5th May 2019 – Round 4 

Josh MCMAHON (ENG) won the 55th Lytham Trophy at Royal Lytham & St Annes G.C.

Josh McMahon (Photo: Golf Bible)

McMahon (22) produced a solid final round under pressure to secure the biggest title of his amateur career.

Josh McMahon’s Round 4 Scorecard (Photo: Lytham Trophy Scoring)

His round started with 13 straight pars, combining some birdie near misses with notable saves, none more so than on the 8th where he got up and down from well over the green. After having lost his way a little on 14 and 15, where he dropped three shots, he showed some composure to bounce back with a birdie on the short par 4 16th. With a par tucked away on the challenging dog leg 17th he then finished with a clutch 40 foot putt on the final green to record a 71 (+1). His total score of 288 (+8) setting a strong target for the eight remaining players following him in. A target that ultimately proved good enough.

Josh McMahon’s 72nd Hole Birdie That Secured The 2019 Lytham Trophy Title

With his win Josh rose 478 places in the Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking to 124th and has now given himself a great opportunity to make the Great Britain & Ireland 2019 Walker Cup team. The match at Royal Liverpool G.C coincidentally taking place just a few miles from his home.

Prior to McMahon’s grandstand finish Gerold FOLK (AUT) had posted a 289 (+9) total. The Austrian following his morning 72 with a best of the day 69, which also included a closing birdie. As the winds picked up there appeared a chance that his score may hold up despite 30 players teeing off after him on Day 3.

As the afternoon round proceeded it also looked for a long time as if Harry GODDARD (ENG) would be the winner. He showed no ill effects from his disappointing morning round with early birdies on the 1st, 5th and 7th. Having hit his approach close on the par 3 9th he had the chance to turn in 30 but his birdie putt just slipped by. It looked like a turning point after he went on to hit poor tee shots on the challenging 10th, 11th and 12th to quickly drop 4 shots. However, to his credit he steadied the ship parring the next five holes including a great save in the circumstances on the 17th where he holed a lengthy putt. Having then hit a long straight drive into the wind down 18 he looked to be in a strong position. Unfortunately he pushed his approach and despite playing an excellent bunker shot failed to convert a short three foot par putt effectively handing the title to the man from Wallasey G.C.

Harry Goddard Playing the 18th Hole in Round 4 (Photos: Ben Haworth)

Jack BROOKS (ENG), who incidentally bogeyed the tough 17th, finished 3rd behind Folk on countback (+9).

View the complete 2019 Results here – 2019 Lytham Trophy Results

5th May 2019 – Round 3

Play started at 7.00am on the final morning with the two leading players teeing off at 10.12am.

A round of 70, including 5 birdies, gave Bailey GILL (ENG) the 54 hole lead on 215 (+5).

Bailey Gill’s Round 4 Scorecard (Photo: Lytham Trophy Scoring)

The three leading players overnight, Harry GODDARD (ENG), Ben HUTCHINSON (ENG) and Callum FARR (ENG) all struggled in the morning round shooting 78, 77 and 83 respectively.

Ludvig ABERG (SWE) 71, Jayden SCHAPER (RSA) 72, Stephen ROGER (SCO) 73, Marc HAMMER (GER) 74 and Laurie OWEN (ENG) 75 found themselves well placed for an afternoon assault on 216 (+6), just one shot back of our new leader.

Goddard and Hutchinson were now on on 217 (+7) after Round 3 and were joined by Jack BROOKS (ENG), Euan MCINTOSH (SCO) and Joshua MCMAHON (ENG).

View the Draw for Rounds 3 and 4 here – 2019 Lytham Trophy Day 3 Tee Times

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4th May 2019 – Round 2 Report

Scores were generally higher on Saturday with stronger winds seen throughout the day and seemingly tougher hole locations on many of the greens. The CSS of 77 was one shot higher than Friday’s first round.

Harry GODDARD (ENG), Ben HUTCHINSON (ENG) and Ludvig ABERG (SWE) all posted impressive 71’s (+1) given the testing conditions. There were eleven 72’s.

Goddard holds the lead on 139 (-1) and he is now the only player under par at the Lytham Trophy. His lead could have been higher too given his relatively disappointing back nine.

Harry Goddard’s Round 2 Scorecard (Photo: Lytham Trophy Scoring)

It was another steady day on the links for Yorkshire’s Ben Hutchinson. He has recorded just 5 bogeys in his first 36 holes and now finds himself tied 2nd with the Round 1 leader Callum FARR (ENG) who posted a 75 today.

Ben Hutchinson’s Round 2 Scorecard (Photo: Lytham Trophy Scoring)

The top 40 and ties cut fell at +9 with 49 players progressing to the final day.

ME.

