JOE AND LAUREN GO DUTCH FOR A WIN DOUBLE
England Golf enjoyed a double celebration in Holland as Joe
Dean (Lindrick, Yorkshire) won the boys’ title and Lauren Taylor (Woburn) the
girls’ in the annual Poncat Dutch Junior Open at Toxandria Golf Club near
Breda.Dean (Lindrick, Yorkshire), on his maiden trip with England Golf, carded a closing 71 for 286, to tie on two under par with Lars van Meijel from the host nation. Then Dean prevailed at the second hole of the playoff.
Dean (Image © Tom Ward) was always top or near the top of the leaderboard after opening with a one-under 71. But after following up with a 73 he found himself four behind van Meijel at the halfway stage.
He matched the Dutch lad in round three, both returning 71 so was still four adrift of his rival and occupying fourth place going into the final round.
But another 71 confirmed his consistency, although at the turn a Dean victory looked unlikely particularly after he had run up a quadruple-bogey nine at the eighth in an outward 39.
But he bounced back well with a back nine of 32 including four birdies, two crucially coming at the final two holes. Meanwhile, van Meijel returned 75 which left the pair on two under for the championship and heading for a playoff.
Another English youngster, Jack Cardy (Hintlesham, Suffolk) finished equal third on 287 while Nathan Kimsey (Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire) ended on level-par 288 and sixth and Oliver Carr (Heswall, Cheshire) tied 11th on 295.
Lauren Taylor (Image © Leaderboard
Photography) was the defending girls' champion after her victory last
year and she again demonstrated her class by finishing on level-par 288, 11
strokes ahead of runner-up Andrea Jonama from Spain.The BBC’s Young Sports Personality of the Year for 2011 after she became the youngest-ever British amateur champion, led from start to finish but it was her third round 67 containing seven birdies, that stamped her authority on the event.
Even a closing 75 left her streets clear of her rivals and she could also afford to finish with back-to-back bogeys.
As a result of their victories, Dean and Taylor have respectively earned places in the KLM Dutch Open on the European Tour and the Deloitte Ladies Open on the LET in Holland
