At 08:00 last Thursday England squad golfer James Claridge struck the very first tee shot in the 62nd Berkhamsted Trophy – and went on to win the tournament with its lowest score in history.
A superb 11-under par final total (67-66-69) saw Enville Golf Club’s Claridge lift the prestigious silverware, three shots clear of West Herts Golfer Zach Little, and a shot further ahead of Gog Magog’s Jake Plumb.
Claridge’s wasn’t the only winning performance in this year’s event, however. The 72-hole event was cut to 54 after Friday’s play was ruled out with heavy rainfall, but the fast-draining Berkhamsted golf course recovered quickly overnight to enable a full 36 holes of golf from early on Saturday morning.
“Not many inland golf courses would have been playable on Saturday after a deluge like that the day before, let alone capable of hosting an elite event for the UK’s top amateurs” said Howard Craft, Berkhamsted’s Club Manager. “But Gerald Bruce and his greens team, working with Turfgrass, have done an astonishing job on our course conditioning over the last two seasons. Their work made this year’s Trophy possible, and James was definitely a five-star winner!”
“It was an absolute joke that we got to play on Saturday, after Friday was so wet, so the fact that we played 36 on great greens was outstanding” said 20-year old Claridge, who was having his second crack at winning the Berkhamsted Trophy. “Since being picked for the England squad I have learnt to play with more aggression but less recklessness. The way Berkhamsted plays, with gorse frequently crossing the fairway, makes you think defensively but I tried to bully it a bit. Thankfully it worked!”
England Golf’s Performance Manager (Men’s Golf), Stephen Burnett, said: “James Claridge has now won two prestigious men’s amateur 72-hole events in less than a year – the Berkhamsted Trophy and last year’s Walton Heath Trophy – and we are always looking for winners at England Golf!
“He has worked enormously hard on his game recently, and is knocking on the door for the full England team. I am personally delighted for him, he can be very proud of this fantastic performance.”
On the Berkhamsted Trophy, Burnett said: “It is right up there. Although The Lytham Trophy attracts a more international entry, in the early-season events, The Berkhamsted Trophy is always a strong field and very few UK inland courses could handle an elite event at this time of year. That’s what sets Berkhamsted apart.”
18-year old Zach Little set the early pace with a blistering first-round 64 (-7), and only a single hooked tee shot on the 12th tee, which resulted in a triple bogey, ultimately stood between him and a play-off for the Trophy.
“That’s golf” said Little. “I put myself into contention but James played really well and ultimately the 12th in the final round was simply a costly mistake. But I really liked the golf course, even after the rain the greens were pure and putted great, and surprisingly fast. You’ve got to be clever round here, especially off the tee, and Berkhamsted forces you to hit shots you wouldn’t normally hit.
“The Berkhamsted Trophy is definitely one of the big events at a great time of year.”
Cambridgeshire golfer Jake Plumb, aged 18, was the only player in the field to match Claridge’s feat of shooting all three rounds in the sixties. He commented: “This was my first time playing in The Berkhamsted Trophy, and I had never played a bunker-free golf course before which makes it a tougher test – bunkers are usually a good miss for me!
“The greens were firm and impressive, especially given the wet conditions. I didn’t think we’d get all 36 in on Saturday to be honest! I played solid all week, had a bogey-free last round and holed a lot of good par putts under pressure – it’s a great start to the domestic season.”
Eight female competitors also took part, as The Berkhamsted Trophy is now a mixed event.
“There were a host of England Golf bags from players of both sexes at this year’s Trophy, which was wonderful to see” said Howard Craft. “In many ways this year’s Trophy was a real standout – we had record-breaking scoring, a strong and quite diverse field, and the golf course itself passed the stiffest-possible test with flying colours.
“The scoring is a function of the quality we now have here, underfoot. You will never blow this golf course apart, because of how tough it is – and here, length is not the issue – but nowadays we are giving these great golfers a fabulous playing surface so they can attack the hole and putt more confidently than at any previous time in the event’s 62-year history.
“Congratulations to James Claridge, whose name joins an illustrious list of winners on the Berkhamsted Trophy – and an even more illustrious list of household names including many Ryder Cup golfers who tried and failed to win this historic event while they were still amateurs!
“James showed everybody how it’s done, and we wish him well in his pursuit of a Walker Cup place at St Andrews later this year.”
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).