Duke of York Young Champions Trophy

Duke of York Young Champions Trophy
Tournament information

Location	United Kingdom
Established	2001, 15 years ago
Course(s)	2016: Royal Birkdale
Format	Stroke play
Month played	September
Current champion
Oliver Lindell

First played in 2001, the Duke of York Young Champions Trophy is a unique, international 54-hole stroke play golf tournament for boys and girls who are either the current holders of their Under 18 National Championship or have won some other major golfing event in the preceding twelve months. The event is supported by the R&A and their affiliated national governing bodies and counts towards the World Amateur Golf Rankings and the American Junior Golf Association's performance based entry system.

History

First played in 2001, the event was created by HRH The Duke of York and John Simpson. This highly rated invitational event, supported by the R&A, and aims to promote the development of junior golf, encourage competitiveness and friendship between individual champions whilst also offering a unique opportunity for boys and girls to compete for the same Trophy on a top quality UK links course. The standard of competition continues to be incredibly high with the average handicap for last year's event being an impressive +1.5.

The tournament has grown from having just 11 competitors from six countries in 2001, to a field of 55 champions from 32 countries in 2013. The Duke of York Young Champions Trophy is organised in many ways like a professional tournament in order to give the potential stars of the future a chance to experience what life as a golf professional might involve; hence the inclusion of sponsors and official functions, including the Official Dinner hosted by HRH The Duke of York, as well as an educational talk. Past players include Rory McIlroy, Anna Nordqvist, Matteo Manassero and Tom Lewis.

Sponsors of the tournament include PGA European Tour, BMW, Ricoh, InterContinental Hotels Group, Man Group, The Fortune, Mizuno, and Callaway Golf Company.

Academic and golf scholarships

The Duke of York Sports Foundation is a registered charity established in 2004 to promote amateur sports. Academic and golf scholarships have been awarded since September 2007 to provide under 18 boys and girls with the opportunity to receive a high standard of education whilst at the same time focusing on their golf and offer an alternative to studying and training in the USA.

Wellington College in Berkshire was chosen as the school that met all the criteria required to support both aspects of the scholarship. As one of the best co-educational independent private schools in Britain, it offers the International Baccalaureate, a good standard 9-hole golf course and practice facilities on site. It is also located near many excellent courses (including Wentworth and Sunningdale), coaches and major airports.

Candidates must meet Wellington College's academic standard, demonstrate a high level of golfing ability with clear signs of potential and are selected on a case by case basis. To date, the Foundation has awarded five academic and golf scholarships. All the scholars are aged between 14 and 17, with handicaps ranging from three to plus-two. The Foundation's aim is to award eight to ten scholarships to individuals by 2011.

Champions

Year	Venue	Champion	Winning score	Winning margin	Runner(s)-up	Leading Boy/Girl	Competitors	Countries
2001^[1]	Royal Liverpool	Michael Nester	210 (−6)	7 strokes	Grigory Bondarenko	Clare Queen	11	6
2002^[2]	Royal Liverpool	Carlos del Moral	219 (+3)	5 strokes	Cian MacNamara	Azahara Muñoz	26	13
2003^[3]	Castletown	Rikard Karlberg	219 (+3)	6 strokes	Pablo Martín	Justine Barbier	31	16
2004^[4]	Kingsbarns	Zac Gould	212 (−4)	3 strokes	Rory McIlroy	Anna Nordqvist	36	20
2005^[5]	Castletown	Oliver Fisher	212 (−4)	1 stroke	Andrea Pavan	Anna Nordqvist	39	20
2006^[6]	Dundonald	Sam Hutsby	216 (E)	2 strokes	Marc Dobias Robin Wingardh	Carly Booth	42	22
2007^[7]	Dundonald	Claudio Vigano	220 (+4)	2 strokes	Giulia Molinaro Isabelle Boineau Joachim Hansen	Giulia Molinaro	49	28
2008^[8]	Dundonald	Stiggy Hodgson	212 (−4)	11 strokes	Arnaud Abbas	Marieke Nivard	51	28
2009^[9]	Dundonald	Moriya Jutanugarn	218 (+2)	1 stroke	Laetitia Beck	Richard Jung	57	34
2010^[10]	Royal St George's	Gudmundur Kristjansson	218 (+5)	1 stroke	Dermot McElroy	Leona Maguire	57	32
2011^[11]	Royal Liverpool	Harry Casey	226 (+13)	Playoff	Harang Lee	Harang Lee	57	31
2012^[12]	Royal Troon	Ragnar Gardarsson	225 (+12)	Playoff	Max Orrin Katja Pogacar	Katja Pogacar	53	31
2013	Royal St George's	Guido Migliozzi	215 (+2)	1 stroke	Jack Singh Brar	Nicole Morales	55	32
2014	Royal Aberdeen	Gisli Sveinbergsson	137 (−5)*	4 strokes	Ren Okazaki	Carlotta Ricolfi	57	30
2015	Prince's	Oliver Lindell	207 (−9)	1 stroke	Felix Palson	Carlotta Ricolfi	56	29
2016	Royal Birkdale
2017	Royal Liverpool

^* Due to fog and poor visibility, the 2014 competition was reduced to 36 holes.

