(For free to use pictures, please download from the following link https://we.tl/f1aCYeDWp6 . Picture captions at the end of the article.)
Wales Boys golfers are looking to build on one of their finest wins for many years, coming through on the final day to win the Quadrangular Tournament above Scotland, Ireland and Holland.
Bouncing back from an opening day defeat to defending champions Ireland, a Wales team ranging in age from 14-18 beat hosts Holland and then claimed a big enough win against Scotland to take the title.
Lead coach Gareth James said the win showed the development system in Wales Golf is working as this group have come through together from the nursery squads to claim their first international win.
Aberdovey 14-year-old Connor Owen finished strongly with a birdie and par to close out his match and claim the point which handed the title to Wales, overtaking Ireland who lost to Scotland and had a narrow victory over the Dutch.
Owen claimed four points, along with Carmarthen’s Jamie Dean, while Haverfordwest’s Abe Forsyth claimed three and a half points, but the team’s leading points scorer was Reuben Bather of Maesdu with four and a half.
Top pairing Tom Peet of Pyle and Kenfig and Bryn Thomas of Cilgwyn, who faced the number one players each day, came through with two and a half points out of three on the final day to set Wales on the road to victory.
“This win was testament to what we have done in the last few years in the performance programme,” said James, the Wales Under 16’s national coach. “These players all started in our nursery squads four years ago and every one has been part of the squad system. With Ffion Tynan winning the Scottish ladies open as well it shows the system is starting to work.
“The selection committee had a hard task picking the team because we are in a really strong position with this age group, so we were relatively confident going into the event.
“We prepared fantastically well, but as the team who finished fourth last year we played defending champions Ireland first and I felt we were a bit nervy and did not come out of the blocks.
“The next day we played the Holland and looked a completely different team, the body language was different and they were much more fired up.
“We beat them 6 and a half to two and a half, while Scotland beat Ireland which was good for us and meant every team went into the final day with a chance of winning.
“We were playing Scotland and knew we needed a heavy win to win overall. Wales teams often lack strength in depth, this side was strong all the way through.”
The success in Holland sets the next generation of Wales’ top amateur golfers up for the rest of a busy season.
Picture captions: Wales players by the 18th hole after winning the Quadrangular Matches. Standing photo from left Tom Peet, Abe Forsyth, Reuben Bather, Connor Owen, Jamie Dean and Bryn Thomas. Sitting picture, Jamie Dean, Neil Matthews (Wales National Coach) behind, Bryn Thomas, Tom Peet, Reuben Bather, Abe Fortsyth, Gareth James (Wales U16’s coach) behind and Connor Owen.