INSPIRING AND ASPIRING JUNIORS
OLIVER DAWS DAVID ARNOLD JAMIE GUPPY LEWIS KERR SOPHIE DAWS JUNIOR COACHING SESSIONS JUNIORS ARE 4TH BEST TEAM IN ENGLAND
CHRISTMAS COMPETITIONS, LUNCH AND PRIZEGIVING
JAMIE
GUPPY, LITTLESTONE CLUB CHAMPION 2009
Jamie Guppy made it a Championship double for the Juniors in 2009 when he won the Club Championship - Sophie Daws having won the Ladies Club Championship earlier in the year.
Jake Spearpoint won the Junior Club Championship, the Duncan Dunn Bowl, with a gross 68.
Other Juniors winning major trophies in 2009 were Lewis Kerr who took the Captain's Cup at the Captain's Prize Weekend. He also won the Tuesday Winners Cup. Matt Cozens had an excellent season too winning the Diamond Jubilee Cup, the Wintle Cleek and the Dormy House cup.
Congratulations to all the Juniors on their impressive results and for representing Littlestone so well in 2009.
OUR JUNIORS WIN KENT SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIP
Sophie Daws (h/c 6), Jamie Guppy (h/c 3) and Matt Cozens (h/c 2) made up the winning team for the Marsh Academy at the Kent Schools Championship on June 26. They actually won by 8 clear shots with a total of 224 in the scratch competition with all scores to count. Matt also won the individual prize with a fantastic 1 under par score of 69. Previous winners of this individual prize read like a Who's Who of County and professional golfers, Ben Barham and Matt Haines to name but two. The team will now go on to represent Kent in the National Schools finals at Thetford in Norfolk on 7th and 8th July.
Other Littlestone Juniors who played well that day were Connor Fletcher (1 over par) and Mark Collins (4 over par) and they are both playing in the Macgregor England u16 Championships this week. Oliver Daws was 7 over par and has entered the Reid u14 England Championship in August. Liam and Matt Sutton were in the third place team.
SOPHIE DAWS IS 2009 LADIES CLUB CHAMPION 
Sophie Daws, playing off a handicap of 5, has won the Ladies Club Championship with gross scores of 81 and 74 over the two rounds.
JUNIOR TEAM NEWS
League match News and Results
St Augustine’s Away Lost 4-2 Reserves lost 2-0
St Augustine’s Home Half 3-3 Reserves lost 2-0
Current league standings at halfway stage
2nd place in league behind North Foreland B
Other league info
We have 2 new regular players that have been introduced to Junior League golf this year.
Maddie Flisher Age 11 Hcp 26
Ben Evans Age 14 Hcp 22
They are playing in our reserves when available and are both
enjoying the new challenges of other courses and matchplay events.
Additional league Knockout cup competition News
Littlestone have passed into the semi finals without making a
Divot. We had a bye in the first round and were going to play Royal Cinque
Ports at home in the second round. Royal Cinque Ports are having trouble
getting teams for this years league competitions and gave us a walkover.
We now meet North Foreland B away for our semi final match.
New Members
Littlestone has gained some very good junior golfers over the
recent months:
Mark Collins Hcp 3 age 14 (Chart Hills) County and England U 14 player
Connor Fletcher Hcp 3 Age 16 (Chart Hills) County player
Jake Spearpoint Hcp 5 Age 14 (Sene Valley) Current European “US kids” U 14 Champion & County player
Elisabeth Latter Hcp 6 Age 17 (Bearsted) Junior County player
Rachel Martin Hcp 10 Age 17 (Langley Park) Junior County Player
Alex Bill Hcp 7 Age 16 (Sene Valley)
Tom Hay Hcp 5 Age 17 (Etchinghill)
Plus 2 other juniors with handicaps around 12-18
Main Competition success for Littlestone Juniors over last
3 months
Men’s
Tuesday 14 April S-ford: George Donoghue 1st & Ben Evans 2nd
April Medal: Matt Cozens 2nd
April Stableford: Oliver Daws 1st & George Donoghue 2nd
June Stableford
Jamie Guppy 2nd
Tuesday 26 May S-ford: Jamie Guppy 1st
Jubilee Cups: Matt Cozens 2nd & Jamie Guppy 4th
Wintle Cleek: Matt Cozens Winner
Ladies
April Sunday Stableford: Sophie Daws 1st
May Sunday Stableford: Sophie Daws 1st
May Sunday Medal: Bethan Fuller-Willett 2nd
Junior Order of Merit leader Bethan Fuller- Willett
Paul and Jon (Assistant Professionals) are continuing to teach the very young or novice children at Sunday morning clinics. As these youngsters evolve into potential golfers they are being introduced to the Junior Organise, Steve Daws, to include them in the Warren novice competitions.
