Teenage duo learn valuable lessons after losing out in Portugal
Rising stars James Wilson and Barclay Brown have both said they are better for the experience of playing in the 2016 Telegraph BMW Junior Golf Championship at Quinta do Lago in Portugal.
Wilson, the 17-year-old Tyneside and Close House golfer who won the Durham County Matchplay Championship this year, went into the final day of the tournament in second place and just two strokes adrift of leader Harry Goddard after opening rounds of 69 and 73.
However Wilson struggled to a closing round of 78 to finish two shots outside the top three and 12 strokes behind runaway winner Goddard.
He said: “The course conditions were certainly different to what we get back home. I could have won but by the last round tiredness kicked.
“I wasn’t used to the small fields and the television cameras but it certainly helps prepare you for what lies ahead.”
Meanwhile, Sheffield’s Barclay Brown, who has been named in the England Boys squad for 2017, is aiming to make it third time lucky in next year’s championship.
Brown, who finished seventh on his tournament debut in 2015, managed to clinch third place this time around and the former winner of North of England Under 14 title at South Moor is aiming for the top spot in 2017.
Brown, 15, who plays at The Hallamshire Golf Club along with European Tour star Matthew Fitzpatrick – a previous winner of the event – said: “I played well. I was striking it great on the final day and I could have won overall.
“It’s the second time I’ve managed to pull it back in the final round and finish in a good position.
“It has been great this year and the course has really come on since my first visit. The course was awesome and the greens were dangerously quick.”
Brown is one of eight new faces in the nine-strong England Boys squad – Norfolk’s Toby Briggs the only player to return from the last squad.
