Darlington Golf Club will represent Durham in the England Champion Club Tournament following victory in the Durham Clubs Championship at Barnard Castle.
Andrew Wilson, who was beaten in the third round of the English Amateur Championship by City of Newcastle’s Alex Dixon, returned home to lead the team. The England international posted the best individual score in the event with rounds of 67 and 66 as his team posted a total of 448.
Darlington won the countback with Bishop Auckland thanks to Wilson’s 36-hole total, capping an incredible season for the Haughton Grange club – which has won the double of Durham Clubs and Teams Handicap titles – something only achieved once before, in 1964 by Ravensworth Golf Club.
Add victory in the Teesside Union Division Two League and the Teesside Union Teams Championship, plus the 1908 Salver – a competition played for by clubs who were founded in 1908 – and it’s no wonder Darlington captain John Austin was elated.
Darlington now head to the England Champion Club Tournament at Huddersfield next month, where Dixon and his City of Newcastle teammates Mark Wharton and Phil Ridden, winners of the Northumberland Clubs title, will be among those vying for the national title.