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3rd May 2019 – Round 1 Report

Callum FARR (ENG) shot a 65 (-5) to take the Round 1 lead in the Lytham Trophy. After a bogey on the 206 yard par 3 opener the Northampton man reeled off 6 birdies over his remaining holes.

Callum Farr’s Round 1 Scorecard (Photo: Lytham Trophy Scoring)

In an unfortunate aside one of his playing partners for the opening rounds was Taylor STOTE (ENG) who shot the highest score on Day 1; his 87 a full 22 shots more than our leader.

Harry GODDARD (ENG), out in the fourth group teeing off at 8.00am, set a strong early marker for the remainder of the field. His 68 (-2) held the clubhouse lead for over three hours.

Laurie OWEN (ENG), Stephen ROGER (SCO), Jim JOHNSTON (SCO), Ben HUTCHINSON (ENG) and James BILLINGHAM (ENG) were the only other players to shoot under par on the demanding Royal Lytham & St. Annes course. All five posted 69’s (-1).

Owen, Roger, Hutchinson and Billingham all teed off after 3.00pm and as is often the case by the sea an early or late tee time proved to be beneficial with the wind abating. Owen, who seems to have come from nowhere to record a number of high finishes this year, recorded 6 birdies in a rollercoaster of a round. The other four players were a little steadier, recording three or fours birdies each in their opening rounds.

The two highly ranked South Africans Jayden SCHAPER and Wilco NIENABER got off to good starts. Neither did any damage with opening rounds of 72 and 70.

Nienaber was joined by seven other players on 70 (Ev) and there were a further ten players who shot 71 (+1). Beyond Farr and Goddard the leaderboard is tightly packed.

Finally while perusing the hole-by-hole scores I saw Matthew CLARK‘s (SCO) card. His 80 (+10) contained a 12 on the par 3 9th. How one hole can ruin an otherwise reasonable day.

The Round 1 CSS was 76 highlighting just how good Callum Farr’s effort was.

ME.

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2nd May 2019 (Updated)

The 2019 Lytham Trophy will be played on 3rd – 5th May at Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club in Lancashire, England.

The first major event in the Great Britain and Ireland (GB&I) men’s amateur golf season is always eagerly anticipated.

Royal Lytham & St. Annes G.C. (Photo: Golf Bible)

In 2018 the Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking (SPWAR) placed it 18th in it’s list of worldwide amateur competitions based on field strength. It normally ranks 3rd in GB&I behind the Amateur Championship and the St. Andrews Links Trophy. Coming early in the season it is held back by missing out on European players studying at U.S. colleges.

Format and Tee Times

144 scratch golfers from 15 diffrent countries will tee off in what will be the 55th playing of this prestigious competition.

The Lytham Trophy is a 72-hole stroke play event. 18 holes are played on the first two days before a top 40 and ties cut is made. 36-holes are then played on the final day by the leading competitors.

In the event of a tie for the lowest score there will be a 3-hole stroke play play-off on holes 1, 2 and 18. If a winner still hasn’t been determined then the play-off moves to sudden death over the same holes.

View the Draw for Rounds 1 and 2 here – 2019 Lytham Trophy Tee Times

Royal Lytham & St. Annes G.C. Sign (Photo: Golf Bible)

Players

Most of GB&I’s leading amateur golfers will be competing.

Here are ten players to watch out for (SPWAR rankings as at 2nd May): –

Jayden SCHAPER (RSA) – SPWAR 11th
Not quite in the same league as Nienaber but Schaper will arrive in confident mood after winning the 2019 South African Amateur Stroke Play Championship.

Wilco NIENABER (RSA) – SPWAR 15th
A prolific winner in recent years the 2019 South African Amateur champion must start as one of the favourites.

Conor PURCELL (IRE) – SPWAR 22nd
The 2019 Australian Amateur champion is playing consistently well and with plenty of links experience can be expected to feature highly again.

Caolan RAFFERTY (IRE) – SPWAR 36th
Caolan has finished tied 21st, tied 7th and tied 14th in the last three Lytham Trophies. It will therefore be no surprise to see the Dundalk man go well again in 2019, particularly after his recent win in the West of Ireland Open Championship.

Euan WALKER (SCO) – SPWAR 43rd
The 2019 African Amateur champion knows a top 10 finish at Lytham will go a long way to securing his place in the 2019 GB&I Walker Cup team.

Tom SLOMAN (ENG) – SPWAR 47th
A recent win in the Individual competition at the European Nations Team Championship in Sotogrande, Spain will have gone a long way to securing Tom’s place in this year’s GB&I Walker Cup team.

Joey SAVOIE (CAN) – SPWAR 56th
Canadian Savoie played well in Australia earlier this year and will be looking to secure a high finish at Lytham.

Tom PLUMB (ENG) – SPWAR 83rd
Plumb, recent winner of the Cape Province Open in South Africa, is the highest 2018 finisher returning this year. Another 5th place or better in 2019 would be very welcome for the Dorset man whose Walker Cup ambitions are increasing by the month.

