Charlie Daughtrey’s first visit to Berkhamsted Golf Club ended with his name being added to a list of golfing legends, after a three-shot victory in the 63rd Berkhamsted Trophy.
Daughtrey’s name joins Ryder Cup Captain Luke Donald, double Major-winner Sandy Lyle, and British amateur golf’s triumvirate of greats – Peter McEvoy, Michael Bonallack and Gary Wolstenholme – as a winner of England’s traditional season-opening classic amateur tournament.
This year’s Berkhamsted Trophy, normally a 72-hole three-day event, was cut to 54 holes after heavy rain on the Friday. Saturday gave competitors a different challenge – high winds – but Daughtrey (Rotherham GC) stood alone in the field by posting three consecutive under-par rounds to finish on 209 (-4), ahead of Charlie Croker (Abridge GC) and George Sanders (Lee-on-the-Solent GC) who both posted 212 (-1).
“Any golfer who can shoot under par at Berkhamsted under these testing conditions is clearly a highly-skilled player” said Berkhamsted Golf Club Manager, Howard Craft. “Charlie outplayed the field on Saturday and deserves to have his name up there alongside the greatest amateurs in British golf, on this historic piece of silverware.
“We hope to see him back in 2025 to defend his trophy!”
Charlie Daughtrey’s started golf aged three and progressed to the England Under-16 team. He won the Yorkshire Amateur at Lindrick in 2020, and was part of last year’s winning Yorkshire team in the Men’s County Championships.
“This winter I worked incredibly hard both at the gym and down at the range at Waterfront Golf near Rotherham to get my game in shape” said the 23-year old greenkeeper, who now plays off a +3.8 handicap. “It’s the hardest I have ever practised before a season, and I knew my game was in good shape coming to Berkhamsted. My short game in particular came on leaps and bounds.
“Mentally I was really sharp, through the tournament. In the final round I avoided looking at the scoreboards – until the 16th tee, when I found I was in a three-shot lead. That’s when the nerves kicked in!”
Daughtrey kept his nerve to par the final three holes, including a tricky up-and-down on the difficult 17th. “Standing on 18 I knew I could bogey and still win, but I hit a solid 3-iron and holed a 3-footer for par to win my first national championship – this is my biggest win by far!”
Daughtrey is the latest golfer to praise the famously bunker-free Berkhamsted golf course, one of the jewels of English golf and a regular in Top 100 Golf Courses lists.
“As a first-time visitor I found Berkhamsted to be a very tough test, with the lack of bunkers meaning that you are often hitting of one of the countless fairway and greenside mounds instead.
“The greens are really subtle and run very true, with more break than you think” said Daughtrey. “I have heard that Berkhamsted is a fiery test of your game during a fast-running summer, but even in early April after heavy rain it proved to be a magnificent golf course. It held up so well in the weather conditions – few golf courses would have played that good after such a wet start to the year!”
“I have a full-time job and my golf is entirely self-funded, but I will play as full a schedule as I can in 2024” he said. “Now I know that my game is strong enough to not only compete, but also to win at the highest level, I cannot wait to step onto the first tee in my next major event.”
Charlie Daughtrey was back to his greenkeeping job on the Monday, mere hours after his victory in one of British golf’s most prestigious amateur tournaments.
The Berkhamsted Trophy became a 72-hole tournament in 2016, and in in 2020 became the first elite traditional men’s amateur golf event in the world to announce a switch to a gender-neutral entry policy.
Berkhamsted Golf Club is laid out on common land in Hertfordshire’s largest expanse of natural gorse and heather, with over five miles of bridleways and pathways running throughout the golf course and its 530-acre estate, full of natural beauty.
Situated north west of London, close to the western boundary of Hertfordshire, Berkhamsted Golf Club is easily accessible from the A41, five miles west of Hemel Hempstead and just 15 minutes from M1 Junction 8 (St Albans).
See www.berkhamstedgolfclub.co.uk for all golf club details.