SUNNINGDALE, ENGLAND | Youngsters have always cut a swathe through amateur golf.
There have been exceptions, of course. It’s not that long ago, for instance, that the Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team had a six-match stalwart in the guise of Gary Wolstenholme, a man who shunned the notion of making money at golf until he finally turned professional at 48.
But fresh-faced youngsters do tend to dominate the headlines. One of the most prominent on European soil in recent times was the precocious Matteo Manassero, the Italian who, at 16, became the youngest winner of the Amateur Championship in 2009 and, less than a year later, still shy of his 17th birthday, became the then-youngest player to make the cut in the Masters.
Thoughts of such exploits came to mind at last week’s Brabazon Trophy (a.k.a. the English Men’s Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship) on the New Course at Sunningdale, an event which seemed set to be won by one or another new young thruster before a golfer of almost middle-age (22) lifted the trophy.
The week started with the announcement that England Under-16 star Kris Kim had been unveiled as the first amateur to be sponsored by the CJ Group, the South Korean global company which has hosted PGA Tour’s CJ Cup since 2017 and counts Sungjae Im and Si Woo Kim among its stable.
A Google search of “Kris Kim” leads one down the path of Jenner family gossip, but the 15-year-old from Walton Heath is aiming to mess with that particular algorithm. He has made a swift start to 2023, winning the Fairhaven Trophy by six shots and maintaining an unbeaten record in the England Under-16s.
Emboldened by his financial backing – another example of the brave new world of amateur golf – and fuelled by genes – his mother Ji-Hyun Suh was among the early Koreans on the LPGA in the 1990s – Kim got off to a flyer, carding a first-round 66 that left him alone in second.
It was not enough, however, for the lead. That was claimed by 16-year-old Sean Keeling of Ireland, with a 65, and by the end of the third round he had extended his advantage to five over compatriot Liam Nolan.
The final day proved to be a trial for both men, with Keeling the first to wilt. As they played the par-3 fifth hole, their paths crossed with England’s Zach Little, who was playing the 13th after completing the front nine in just 29 blows (6 under).
Older than Kim and Keeling yet still only 18, Little was having no difficulty creating an impression of his own across this fabled heathland. The son of former European Tour pro (and five-time Challenge Tour winner) Sam Little, he would sign for a 7-under 63 that set a clubhouse target of 3-under 277 and give him nearly 90 minutes to ponder the prospect of a playoff.
Scotland’s own teenage hope, 16-year-old Connor Graham, was also in the hunt for the title until finding a bush from the tee of that same fifth hole. From a high point on the illustrious property, demanding a bold strike to an exposed green with slopes and danger both left and right, short and wide, it ruined many cards all week.
It threatened to destroy Nolan’s hope when his tee shot hit a bank at the back of the green and ricocheted 50 yards beyond the putting surface. His blind recovery shot was little short of Ballesteros-like – a high-flying, gently-landing moment of magic he later conceded “would have been good if it had left me 20 feet for par,” but actually he was left with no more than 5. He secured his 3, and it would not be the first time his short-game skills dazzled the galleries.
“It was a day of poor iron play,” the 22-year-old from Galway said afterwards, adding: “But I kept myself in it with a warm wedge game.” A voice in the crowd put it another way. “He has the hands of a surgeon,” he cooed in awe.
Stood behind the green on the par-5 final hole, Nolan needed yet another up-and-down, this time to make birdie and force Little into a playoff. Delicate hands converted the opportunity and, on the second extra hole, he faced more or less the exact same slippery shot and repeated it.
“Winning the South American Amateur Championship in Ecuador in January was my biggest achievement in the game, but this is the new No. 1, and by a long way.”
Liam NOLAN
Little, whose birdie putt on the first extra hole had grazed the hole, left his own pitch 10 feet short of the hole but courageously drained the putt. Alas, he failed to save par on the third playoff hole after his approach came up short. In contrast, Nolan yet again guided a swift chip to tap-in range to secure the title.
“I had a few bad breaks early in the week, and I had to dig deep,” Nolan said of his pre-cut scores of 72-70, but he added 67-68 at the weekend for his second significant win of 2023.
“Winning the South American Amateur Championship in Ecuador in January was my biggest achievement in the game, but this is the new No. 1, and by a long way,” he said. “To come to a place like Sunningdale, with so much history, in an event with so much prestige, and to keep fighting after that start, it’s very sweet and very exhausting.”
Little was devastated by the near-miss, but it was a fourth top-two finish for the year. England’s James Claridge, involved in a car accident early in the week, defied sore limbs to finish alone in third on 2 under. Keeling shared fourth with England’s Jake Plumb. Graham slipped back into a tie for 10th, and Kim ended the week sharing 20th.
So many bright and breezy young pups, so many hopes and dreams for their future, and across the North Sea was a result to remind them that no journey from tyro to tour is straightforward.
Manassero was playing in Denmark last week. His rise in the game was swift. He joined the pro ranks shortly after that Augusta National debut and within a year had become both the youngest winner and youngest two-time winner in European Tour history.
Ten years ago this month, at age 20, he won the BMW PGA Championship for his fourth European Tour title. Then the victories dried up. Shortly afterwards, so did the top 10s, the top 20s, the top 30s and then the weekend golf. He lost his card at the end of 2018, and the sense that he had returned to the bottom of the mountain was even emphasised by the third-tier golf he found himself playing: on the Alps Tour.
On Sunday, he won the Challenge Tour’s Copenhagen Challenge – and he’s still only 30.
RESULTS
E-MAIL MATT
Top: Liam Nolan, 22, says he had to "dig deep" after a few bad breaks early in the week.
LEADERBOARD PHOTOGRAPHY