There was a dramatic finish to the Yorkshire Boys Championship today where Huddersfield’s Dylan Shaw-Radford claimed the title thanks to some inspired golf on his closing nine.
The 16-year-old picked up both the U-18s and U-16s prizes (Neil Hardman Trophy) – his birthday was only a couple of weeks ago – but with eight holes left at The Bradford he was trailing first-round leader Thomas Pyman (The Oaks) by three shots.
But the West Yorkshire-based teenager, who is coached by Graham Walker at The Oaks, birdied 11, chipped in for birdie at 16 and then claimed a four at the par five 17th to reach three under. Meanwhile Thomas bogeyed all of those holes plus 15 and had to be content with third (+1). Oakdale’s Michael Robson (level), who also shot an opening 69, move into the runners-up spot after playing the back nine in four-under-par.
Moortown 1-2 in the 2022 Yorkshire Boys
Despite live scoring being in operation, Dylan resisted the temptation to check his progress and only learned he was three shots ahead while handing in his card. At that point Thomas, who was in the final group, was teeing off on 18.
“I honestly had no idea,” said the plus one player. “I was told I went ahead at the 15th but I suspect had I known that it might have changed how I played 16.
“With Thomas (Pyman) having got to four under at halfway I thought he would get another one under par round at least so didn’t think I had done quite enough.”
Dylan has been prominent in all Yorkshire agegroup competitions during the last two seasons, winning the U-14s title at Wortley in 2019. That same year he finished a highly creditable ninth in the main Boys event (U-18s) and a year later was just three shots behind the champion Jake Wallis (Garforth) when he finished fourth.
Having played a practice round on Monday and shooting 70, he had given himself the chance to acclimatise to greens which are firmer and faster than most you can play on in the White Rose county at this time of year.
A one over par front nine in the morning kept him in the hunt and a bogey-free inward half, which also included birdies at 11, 13 and 15, got him to two under par and two back of the leader.
The Hudderfield youngster, who moved to Yorkshire from The Isle of Man with his family when he was eight, again struggled on the front nine in the afternoon and was three over par for his round after eight but a birdie at nine helped him turn the corner and kick-started a remarkable run to a title that has been previously won by Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick, Danny Willett, Simon Dyson and Howard Clark.
He is now targetting a pair of England Golf Agegroup competitions – The McGregor Trophy (U-16s, July 12-15) and The Carris (U-18s, July 19-23). He will also represent his county at the Boy’s Champions of Champions at Woodhall Spa (September 10-11).