Jayden Tucknott added the boys island championship sponsored by DJW Prestige Vehicle Sourcing to his growing collection of silverware with a hard fought victory over Lewis Marley yesterday. Jayden had come through his qualifying round against Noah Davy, meanwhile Lewis prevailed against in form Conor Mckenna. Such is the unique camaraderie in junior golf, both defeated players caddied for their opponents in the final.
Conditions were tough with a difficult wind but right from the start the golf was exceptional. The boys shared an incredible nine birdies in the morning session. Jayden finished strongly with birdies at 14, 15 and 17 but Lewis hit a stunning tee shot at 18 and made the birdie to keep the deficit to two at the break.
Jayden got off to a good start in the afternoon and was quickly 4up, Lewis however was battling hard and a birdie at the 5th cut the lead before Jayden won the 9th and 11th to put himself in pole position. Jayden then hit a superb tee shot on the 12th to set up a great chance of birdie. Lewis to his credit responded with a brilliant tee shot of his own. With both players just missing their putts Jayden was now dormy 6up and the match appeared to be over. Lewis however had other ideas and hit a magnificent tee shot on the 13th which pitched on the green and ran up to the top tier to set up a brilliant birdie. Showing tremendous flighting spirit, he then followed up with a birdie on the 14th to win the hole. Jayden kept his cool though and a half at the 15th was good enough to close out the match 4&3 for a deserved victory.
The quality of golf was good enough to grace any final and huge credit to both players for putting on a fantastic show. Congratulations to Jayden on a brilliant performance and he will go into the Hampshire Junior Championship this week full of confidence. As for Lewis, he should be very proud of his performance, displaying great skill and resilience it was fantastic to see one of our finest young players back in form and he too can take some real positives for the trip to Hampshire.
Jayden will take on Jersey junior champion Nathan Crake-Jones at La Moye next weekend and we wish him the very best of luck
