own I would have got it, but then I ended up in a tie for second so didn’t.”
Before the event at the Glamorgan course, Malin had targetted six under as the score to get to.
“At the start of the week I said to my friend that I wanted to play every nine in one under and even though I was four back, going into the final round, I stuck to that plan.
“Thankfully the putts dropped on the front nine and five under was good enough.”
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Playing in the third last group with BB&O youngster Harry Thomas (Frilford Heath), Malin got off to a dream start, birdieing the first two holes as well as the fifth.
At the driveable opener he left himself an awkward up and down but drained a 20-footer before holing out from eight feet at the par three next after an excellent approach with his nine iron.
At the fifth a bad bounce in left him with 25 feet for his birdie but he rolled it in and parred the remainder of the front nine to turn in 32.
Behind him overnight leader Brandon Skidmore (Cotswold Hills) was not having a good day and a double on nine saw him lose the lead. His playing partner Luke Perkins, who had started the day just one off the lead, also got a six to put him level with Malin, who went ahead on the par five 12th, thanks to a lovely up-and-down from a green-side bunker.
A bogey at the next saw him drop back into a tie with Perkins, who then registered back-to-back bogeys on 12 and 13 to leave himself two back.
Meanwhile the steadiest player on the course was Yorkshireman Whaley but his run of 12 consecutive pars was ended on 15 where a bogey took him out of a share of the lead and Malin’s birdie on the par five 17th gave him a two-shot cushion. The Bognor player cut the corner on the sharp dogleg right and he had just 150 left.
He added: “That was my drive of the week. I hit a big draw around the corner but had struggled with the hole because you are always hitting in with the ball well above your feet.”
Malin aimed right expecting the textbook right-to-left shape but the ball went straight. However he chipped to 12 inches to get to four under for his round.
At 18, another hole with a big right-to-left slope, his drive bounded down to within two yards of the out-of-bounds marker on the left and he was forced to chip out sideways. However he used the green’s backstop to good effect on the two-tier putting surface and knocked in the par putt from six feet.
Whaley birdied the final hole when he needed eagle to tie the clubhouse leader and then Perkins, who shot a dazzling 64 in the second round, also faced the same equation. The Frilford Heath youngster went for it with driver and just went over the back. He could not hold the chip back, which confirmed Malin as champion, and ended up in third after missing the one back.