Jake BURNAGE (ENG) – SPWAR 105th
Saunton’s Burnage finished 3rd at Lytham in 2017 and whilst he has been a bit inconsistent since he is certainly capable of another high finish.

Tom MCKIBBIN (N.I.) – SPWAR 339th
Tom will arrive on the Fylde coast full of confidence having won both the Peter McEvoy Trophy and Junior Invitational in the last few weeks. Sweden’s Marcus Kinhult won the latter in South Carolina before travelling back to England and winning The Lytham. Could Tom complete a hat-trick ?

Course

The famous Royal Lytham links course certainly presents a stern test. Playing off the blue championship tees competitors have to meet a 7,118 yard par 70 challenge; the front nine being 3,437 yards, a par 34, and the back nine being 3,681 yards, a par 36.

Like The Open Championship players will tee off between 7.30am and 3.40pm on the Friday and Saturday so changes in the weather and wind speeds throughout the first two days often play a big part in scoring.

Weather Forecast

The weather forecast (as at Thursday 2nd May) looks dry, albeit cold, with only moderate breezes expected during the competition.

Friday 3rd May – Light Cloud / Wind 11 mph N / Temp. Min. 3°C, Max. 10°C.
Saturday 4th May – Sunny Intervals / Wind 16 mph N / Temp. Min. 3°C, Max. 11°C.
Sunday 5th May – Sunny Intervals / Wind 14 mph NW / Temp. Min. 6°C, Max. 10°C.

Prizes

The Winner receives a silver replica of the Lytham Trophy, both of which are shown below.

The Lytham Trophy and the Winner’s Replica (Photo: Royal Lytham & St. Annes G.C.)

The 2018 Lytham Trophy

Matthew JORDAN (ENG) won the 2018 Lytham Trophy by an impressive 9-shots after recording rounds of 67, 69, 70 and 66 – not one of over par – for a 272 total (-8).

Mitch WAITE (ENG) finished 2nd with a 281 (+1) total whilst Sam LOCKE (SCO) and David NYFJALL (SWE) finished tied 3rd with a 284 (+4) score. Tom PLUMB (ENG) was 5th, one shot further back, on 285 (+5).

49 players on +7 or better made the top 40 and ties cut in a competition unusually played in dry and sunny weather.

Click here to view the full 2018 Lytham Trophy results – Final Results

Matthew Jordan (Photo: Angie McGlue)

History, Past Winners and Records

The competition was first played in 1965 after the Club identified a need for a new top class amateur competition and one that could be played in the North of England.

A date on the first weekend in May was established and a 72 hole stroke play format adopted.

Member’s subscribed to purchase the unique sputnik trophy. This remains at Royal Lytham with a smaller replica handed out annually to the winner.

As one would expect the list of past winner’s is a who’s who of GB&I and more recently world amateur golf.

Of the older winners the most notable are: –
Michael BONALLACK – 1965 (s), 1972
Rodney FOSTER – 1967, 1968
Geoffrey MARKS – 1970 (s)
Charles GREEN – 1970 (s), 1974
Michael KING – 1973
George MACGREGOR – 1975
Peter MCEVOY – 1978
Ian HUTCHEON – 1980
Roger CHAPMAN – 1981
John HAWKSWORTH – 1984
Paul BROADHURST – 1988
Gary EVANS – 1990, 1991
Stephen GALLAGHER – 1995
Graham RANKIN – 1997
Stuart WILSON – 2003
(s) = shared

In 2004 21 year old James HEATH won with a record score of 266 (-18), recording rounds of 67, 68, 66, and 65. Garth McGimpsey, the then Walker Cup captain, described Heath’s performance as ‘the best amateur golf I’ve ever seen’.

No one else has ever come close to this mark before or after. The next best scores being Daan HUIZING’s 273 in 2013 and Richard MCEVOY’s 276 in 2001.

In 1999 the Lytham Trophy was won by German Tino SCHUSTER, the first time a non-GB&I player had been successful.

The eight winners prior to Matthew JORDAN show just how international the amateur game has become. However, after a spell of overseas winners the last three have all come from England: –
Paul CUTLER – 2010 (Ireland)
Jack SENIOR – 2011 (England)
Daan HUIZING – 2012 (The Netherlands)
Albert ECKHARDT – 2013 (Finland)
Thriston LAWRENCE – 2014 (South African
Marcus KINHULT – 2015 (Sweden)
Alfie PLANT – 2016 (England)
Jack SINGH BRAR – 2017 (England)

Here’s is the Winner’s Board which is situated on the main staircase in the Royal Lytham & St. Annes G.C. clubhouse.

Lytham Trophy Past Winners’ Board (Photo: Golf Bible) 

ME.

Copyright © 2019, Mark Eley. All rights reserved.