2008 NEWS
The Littlestone Juniors returned to their winning ways
this week in their 2nd league match against Westgate & Birchington
with a 6-0 win in the main match and a 2-0 win in the reserves.
Afterwards the team enjoyed a meal with their opponents in the 19th hole restaurant. The picture below shows Ollie Daws giving a speech thanking the opposition and organisers for the match.
In last week's match the same team played North Foreland at Littlestone but did not have quite the same outcome, losing 4-2 in the main match and tying 1-1 in the reserve section.The next match scheduled for the team is on 19th April when they will try to overcome North Foreland away.
The team picture shows, from left to right:
back row: Dan Ward (h/c10), Sophie Daws (h/c 6), Jamie Guppy
(h/c3), Clinton Coffey (h/c 11)and Matt Cozens (h/c 5)
front row: David Arnold (h/c 12), Ollie Daws (h/c 10) and Lewis Kerr (h/c 3).
JUNIOR TEAM RESULTS - Littlestone now, officially, 4th best Junior team in England!
Littlestone Juniors were extremely busy over the last few months of 2008 having played their way through to a number of local and national Finals.
The Junior League Final was played against Etchinghill at
Ashford. The team (see picture below) of Jamie Guppy, Lewis Kerr,
Matt Cozens, Sophie Daws, Dan Ward and Clinton Coffey sadly lost 2 1/2
to 3 1/2 and in the Junior League Reserve Final Ollie Daws and David
Arnold gained second place to Ashford in a 3 way playoff also with
Etchinghill.
In the Junior Team Golf Jamboree at Westgate & Birchington the Littlestone team battled their way through wet conditions to finish in second place to their nemesis this year, Etchinghill. Littlestone 'Player of the Day' was Bethan Fuller Willet who had a fantastic 39 points.
The
Regional Junior Team Final
was played at Dale Hill and
Littlestone finished in a very creditable third place (beating
Etchinghill this time!). The team was Charlie Wilson, Jamie Guppy,
Lewis Kerr, Matt Cozens, Clinton Coffey and Ollie Daws. First and
second place teams gained automatic entry to the National Final played
at the Oxfordshire on the 27th October and Littlestone also qualified as
being the lowest scoring non automatic qualifier.
The Littlestone team for the National Junior Team Final (see picture above) was Charlie Wilson (Scr), Matt Cozens (5), Sophie Daws (6), Clinton Coffey (10), Ollie Daws (12) and David Arnold (12). Best score of the day for Littlestone went to Sophie with a magnificent 4 over par 76.
The competition started with some 1000 teams entered, in leagues, across the country. Littlestone Juniors finished fourth overall in the Final (having only had 4 days notice and no practice rounds!) and are now officially ranked as the fourth best Junior golf team in England. This is a remarkable achievement for a team in their first year of league golf and the Club congratulates them and their teams' organiser, Steve Daws, on their success.
OLIVER DAWS
| Oliver or Ollie as he is known started playing Golf when
he was just 4 years of age.
Ollie plays Golf left handed even though he is actually right handed in all other areas. One possible reason for this is because he mirrored his father Steve’s right handed swing when he was very young. His first official handicap was 32 at the age of 9 and over a period of just 1 year it had reduced to 14, it is currently hovering close to 12. In 2006/7 Oliver won ten junior club competitions and this success could have been a factor in selection for region 6 Kent junior coaching with Andrew Jones. Ollie played his first Kent match at Royal St Georges when he was aged just 10; he halved his match against a 17 year old opponent and even got a mention in Fairway To Green Magazine. Ollie having obtained a sub18 handicap in 2007 started to play in Littlestone Men’s competitions and can possibly claim to be the club's youngest ever winner of a Men’s competition aged just 10 years of age. Oliver won the 2007 July medal and came a very creditable second in a Club Major the 2007 Coronation Cup. |
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Ollie can also lay claim to another unique record having played for both the Kent Boys and also for the Kent ladies first team when they were short of players for their April friendly match against the Kent Colts. Ollie was asked if he would play for the ladies team along side his big sister Sophie and he willingly rose to the challenge even accepting the nickname of "Mollie" just for the day. Ollie (Mollie) was one of the only 2 Ladies victors that day and got named as the Man of the match "even though he scored an own goal in beating one of the Kent Colt Boys".
