The Official Site of the Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters Golf Championship.

10th Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters Golf Championship

Nizels Golf & Country Club, Sevenoaks, Kent.
29th June – 1st July 2007

On a very wet and windy weekend, reminiscent of the first Junior Masters in April 1998, 72 of the very best under-18 European golfers came to this beautiful Kent course for the Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters Golf Championship. With over 120 applicants for 72 places, the handicap ballot had been applied at 1.0 ensuring the very highest quality of junior golf.

Celebrating its 10th year, the Junior Masters was enjoying its first full year as an R&A ‘Major’

The event is famed for its superb organisation and management, and this year, as always, 180 stewards on the course, ensuring play went on as smoothly as possible, considering the appalling weather conditions. This year they were supplemented by the entire greenkeeping staff, who were constantly on duty throughout Saturday sqeegying greens and pumping bunkers dry! EGU referees were at one time considering suspending play when several greens became waterlogged.

Players had arrived from all over England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, as well as from Denmark, Holland, Belgium and Germany, and several of them were representing their country as national junior champion.

On Friday the Junior-‘Pro’/Am took place, featuring 24 teams each comprising one Junior Master playing as the ‘Pro’ for the day, together with 3 amateurs. The event is sponsored by UBS Bank, and raises money for the event’s associated Charity – The Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters Charitable Trust. The Trust provides training and travel bursaries to talented junior golfers, to help them achieve their full potential.

During comedian Adger Brown’s turn, the rain was so heavy that parts of the hospitality marquee actually flooded - a source of much hilarity for Adger! The winning ‘Pro’ was British Boys Champion Matthew Nixon and the winning team was led by UBS Director Dominic Vail.

Saturday: Round 1
With a two-tee start from 7.30, competitors battled the elements as well as what is a very tough course in its own right. It had been raining for several weeks prior to the event and the dreadful conditions caused several competitors to withdraw because they could not travel from some parts of the UK.

The morning leader was 16-year-old Tom Lewis, (Mid Herts) with a great 67 (5 under par), followed by Darren Renwick at 4 under. Only 11 players shot under par in the first round.

Round 2
The afternoon provided a spectacular display of tournament golf, with Michael Swan (Stoke-by-Nayland) shooting a spectacular 63 (nine under) to equal Luke Goddard’s course record, set in 2006. Unfortunately, preferred lies meant this superb feat will not officially count!

The halfway cut came at 4 over, and 39 players knew they had a lot of work to do next day just to survive the weather!

Sunday: Round 3
Only 13 players were still under par at the start of play and, with only 12 shots separating the field, the tournament was there to be won or lost by any of these great players over the final 36 holes. Going out in reverse order, Michael Swan and Tom Lewis were neck and neck at 8 under par on the first tee.

The course was getting more difficult, and although dry weather had been forecast, it was raining hard again within an hour of the start, and before the leading players had even teed off!

As it was, they all played very steady golf, with the best being Andrew Cooley (Chobham) and Jack Bartlett (Worthing) hitting 4-under. British Boys Champion Matthew Dixon was getting his game together, coming in at 3-under.

By lunchtime, the rain had stopped and the sun came out!  Gary King was in the clubhouse, three ahead of his closest challenger, Tom Lewis.

Many VIPs had assembled for the 10th anniversary luncheon in the hospitality marquee. Amongst over 100 attending were past champions, media representatives and sponsors. Principal guests included EGU President Richard Palmer, Chairman Max Kaye and Chief Executive Paul Baxter, the R&A’s Chairman of the Amateur Status Committee Peter Benka and Chairman of Boy’s Selectors Jeff Toye, and Dick Cusack, representing the Golf Union of Ireland.

It was a source of much joy when Alan Cheeseman, the Tournament Director, was able to announce the superb achievement of 1999 Junior Masters Champion Zane Scotland in the French Open that day.

Round 4
With six or seven players still in the hunt, the final round got off in dry (overhead) conditions at long last, but underfoot it was still extremely heavy. There was no roll on the fairways, although the greens were very receptive.

King and Lewis were playing together, and it became a matchplay situation when King doubled the 13th to allow his playing partner a glimpse. By the 18th King was still one shot ahead, but the pressure got the better of him and he bogied. Lewis kept his nerve to hit par to force a playoff.

On the first extra hole (the 18th), King sent his tee shot out of bounds, whilst Lewis belied his relative inexperience to hit another great par. The trophy, jacket and £200 first prize were his, along with the trophy for best under-16 player.

Sir Henry Cooper was on hand to present the trophies to all the winners.

Full list of winners (*=Under 16 player):

2007 Champion     Tom Lewis* (Mid-Herts)
Runner-up    Gary King (Tyrrells Wood)
3rd    Jack Bartlett (Worthing)
4th    Matthew Nixon (Ashton-under-Lyne)
5th    Michael Swan (Stoke-by-Nayland)
6th    Matt Haines (Rochester & Cobham)
7th    Darren Renwick (Worthing)
8th    Jack Hiluta (Chelmsford)
9th    Oscar Sharpe* (Minchinghampton)
10th    Joe Galbraith (Rochford Hundred)
Best gross Round 1    Tom Lewis*
Best gross Round 2    Michael Swan
Best gross Round 3    Andrew Cooley (Chobham)
Best gross Round 4    Adam Best (Cleveland)
Under 16 winner    Tom Lewis*