There was a blanket finish in the Lancashire Boys at Worsley where Noah Cambridge came through in fine style to claim a county title having gone so close three times previously.
FORMAT: 36-hole stroke play
The Royal Lytham junior had finished second at the Lancashire U-14s and was twice runner-up in the U-16s version.
And it was nip and tuck all the way at the west Manchester venue on Sunday, the 17-year-old finishing two clear of five others. A brilliant birdie at the last sealed the deal. Playing alongside one of his challengers – Michael Kilgallon (St Annes Old Links) – Cambridge had a one-shot lead but had fired his 9 iron to 12 feet.
Kilgallon needed to hole out from 35 feet to give himself a chance but missed to the left while the soon-to-be-champion knocked his in for a four-over total.
Cambridge said: “As we were walking towards the 18th my dad and a guy from the Lancashire Union said I probably had two for it but I knew if Michael held his and I missed we were level.
“In fact my dad (David Cambridge) followed me round all 36 holes and was really helpful. He gave me a boost of confidence when I needed it.”
The new champion, who is also a member at Wilpshire and Clitheroe, was not having his best day with the putter although he made a blistering start – birdie-eagle.
With two par fives to open with he took full advantage, hitting a six iron to 40 feet at the first and the two putting before finding the putting surface from 240 yards at the next and then sinking the eagle opportunity from 30 feet.
“I thought ‘here we go’,” added Cambridge, a former winner of the Cyprus Junior Open and regular in the Lancashire Boys team. “It was really good.”
However he dropped back to three over after 14 as the three putts stacked up.
He added: “After 14 I was getting really frustrated because, tee to green, it was great but the putting wasn’t up to standard.”
He did knock in from eight feet at 15 to get it back to two over and picked up another birdie at 17, having wedged it to ten feet. However the wrong club cost him a shot at the last as, the wind at his back, he went long and couldn’t get up and down over the steep bank behind the green.
His 73 (+2) put him in a share of the second with Jake Paolo-Yeoman (Rossendale) with North Manchester’s Joe Teasdale having come back from three over after seven to post a level-par 71.
Cambridge made a slower start in the afternoon and had to wait until the seventh for his birdie of the afternoon. After a good save on the previous hole, he got one to drop from just off the green to get back to three over for the tournament.
“I was just trying to keep it steady because I knew the other lads weren’t doing amazing.”
With his hybrid becoming his go-to club it certainly did the trick at the par five 15th where he put it to 35 feet from 250 yards to set up a two-putt birdie.
At the next he almost pulled off a great escape having pushed his tee shot into trouble and a big cut with a wedge rolled between two bunkers and finished five feet away. However he could not hole the putt and dropped back to five over.
He then gave himself a chance at 17 but just missed from 20 feet and then walked to the last knowing an eight iron was too much and he responded to the challenge by hitting a brilliant nine.
“As the ball was in the air I kept saying to myself ‘don’t go long’,” added the North Lancashire-based teenager.
His birdie putt just caught the front left edge and dropped in which meant another 73 and left him two ahead of Kilgallon, Paolo-Yeoman, Hayden McFiver (Fleetwood) and Rory Briggs (Morecambe).