England Golf today revealed the nominees ahead of its annual awards ceremony in March.
Thirty-nine players, clubs, counties and organisations will do battle across ten categories (see full list below) with the winners being unveiled at the FJ-sponsored event in Manchester.
Battling it out in the Performance of the Year category are England Boys champion Dylan Shaw-Radford (Huddersfield GC), British Girls winner Lottie Woad (Farnham), Spanish Amateur supremo John Gough (The Berkshire) and the England Women’s Team, who retained the European Team title in July.
Broadcaster, journalist and passionate golfer Clare Balding will host the England Golf Awards at the Hilton on March 2nd and CEO Jeremy Tomlinson was delighted to have her on board.
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He said: “We’re absolutely delighted to be holding the England Golf Awards in person once again and thrilled that Clare will be hosting what I’m sure will be a truly memorable night.
“We cannot wait to get together with the finalists, our clubs, counties, members and stakeholders to celebrate the significant and exceptional contributions and accomplishments of the amateur game, as well as the exciting developments at grassroots level.”
An expert panel of 39 judges, made up of England Golf staff as well as industry and media colleagues and England Golf’s ambassadors Tommy Fleetwood and Bronte Law, faced the unenviable task of narrowing down the potential winners from an outstanding longlist of nominations.
They would certainly have had a tough choice in the Performance of the Year category with the likes of British Amateur champion Jess Baker (Gosforth Park Ladies) and Sophia Fullbrook (Brocket Hall) missing out. The latter won the England Girls after shooting a ten-under-par final round, coming from ten shots back at The Wimslow. She also claimed the Justin Rose/Daily Telegraph Junior Golf Championship with the boys title going to Yorkshire star Shaw-Radford, who also claimed the Scottish Boys Open and Henry Cooper Junior Masters.
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Woad came out on top in the girls event at the Henry Cooper as well taking a starring role for the England Women as they secured back-to-back European crowns at Conwy in July. She won all her six matches and also won the Sunningdale Foursomes alongside Rachel Gourley in March.
It was also a stunning year for Gough, who followed up his Spanish Amateur success with a remarkable victory at the Lytham Trophy. He also came second at the Scottish Open and reached the semi-finals of The Amateur.
In keeping with tradition, there is no shortlist for the Lifetime Service Award which will be presented to one worthy recipient on the night while Bedfordshire, Hampshire Ladies and Yorkshire Ladies are up for County of the Year while Brailsford, Letchworth, Lancaster and Seckford have been nominated in the Club of the Year category.