Amateur Championship
Tom Lawson from the host Club produced a great final round of 3 under par 69 to win his 4th Championship at Stoke Park on 10th August. He led after the first day after two very solid rounds as others struggled with some tricky pin positions. His 71 and 72 gave him a two shot advantage over Lindsey Woolford (Woburn) and by another 2 from Sam Whitehead (Woburn). Ashley Watkins (East Berkshire), Carl Corbin (Stoke Park) and Craig Buttivant (Gerrards Cross) were also in with a good chance with 36 holes to go and Round 3 normal produces a re-shuffle of the pack making the last round quite exciting.
As predicted the 3rd Round saw the best golf of the Championship and four players broke 70 and Ashley Watkins took the lead on 216 after a 68, which was matched by Jean-Michel Hall (Woburn) who moved up to second place. Craig Buttivant also broke 70 and he and Tom Lawson were tied 3rd on 218 and the only other serious contender was Tom Wilde on 219 after a 69.
‘Beware the injured golfer’ is the old adage and the 4th Round proved no exception. Lawson had been carrying a very long (tall) standing (excuse the pun) back problem and there was some doubt that he would make it through 72 holes. He seemed to make light of the problem and with huge hitting made mincemeat of some of the long holes at Stoke Park. He was 2 under par through 15 holes and his nearest challengers of Watkins and Buttivant were 3 and 4 shots back with 3 to play. Pars at all three of the closing holes were good enough for a 3 shot win over past County Captain Craig Buttivant who biridied the last to pip Ashley Watkins in to 3rd spot.
Click HERE for the full results.
Tom Lawson – Amateur Champion
