LYTHAM ST ANNES, ENGLAND | In one sense there was an element of sadness when, 12 months ago, England’s Kris Kim was neither defending the Fairhaven Trophy he had won in 2023 or up the road competing in the Lytham Trophy.
In another sense, he was there after all. Not in person, not in spirit, but in high definition on the television set in the clubhouse bar.
Outside, youngsters were seeking to emulate his triumph. Inside, Kim was on-screen as he almost made a hole-in-one in the third round of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, across the Atlantic at TPC Craig Ranch in Dallas, Texas, shortly after becoming the fifth-youngest golfer to make the cut on the PGA Tour.
Yes, Kim was just 16 when he made headlines last year which meant he was still eligible to play in Fairhaven Golf Club’s annual boys event. In fact, he was still eligible to play in it last week when he instead returned to Texas for another crack at elite level professional competition.
But the members at this club on the north-west coastline of England did not remotely begrudge Kim his moment in the limelight. On the contrary, they were absolutely tickled that a golfer could have made the leap from their fairways and greens to the big time in such a short period of time.
Moreover, Kim was not the first Fairhaven Trophy winner to make noise at the top end of the game. The 2017 winner, for example, was a young Swede who impressed members as much with his good manners as his game. Two years ago they were watching him on the bar’s big screen, too, as he helped Europe win the Ryder Cup in Rome. They won’t be forgetting Ludvig Åberg any time soon.
The Fairhaven Trophies are not yet 20 years old – the first boys event was in 2007, a girls edition was introduced a year later – but the tournaments have already established themselves as favourites with youngsters across the United Kingdom, but also with teams from across Europe.
Its capacity to identify talent has also been corroborated by the back-to-back triumphs in 2013 and 2014 of Marco Penge and Nick Bachem’s victory in 2016. The former won the Hainan Classic on the DP World Tour late last month, the latter opened his account on the same circuit in 2023’s Jonsson Workwear Open.
But the value of the two competitions goes well beyond whichever two golfers end the week lifting trophies. For European teams, in particular, this week by the English seaside has become a vital rite of passage, not least because the boys event is seen as something of an unofficial younger brother of the aforementioned Lytham Trophy, which takes place a couple of miles away at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
Mikael Detterberg Imstedt is a coach with the Swedish golf team which has made the Fairhaven and Lytham Trophy doubleheader an integral part of the national programme for more than 10 years.
“There are no two tournaments anywhere in the world like this for us,” he explained. “We can integrate younger golfers who are new to the setup with more experienced players.
“It also suits our schedule so well. We play very little golf in Sweden from November to the middle of April. We had our grand opening last weekend, which is when we celebrate the reopening of courses. It’s true. We play indoors during the winter.
“But this tournament and the Lytham Trophy are a bit like the grand opening of international summer competition for us – and for someone like Ludvig Åberg this was like the grand opening of his career.”
Fairhaven, like Royal Lytham & St Annes, is a links layout that nestles among residential housing rather than sitting snug by the coastline. But, as Bernard Darwin noted, “There is something attractively secret about it.”
That’s because, unlike its famous neighbour, once you turn into the car park at Fairhaven suburbia disappears. The property is surrounded by dense woodland that is both a blessing (it creates that seductive solitude) and also a curse, because like many old courses the trees and plants also overtook the course.
Working with course architect Martin Ebert, of Mackenzie & Ebert, the club has removed the more invasive plants, an initiative that has worked wonders and in spring sunshine the course could not have looked more welcoming, a trait that is echoed in the clubhouse where your correspondent was immediately greeted like an old friend.
Assistant manager Helen Brooks was formerly a club support officer with England Golf, a role she left to work at Fairhaven precisely because of the healthy spirit of the membership. She cites the significant number of members who volunteer their services for the Fairhaven Trophies as evidence. “I saw in my role at England Golf,” she said, “that there is a correlation between volunteering and a strong core.”
General manager Mark Duncalf moved to the club from Royal Lytham and is clearly proud of the course, the club, the two competitions, and the wonderful coincidence of Kim’s PGA Tour appearance last year.
“The timing of it could not have been better,” he said with a laugh. “We all sat here having breakfast and he was on TV. Hours later we were back here having a drink at the end of the day and Kris was back on TV.”
As more members walk past with a kind word, or to check if anything needs doing, it’s clear that Brooks’ belief that “it’s cheesy but this club is a family” is one reason the Fairhaven Trophies are so popular.
Duncalf and Brooks are also keen to maintain momentum as the events near their third decade.
“We’ve concentrated on the girls event this year,” said Duncalf, with Brooks adding: “It’s important that we’re not only providing high-class competition for girls beyond the club, but also generating future generations of Fairhaven female golfers. The trophies are aspirational for our juniors.”
“When you listen to the Irish or Swedish federations talk about the warm welcome, we know we’re doing something right,” said Duncalf.
At which point it’s entirely fitting that Jim McFeat, an honorary member at the club and a man who has undertaken every voluntary task imaginable, arrives to chat about his favourite encounters down the years.
He recalls how Sami Valimaki, the Finn who nearly added a PGA Tour triumph to his two DP World Tour wins when he finished second in last year’s Mexico Open, was so fond of the event that when the Finnish team stopped visiting he paid his own way instead.
And then there was Ben Brown, the 2022 champion, whom McFeat was delighted to spot caddying for his brother, Daniel, when he was the first-round leader in last year’s Open at Royal Troon. McFeat leant forward and added: “Ben’s a fine player himself, you know. He carded a 2, a 3, a 4 and a 5 on the par-5 first hole when he won. Remarkable, but they’re all pretty good and we all have great fun.”
E-MAIL MATT
Top: The par-5 first hole at Fairhaven Golf Club.
COURTESY FAIRHAVEN GOLF CLUB