FORMAT: 72-hole stroke play
There was double joy for Southport & Ainsdale’s James Holland last night after he collected the Lancashire Links Trophy by just one shot.
The WAGR-ranked competition combines two leading Northern Order of Merit events – the S&ABowl and Formby Hare – with the 22-year-old having won the former on Saturday. A day later he hung on in there at Formby to just edge out Isle of Man golfer Paul Lowey while 15-year-old Bramall junior Daniel Hayes was a shot further behind.
With the Formby course proving difficult for the whole field, a pair of 79s was enough for Holland after his excellent one under par total from the previous day.
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The 22-year-old is the eldest of five brothers who are all members at S&A and he now joins brother George on the WAGR rankings.
“It was definitely more of a grind,” said Holland, who has struggled with back spasms since last year and his 2022 season has also been blighted with illness having got a bad case of Covid in April.
“I just tried to stay patient because it was clear after the first round the scores were going to be high.”
At Formby Holland finished 24th in Hare, 14 shots behind home winner Anthony Stirling.