Henry Styles defeated Max Hopkins, 5 and 4, to win the English Amateur Championship at Royal Liverpool on Sunday.
The Romford golfer had proved his linksland savvy when winning the 2024 West of England Stroke Play at Saunton Golf Club and he once again looked at home playing the original form of the game.
“It means so much,” he said. “This was a big one on my calendar, and my goal was to qualify, which I just about made [62nd out of 64], as I knew I had a chance.” He took full advantage of that chance to land the biggest victory of his career.
Hopkins came so close to a perfect week. The Bishops Stortford player had led the stroke-play qualifying with a 14-under total that bettered second-place Elliot Baker by two shots and it was especially impressive that he completed a first-round 9-under-par 63 at Royal Liverpool (backed up by a 67 at Wallasey).
In the women’s section, also at Royal Liverpool, local girl Lucy Jamieson, a one-time caddie at the Open-hosting course, defeated Grace Bowen, 3 and 1.
Jamieson, from Heswall, was the winner of the R&A Student Series Final in 2024 and she also claimed victory in that circuit’s Portugal event earlier this season.
She was yet another to have dropped a big hint about her seaside form when she finished third in the Helen Holm Scottish Women’s Championship at Royal Troon in April.
“It means the world, and it’s even more special that it’s here,” she said. “Royal Liverpool is a little bit of a second home, so I’m happy. All the support this week was brilliant.”
Droitwich’s Bowen is another stellar student performer. Playing out of Stirling University, she was second in the British Universities and College Sport Order of Merit Final earlier this summer.
It was a special week for the men’s championship, taking place 100 years after the first edition. The women’s event was first held in 1912 and the two have been played concurrently since 2020.
At Gullane, East Lothian, Chris Somers (Murcar Links) defeated Archie Finnie (Royal Burgess), 1 up, in the final of the Scottish Men’s Amateur Championship. Somers was trailing by one hole on the 17th tee, drove through the green of the short par-4, completed the up-and-down for a winning birdie, and then added another par breaker at the final hole to clinch victory.
In the Welsh Amateur Championship at Whitchurch Golf Club near Cardiff, Max Weaver completed a dominant week with a stunning 9-and-8 victory over Paddy Mullins in the 36-hole final.
The Welshman, who caddied for his brother Tyler (who represents England) in this year’s U.S. Open at Oakmont, also won the title in 2023, but this year was an especially strong performance coming after he had led the stroke play with a 7-under total that was two shots better than the field.
In the women’s championship at the same course, Wales’ Luca Thompson defeated Fauve Birch, 4 and 3, in the final after she had qualified second from the stroke play section.
Matt Cooper