Darlington Golf Club’s Callum Moncur stormed through the field on the final day to earn a runner-up finish in the World Junior Golf Championship at Amendoeira Golf Resort in Portugal.
Having qualified for the event through the British Junior Golf Tour, 18-year-old Callum teed it up in his final junior event in Portugal alongside boys from around the world.
Having opened with rounds of 78 and 76 on the Faldo Course, Callum posted a one under-par final round of 71 – the best score of the day – to finish just one shot behind Englishman Jake Plumb.
“The event was a brilliant experience, it felt just like playing on the tour,” said Callum, who holds a handicap of +1.1.
“The flag parade before the tournament was great to be part of, then it was all about the golf. I made a few mistakes in round one, then I played brilliantly in the second round, but just couldn’t get a putt to drop.
“Six behind going into the final round, I thought a top-three would be a great result. I made one mistake all day – at the first – then played the next 17 holes in two under-par to move up five places.
“It’s probably the proudest moment of my golf career so far. My goal before the week was to win my final event as a junior and I came very close to achieving that.
“Now I’m looking forward to a full season in the men’s ranks. I’m aiming to get into as many national events as possible, plus Open Qualifying. Hopefully I’ll be able to attract a couple of sponsors to support that goal and have a busy season at the biggest amateur events.”
The 17-18-year-old age category of World Junior Golf Championship awarded World Amateur Golf Ranking points, and all the results from the 2023 tournament can be found at worldjuniorgolf.co
