Peter Alliss Memorial Trophy opens with suitably exciting finale
The inaugural Peter Alliss Memorial Trophy got the kind of finish the legendary commentator would have enjoyed describing as Walton Heath’s Monty Holcombe reigned supreme at Hindhead.
FORMAT: 72-hole stroke play
The 15-year-old Surrey junior, who finished second at the Midlands U-16s Open in April, started the final round six shots clear of a field which was open to all golfers of both genders and organised by Surrey Golf.
However he ended up in a play-off with Hampshire’s Sam West, who was ten back after three rounds but a four-under-par 66 got him back to level par and got him right in the mix.
Behind him Holcombe failed to repeat the form he had showed in the opening three rounds and he closed with a 76 but regained his composure in the sudden death showdown and took the title at the second extra hole.
He said: “After I double bogeyed the 11th I was getting anxious because there was no live scoring so I wasn’t fully aware of what was going on.”
The good news for the eventual champion, playing in the final group, was he did not have to wait too long to discover his fate.
West and Holcombe started their play-off at the first and both had around 20 feet for birdie and then both had tricky four-footers for par. The Liphook youngster went second and showed great nerves to extend the match.
But then he got into trouble off the tee. The legendary Hindhead heather proved his undoing and he finally reached the par four 18th green in five shots while his opponent found the short stuff in regulation.
West then missed his double bogey effort and Holcombe’s cosied his birdie attempt into gimme range to claim a notable victory.
Holcombe added: “Stood over that four-footer on the first play-off hole I can’t say I wasn’t nervous but it was a great feeling once I knew I had won it.
“It felt incredible because of all the hard work I’ve put into my golf recently.”
In the morning the Walton Heath junior, who came second to Croatia’s Leo Zurovac in a Triple A Series European Classic event at San Roque in Spain back in February, equalled his best round in competition to extend his lead to six.
Starting at the tenth he got to three under after four as he holed a 25 footer at the 11th (his 2nd), chipped in at the 12th (3rd) and then got up and down at the short par four 13th. There would be two more birdies as he posted a 66.
That left him well clear of home club player Alex MacDonald, who would eventually finish third, just one shot back of Holcombe and West.