Jake Plumb lands Cambridgeshire Area Golf Union County Championships crown
Teenager Jake Plumb earned a maiden county honour by taking the biggest of them all, the Cambridgeshire Area Golf Union County Championship.
The 17-year-old Links Golf Club, Newmarket member sealed a one-shot victory in what were a dramatic final three holes at Saffron Walden.
“It feels great – my first proper men’s competition win so it’s pretty good,” he said.
In the fourth and final round, the youngster, playing in the penultimate group, made a birdie on the 16th to take a two-shot lead over the host club’s Richard Southall, who was in the last group.
Southall bogeyed the 16th as Plumb was making par on the 17th to put three shots between the pair.
The advantage was cut when Southall’s superb approach to the par four 17th helped earn a birdie, while his rival three putted for a bogey on the last to finish on 292.
It meant a birdie on the par three 18th would take it to a play-off.
However, Southall found the left-hand bunker so it all looked over but a brilliant chip out seemed set to roll in the hole, only to narrowly miss.
It meant Plumb’s win was sealed, although he was oblivious to the drama as he was getting his scorecard checked.
It replicated a wall of silence that Plumb had opted for throughout the final round, which he went into with a one-shot lead.
“I chose not to [follow the scoring], my playing partners were looking but I said don’t tell me,” explained Plumb. “I just wanted to get my head down and not worry about anything else, it seemed to work.
“I wanted to try to make a score and keep everyone behind.”
And it paid off, with a 71 adding to previous rounds of 74, 74 and 73.
“It was pretty good, fairly consistent,” said Plumb, who is also a member of Gog Magog Golf Club.
“I was just trying to keep it in play and not do anything too stupid, and make the score.
“It’s really tough out there and quite easy to make a big score on a hole. All it takes is a slight out of place shot and it can rack up pretty quickly so consistency was the main factor for sure. It was playing quick, the greens were fast, it’s pretty firm so you’ve got to be careful where you’re going.”
Plumb, Harry O’Shea and David Marris helped the Links to the Championship Shield, while Sam Marshall was the under-21 winner for the best score outside of the prize-winning places.
St Neots’ Kyle Morris was the winner of the January Cup with a 36-hole total of 143, which included nett 65 in the afternoon round on the first day.
Leaderboard: 292 Jake Plumb (Links) (74, 74, 73, 71); 293 Richard Southall (Saffron Walden); 298= Danny Loveday (St Neots), James Sandford (Saffron Walden); 300 George Howard (Gog Magog); 301 David Marris (Links); 304= Harry O’Shea (Links), Andy Grimwood (St Neots).