Durham's young golfers achievement

WOODHAM Golf Club's Carl Morfoot landed the top prize as Durham's exciting competition for young golfers reached its dramatic conclusion.

The 2013 Mizuno Race 2 Rockliffe has seen up and coming golfers from across the region competing in 15 different events to score points on an order of merit.

Carl Morfoot receives his trophy as winner of the 2013 Mizuno Race 2 Rockliffe from Jonathan Stacey, head professional at Rockliffe Hall

Jonathan Ward, development officer for the Durham County Golf Partnership, presents Natasha Martin with her trophy as winner of the nett prize at the 2013 Mizuno Race 2 Rockliffe grand final

The leading 30 players across the three categories qualified for the grand final at Rockliffe Hall, which saw 19 year-old Morfoot come out on top in the gross event and be crowned the DCGP Mizuno Race 2 Rockliffe Champion for 2013.

On a day when the damp and windy conditions made scoring tricky, Morfoot, who plays off one, returned a score of 79 to claim the championship by two shots to add to his success in the mixed gross category of the order of merit.

He received a £500 voucher towards equipment from Mizuno, enthusiastic supporters of the event alongside Rockliffe Hall.

Morfoot has now embarked on a degree in Applied Golf Management Studies at Birmingham University and hopes to become a PGA professional in the future.

The nett champion is 17 year-old Natasha Martin, from Beamish Park Golf Club, who returned a nett score of 76.

The six-handicapper is the ladies club champion at Beamish Park and is studying for a National Extended Diploma in Sport at Durham Sixth Form Centre, where she is captain of the golf team.

The Mizuno Race 2 Rockliffe, now in its third year, is run by the Durham County Golf Partnership.

Sponsors Mizuno and Rockliffe Hall have announced they will be backing the event once again in 2014.

A total of 120 boys and girls played more than 800 rounds of golf between them in a bid to reach this year's grand final.

The three order of merit winners were Morfoot (Mixed Gross), Houghton le Spa's Adam Laidler (Boys Nett) and Erin Goodfellow of Consett GC (Girls Nett).

The grand final saw players between the ages of 14 and 21 taking part in two competitions – mixed gross and mixed nett - with handicaps ranging from one to 28.

Says Jonathan Ward, county development officer for the Durham County Golf Partnership: “ This initiative - which is aimed at encouraging more junior golfers to compete in junior opens and county junior events - has received national recognition as one of the best junior order of merits in the county.

“This is testament to the support it receives from sponsors, clubs, volunteers and, of course, the players - all of whom have helped the Race 2 Rockliffe to grow both in quality and stature in each of the last three years.

"Along with the Srixon Junior Golf Tour for the younger players, the Mizuno Race 2 Rockliffe contributes towards a strong talent pathway in County Durham which is already producing some great young players.”

Adrian Longstaff, national sales manager for Mizuno UK, says: “Mizuno is delighted to support the Race 2 Rockliffe, which we feel is a great showcase for junior golf in County Durham.”

Registrations for the 2014 Race 2 Rockliffe open in the new year with a full list of the dates and venues of the qualifying events appearing on the Durham CGP website www.durhamgolfpartnership.com

The Race 2 Rockliffe is one of a number of projects aimed at increasing participation in golf, run under the umbrella of the English Golf Partnership.

Notes for Readers:-
England Golf is the governing body for amateur golf in England.
England Golf was formed on 1st January 2012 following the merger of the English Golf Union Ltd. and the English Women's Golf Association and is one of the largest sports governing bodies in England looking after the interests of over 1,900 golf clubs and 770,000 men and women club members.

Responsible for the training of the country's top amateur golfers, England Golf also organises all the major English amateur championships. England Golf works to actively encourage new golfers and increase the continued interest and participation in golf through its golf development initiative ‘Get into Golf'.

England Golf is a member of The England Golf Partnership (EGP) together with the PGA and supported by the Golf Foundation and Sport England. Their Whole Sport Plan for golf identifies how England will achieve its vision of becoming ‘The Leading Golf Nation in the World by 2020' from grass roots right through to elite level.

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