Hague lands Yorkshire Amateur

DAVID HAGUE’S purple patch continued with a two-shot victory in the Yorkshire Amateur Championship at Pannal.

Malton & Norton’s Hague won’t forget the month of August in a hurry as it saw him win the York Open, pick up the Westwood Trophy and triumph at Pannal over Otley’s Phil Tomkinson, who had led after 36 and 54 holes.

England international Hague was in constant pursuit of former Yorkshire Order of Merit winner Tomkinson, who led by four after opening with rounds of 70 68, and the two were already ‘course and distance’ winners having collected the Pannal Rose Bowl in the past.

That advantage was halved in the final morning when Hague added a 71 to his opening rounds of 72 70 when the Otley man carded 73. With the two well clear of the rest of the field the final round became a matchplay contest with Hague eventually prevailing.

Hague missed from 12ft for birdie at the first in an attempt to reduce the margin immediately, but just one hole later they were level.

Tomkinson finally found his errant tee shot with seconds to spare and had to hack out and failed to save par. Hague’s pitch to 3ft set up an easy birdie and they went to the third tee level on four under par.

The pendulum swung in Tomkinson’s favour again at the shorth third when he got up and down from a greenside trap and Hague bogeyed.

But the Malton & Norton man bounced back to birdie the next and followed that with another birdie from 6ft to lead by two.

Tomkinson countered with a birdie at the seventh, but Hague’s tee shot at the 344 yard eighth almost found the short stuff and set up a birdie.

So at the turn Hague led by two on six under and that advantage was doubled at the 11th when Hague’s exquisite pitch to 3ft set up another birdie and Tomkinson missed from 6ft for par.

Hague’s first serious error of the round followed on the next hole when he failed to get out of a greenside trap at the first attempt and had to stomach a double bogey.

Both birdied the next to keep the margin at two in favour of Hague and then Tomkinson closed to within one at the 15th when he got it up and down and Hague did not.

But Hague was unlucky not to eagle the par-5 16th when his greenside chip shaved the hole and a tap-in birdie returned his lead to two. A rare show of emotion showed the significance of that passage of play as Hague sensed he had an advantage.

Neither could salvage par at the short 17th, and with a two-shot cushion Hague pulled out a long iron for his tee shot at the downhill 345-yard closing hole.

Tomkinson had little option but to take driver and hit a cracker, but Hague hit his approach to 20ft for a comfortable closing par and a two-shot win.

Three players finished three back of Tomkinson. Rotherham’s Charlie Daughtrey closed with an excellent 68, after scores of 73 73 74, to finish level par with first-round leader Tom Broxup, of Cookridge Hall) (69 76 73 70) and Hornsea’s Jack Maxey (71 76 70 71).

Hague now has two important dates in his diary this month that start at Frilford Heath on September 15 when he will represent Yorkshire in the Men’s County Champion of Champions.

And just two days later he is expected to tee it up at Stoke by Nayland in the first stage of the European Tour qualifying school.