Courses

The Duke of York Young Champions Trophy is held at links courses across the UK. So far it has been hosted by nine different courses over its thirteen-year history. Dundonald Links has played host to the tournament four times.

Duke of York Young Champions Trophy (the United Kingdom)

Participating countries

As of 2014, 50 countries have participated in the Duke of York Young Champions Trophy.

Legend

1st — Champion
x — Did not participate
1 — Number of participants

Country	2001 (11)	2002 (26)	2003 (31)	2004 (36)	2005 (39)	2006 (42)	2007 (49)	2008 (51)	2009 (57)	2010 (57)	2011 (55)	2012 (53)	2013 (55)	2014 (57)	Total (619)
England	2	2	4	2	3	5	2	4	3	2	4	4	3	4	44
Scotland	2	2	2	3	3	3	1	3	2	1	1	3	3	3	32
Sweden	x	1	2	3	3	2	2	3	2	2	2	2	2	3	29
Italy	x	2	2	1	2	2	4	1	2	2	2	2	2	4	28
Denmark	x	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	26
Wales	2	1	1	4	3	1	1	2	1	2	2	1	1	2	24
Belgium	x	x	2	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	2	2	2	24
South Africa	x	x	x	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	2	3	24
Ireland	2	2	2	1	2	1	1	1	1	4	3	x	1	1	22
Finland	x	2	2	1	3	2	1	2	1	2	1	1	2	2	22
Norway	x	2	x	x	x	2	3	2	2	2	3	2	2	2	22
Iceland	x	x	2	3	1	2	2	2	1	1	2	2	2	2	22
Switzerland	x	x	x	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	21
Czech Republic	x	x	x	x	2	2	2	1	3	2	1	2	3	2	20
France	x	2	x	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	x	x	x	19
Austria	x	x	2	1	2	2	1	1	2	2	2	x	1	2	18
Spain	1	4	3	3	x	1	1	1	2	x	1	x	x	x	17
Germany	x	2	1	x	1	2	1	2	1	2	3	1	1	x	17
Netherlands	x	x	x	1	x	x	2	3	3	2	x	2	2	2	17
Japan	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	2	2	2	2	3	2	2	15
Turkey	x	x	x	1	1	1	2	1	2	1	1	1	2	1	14
Slovenia	x	x	x	x	x	1	2	x	2	2	2	2	1	2	14
Canada	x	x	x	x	x	x	2	2	2	2	x	1	x	2	11
USA	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	2	2	2	2	3	11
India	x	x	x	x	x	x	2	x	1	1	1	2	2	x	9
Portugal	x	x	2	x	x	x	2	x	1	2	x	1	1	x	9
Thailand	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	2	2	3	2	x	x	x	9
Russia	2	2	1	1	x	x	x	1	x	x	x	x	x	x	7
Hungary	x	x	x	x	1	x	x	1	1	x	1	1	1	1	7
Estonia	x	x	x	x	1	1	1	x	1	1	x	x	1	x	6
Luxembourg	x	x	x	x	1	2	x	x	x	x	1	1	x	1	6
Latvia	x	x	x	x	x	x	2	2	1	x	x	x	x	1	6
Mexico	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	2	2	2	6
Israel	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	1	2	1	x	x	1	x	5
Argentina	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	1	1	3	x	5
Puerto Rico	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	1	1	1	1	1	5
Poland	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	1	1	x	x	1	1	4
Greece	x	x	x	x	x	x	1	1	1	x	x	x	x	x	3
Hong Kong	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	1	1	1	x	x	x	3
Trinidad & Tobago	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	1	1	1	3
Monaco	x	x	1	1	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	2
South Korea	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	1	x	1	x	x	x	2
Colombia	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	1	1	x	x	2
Bulgaria	x	x	x	x	x	x	1	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	1
Jamaica	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	1	x	x	x	x	1
Northern Ireland	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	1	x	x	1
New Zealand	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	1	x	x	1
Paraguay	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	1	x	1
Australia	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	1	1
Dominican Republic	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	1	1

Notable past players

Rory McIlroy: winner of the 2011 U.S. Open and the 2012 PGA Championship
Anna Nordqvist: winner of the 2009 LPGA Championship
Matteo Manassero: winner of the 2009 British Amateur, the 2013 BMW PGA Championship and winner of three other European Tour events
Melissa Reid: winner of four Ladies European Tour events
Pablo Martín: winner of three European Tour events
Carly Booth: winner of two Ladies European Tour events
Sam Hutsby: runner-up in the 2009 British Amateur and 2009 Walker Cup Team member
Oliver Fisher: youngest ever Walker Cup player in 2005
Tom Lewis: Silver Medal winner at the 2011 Open Championship
Laetitia Beck: Israeli champion, and gold medal winner in the 2009 and 2013 Maccabiah Games.

References

External links

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