The hugely-impressive junior Seb Cave once again proved he has a big future in the game by leading Warwickshire to their fourth County Championship final in ten years at Birstall GC in Leicestershire.
The Belfry-based youngster, who attends the acclaimed Rossall School in Fleetwood, topped the individual standings as The Bears finished nine shots clear of Leicestershire and Rutland.
Rounds of 66 and 65 left the 17-year-old on nine under while Rugby’s Tom Cleaton, who attends Southern Illinois University, was six under for his two rounds.
Warwickshire, who will meet BB&O, Gloucestershire and the winners of the Northern qualifier at Remedy Oak in September (24-26th), are captained by Handsworth member Karl Smith, who was full of praise for his leading lights.
“Tom had a good one a couple of years ago and is very professional in his attitude,” said Smith.
Joy for Derbyshire as Kedleston Park quintet lead the way
“Seb’s on a hot streak at the moment and I played with him at our amateur (he won) and he’s a big talent. Hopefully we’ll be able to get him playing a couple of our county matches because I need to find a foursomes partner for him.
“All in all we’ve got a squad that get along very well and we’ve got decent strength in depth too so if we lose a couple to University in September (USA), we’ll have more than able replacements. That said we won’t be the only county with this issue.
“And I think with this current squad we are in with a shout. We’re all certainly looking forward to it.”
Karl has no worries about his teenage star missing out. Seb, who won the Warwickshire Boys Championship when he was only just 15, will start his final year at Rossall in September.
At Birstall he finished one shot ahead of Shropshire and Herefordshire’s Daniel Haycocks, who had the round of the day. The Oswestry teenager shot a bogey-free 63 in the morning and followed it up with a 69.
There will be a bigger issue around Tom, who rallied brilliantly on his back nine in the afternoon to card a 66. The Rugby player will be back in the States at the end of September but Warwickshire are investigating the possibility of getting him back for the final at the Dorset venue.