Mere Trophy secured by England Boys international at Cheshire resort
England Boys international Seb Cave was boosted by two hole-out eagles as he won the Mere Trophy by five shots on Monday.
FORMAT: 36-hole stroke play
The Derbyshire-based junior claimed his first Northern Order of Merit title in impressive style as some brutal pin positioning meant he was the only member of the 59-strong field to finish under par (-3).
Cave, who started the season with a bang by claiming the Berkhamsted Trophy in April, identified par as a good score and that was exactly what he managed for openers before posting a superb 68 to finish well clear of Luke Kelly, who in turn was five shots ahead of third-placed Matthew Lever (Bolton).
2023 Northern Order of Merit fixtures
“I played really well for the whole 36 holes,” said the 18-year-old, who was also runner-up in the Midlands Youths at the start of July.
“It was really tough because some of the pins were really tucked away, sometimes unfairly tucked away so I knew if I could shoot level par I would do alright.”
The event was played as a shot-gun start with Cave starting at the seventh alongside Jamie Van Wyk (Royal Lytham) and Nottinghamshire’s Jamie Keogh.
But it did not go well in the early stages for the 2021 Warwickshire Boys & Men’s champion as he made it through 11 holes in three over par.
However the recovery started in spectacular fashion at his 12 (the 18th) as he holed out from 80 yards and then birdied the next two.
At poor approach at his last hole (the 6th) cost him a shot and he mae it to halfway one ahead of Kelly and Simon Whitehead (Worsley).
In the afternoon he made an impressive start and three early birdies helped him get to two under after seven but back-to-back bogeys at 16 and 17 saw him drop back to level par with seven to go.
At birdie at one helped get his round back on track and then, at the par four fifth (his 17th), he holed out from 70 yards to get to three under for his round.
Kelly again posted a 72 to cement the runner-up spot, a score matched by the Aussie Lever, who finished third on countback ahead of Lancashire stalwart Ian Kenwright (Haydock Park).