The Faldo Junior Tour in Great Britain headed North for the second week of the Easter holidays, to rural Cheshire for the playing of the Macdonald Portal event.
Across the three days, the wind was evident, along with softer conditions underfoot, making a long 7000-yard Championship Course stretch even further, testing the whole field. Pin positions also posed a challenge this week, with a tricky back pin on 18 in the final round catching many out and making pars was a rare sight.
Last week’s Faldo Series Masters Champion, Will Bebbington, would make a double bogey down the last hole to lose the lead to another form player in Louis Rickett. With rounds of 76, 81 and 72, Oswestry’s Louis Rickett would go one better than last week and take the Overall Title at Macdonald Portal by a single shot. Rickett produced a stunning final round of 72, only the second under-par score of the week, to gain his first WAGR.
Carl Daniel Agapito and Will Bebbington finished in second place, with Agapito winning the Boys 21 & Under title, with both players set to join Rickett at the Europe Grand Final in November. Bebbington had started the event where he left off at Brocket Hall with a 4 under par, 69, to get off to a flying start before being pegged back by the pack, also including Belgium’s Victor Marchal, who finished the week with a level par round of 73.
As well as taking the overall title, Louis Rickett also won the Boys 16 & Under category, beating second-place Oliver Newman from John O’Gaunt by 5 shots.
In the Girls 21 & Under category, Lili-Rose Hunt established a strong start on day one with an opening round of 74, whilst Scarlett Reeves was steady across the three rounds, finishing second. However, coming out on top was Lili-Rose, adding points to her current 1428 WAGR as well as booking her place in the Europe Grand Final.
In the Girls 16 & Under category, Churston’s Georgia Denega produced a level par final round of 73, to put pressure on Lili-Rose for the Girls WAGR title and defeated Leeds Golf Centre’s Ava McDaid by 7 shots in the Girls 16 & Under category. Denega will also be on the plane at the European Grand Final in November.
The Faldo Series will return to Macdonald Portal in May for the North-West England Faldo Futures Regional Final on the Arderne Course.
