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Boys Trials - Stoneleigh GC - 15th April
This is the first of the Warwickshire Union Championships for 2004 and it always attracts all the best Junior golfers as well as those who are on the fringes of selection or are young golfers showing some talent. Last year, a new face in Mark James (Whitefields) beat off notables such as Chris Evans for this first win of the season. James went on to play for the County, on the back of his excellent score.

Chairman of Junior Golf, Brian Fish, will have already picked his team for the 4 Counties, which is just two days after the Boys Trials. That team is only eight players but for County matches, 10 or 12 players are required and there are friendly matches where promising golfers can be given a chance to show how good they are at matchplay. A top 10 performance in the Trials is a must if someone wants to be considered for one of the teams but if a player has a bad day, there are still opportunities to be selected if a Junior does well through the season, something which will reflected in doing well in the JoM.

One player whose play got better and better through the 2003 season was Chris Doughill, a member at Stoneleigh Deer Park GC, the venue for the Boys Trials. He will be one of the favourites, to go with players such as Sam Foster, Dean Lake, Andy Sullivan, Rob Browning and Jak Hamblett - as well as Andy Evans, Neil Taylor, Dale Marson and Ben Stafford who have already had some success during their Junior careers.

Chris Doughill played in matches towards the end of the season and also used the coaching he and around 20 others had received from the Union teaching professionals during the previous winter to take his game to the level required to play and do well in EGU Championships. Chris played well in his Club competitions and in a number of Junior Opens to take his handicap down to a level where he could play in virtually any Junior Championship.

Of the younger Juniors, three names stand out - those of Jack Sant, Steve Mumford and Andrew Geraghty. Perhaps one or two of these players will feature in the Junior League side, as might Sam Hufton, in his final year before Senior golf and now a possessor of a 1 handicap. Just about to start playing top level Junior golf will be Nathan Ray and the 2003 U11s Champion, Jamie Carney.

Jamie featured in the JoM Championship last year, the final event of the season for the Top 24 in the JoM to that point. For this year, Junior Organisers will again be able to award points for their Club competitions and they will be able to receive scores (to change handicaps) directly an event has finished. All this will be done through each Junior having a unique code number (a GSA) through which they can enter competitions (AND PAY), and will be used for live scoring for which this will be the first event in the UK to use this new facility.

The competitors will face a very different style of course in Stoneleigh, a true Parkland venue which will produce a worthy winner. There is a river to cross (three times) - after players have navigated around (and over) some of the oldest trees on any golf course.

David Morgan on 2004-01-01