Ollie continues to try to win his first Club Major and is currently playing an important role in Littlestone’s Kent Junior league team. His next big ambition is to get his handicap down to single figures so that he can play in national competitions such as the Reid Trophy.
DAVID ARNOLD
David
Arnold has started his 2009 junior open season in fine style - chipping in twice
on his way to first place in the 13-Year-Old competition at the Laddie Lucas
Spoon at Prince's Golf Club last week.
The 'Laddie Lucas' is in it 20th year and ranks as one of the oldest and most prestigious junior competitions.
David, who is currently playing off 12, scored 39 points in the competition played over Prince's Shore and Dunes courses on Wednesday, April 8.
He won £80 worth of tokens for the Prince's Pro Shop - the sort of prize guaranteed to put a smile on any junior's face!
David got third place in last week's Kent Country Golf Union East Kent Cubs Under 13's Championship.
In a very closely fought contest on a breezy Littlestone Warren, David shot 75 (net 63) one shot behind the eventual winner. He lost second place on countback. Unfortunately he missed the presentation because his eyes were so swollen due to hay fever, he had to seek medical attention!
JUNIOR COACHING AT LITTLESTONE
| STARS OF THE FUTURE!
Assistant Professionals Jon and Paul organise Junior Coaching Sessions every Sunday morning for a very enthusiastic group of youngsters. The aspiring golfers range in age from three to eleven and their coaching covers all aspects of the game. This week the group were practicing their chipping and putting whilst other weeks they take advantage of the driving range to improve their long game. |
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SOPHIE DAWS
| Sophie Daws shot to regional fame when she won the Kent Girls knockout ‘Milstede Trophy’ at Chart Hills last summer but at Littlestone we were already aware of her prodigious talent. It is only three years since 15 year old Sophie started to play golf seriously and her handicap is already down to 8. The list of Club trophies and competitions that she has won is getting longer by the month and includes, in the last twelve months, the Hazel Barratt brooch, the Club Championship (nett), Mayor’s Challenge Cup, Ann Plowman Salver, Queen’s Own Buffs and the Ladies Long Driver at the Captain’s Weekend. Sophie was also runner-up in the Summer Mixed Foursomes with her Dad, Steve. |  |
Being chosen as an England Birdie is a real feather in her cap and she is one of only six girls in the South Eastern region on the training program. The scheme is run by the English Women’s Golfing Association (formerly ELGA) and means that Sophie gets six training sessions starting in December 2007 through to July 2008. She also gets additional funding for individual lessons with the England Birdie Coach Craig Walker. At the group training sessions there is a physiotherapist and nutritionist in attendance so that all aspects of the game are covered.
Sophie has already represented Kent Schools and Kent Junior Girls and is currently involved in Kent coaching sessions. We will watch Sophie’s progress with great interest and pride throughout the coming year and wish her every success.
JAMIE GUPPY
Jamie Guppy, the 2007 Littlestone Club Champion, completed the two rounds of the prestigious Romer Bowl at Littlestone in 2008 in 145 gross. Players came from all over Kent and beyond to compete in the annual scratch trophy competition and Jamie, who came second, only missed out on winning after a countback on the last six holes. He did however win the handicap prize with a net 137 and reduced his handicap from 4 to 3. Two other Littlestone members, Chris Reynolds and Bruce Hilsdon, also came in with gross scores of 145.Jamie Guppy started playing golf five years ago and is on the Kent Junior Coaching Program. He and fellow Littlestone junior member Lewis Kerr, also aged 15, are through to the 2nd round of the Kent Junior Foursomes Knockout competition along with Clinton Coffey and Matt Cozens. Having made it through to the Semi-Final last year, when Sophie Daws was also playing, they are hoping to go one better this year.
LEWIS KERR
| Lewis Kerr has won the Littlestone Club Championship for 2008 and is pictured being presented with the Centenary Trophy by Club Captain Ian Woolley. Lewis (aged 15) has only been playing golf for 3 years and has already reduced his handicap to 4. This year he has won the Men’s Winter League, the prestigious Mayor’s Cup at Easter, the Tubbs Cup with Bruce Hilsdon and the Rawcliffe Cup with Jamie Guppy. He has played for Region 6 in Kent against all the other Kent regions and played for his Region against Region 4 at St Georges. Last year he qualified at Chelsfield Lakes to go to St Andrews for the National Final of the NAPGC Championships and there, in September, he finished in equal 8th place. Lewis is currently part of the Littlestone Junior team aiming to better their semi-final finish in last year’s Kent Foursomes. |
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