Trevose’s Stephen Jensen was crowned English Senior Men’s Amateur champion for a second time in three years after a riveting final against Steve Sansome at Brancepeth Castle.
In a sensational match, Stephen looked set to go 5dn while heading to the 10th green, but the 58-year-old produced a miraculous turnaround to win the title on the 18th hole in dramatic fashion.
Brancepeth Castle was in great condition as the sun shone on the final day, and the first two holes of the final saw both players make comfortable pars before the first bit of drama arrived on the third. Stephen went left, prompting a ball search, and unfortunately the ball was found in the short rough after the three-minute mark, meaning he had to head back to the tee. He eventually conceded the hole after Steve hit the green in two.
The fourth was halved and Stephen should have been all-square on the fifth after hitting the green, but the Cornwall golfer three-putted for bogey after Steve found the bunker and couldn’t get up-and-down.
The long par five sixth was halved in pars before Steve won three holes on the spin. Stephen found himself blocked out left from his tee shot on seven and couldn’t get up-and-down for par, and Steve holed a 12-footer on eight for birdie. Stephen failed to make par on the ninth with his opponent’s birdie putt nestle right next to the cup to go 4up.
It looked like it was going to be 5up on 10 when Steve, from Birstall, hit a fine tee shot, which left him a 20ft putt, and Stephen’s tee shot got a wicked bounce off a mound, right-angling underneath a buggy and just staying in play. However, in a remarkable turn of events, Stephen made a tremendous up-and-down for par to reduce the deficit to three holes as Steve three-putted.
Stephen explained: “Steve hit a fantastic rescue and it confused me a bit because I was going to hit a five-iron, I stuck with it and it went long left. I had nothing to lose really, staring defeat in the face and luckily played an exquisite chip to 4ft.”
The 2022 champion then brought the deficit back to two as he made a regulation par on 11 with Steve missing a short putt. On 12, Stephen drained a 15ft eagle putt with Steve set for birdie.
Despite the momentum being firmly with Stephen, Steve stuck his approach on 13 to 2ft. The Cornwall golfer then produced a stunning 25ft putt to halve the hole in birdies. Steve couldn’t quite get up-and-down for par on 14 after a wayward tee shot and with the match all-square on 15, the Leicestershire golfer three-putted to go behind for the first time in the match.
Stephen’s tee shot on 16 rolled behind a tree from which he did well to recover, and his chip for eagle hit the flag before Steve’s eagle putt fell just shy and the duo halved in birdies again. On 17 there was more drama as Stephen found long rough in the trees left. After taking two shots to get out, he gave the hole to Steve, who had fired his tee shot down the middle. That left the match all-square heading down 18.
Both players hit fine tee shots on the last, but Stephen showed his class and composure with his approach – the ball finishing inches from the hole for a closing birdie. Steve’s 15ft biride putt lipped out to end a mesmerising match with a 1up win for Stephen.
“The momentum changed,” said Stephen. “In my semi-final against Danny Holmes, I was in the other shoes. I was flying and leading by five and cruising, but two or three things changed and the momentum and mindset changes and that’s exactly what happened today.
“I followed up 11 with an eagle on 12, canned a fantastic putt on 13 – I just had to stay in it and rattle him a bit if I could. He’s a fantastic player and played well all day. I didn’t think I played that badly to be 4dn, but obviously not as well as Steve, then the momentum swung.
“I won 14 and 15, we halved 16 with birdies and then 17, I’m glad I’ve not got to play that tee shot again! If I stood there til I was 90 I wouldn’t par it! Then coming up 18 he put me under pressure with a fantastic drive, but I had 82 yards in and it ran up to about five inches for a stress-free birdie.
“I’m delighted to be the English champion once again, it’s always an honour to be a national champion. It’s what we all strive for and I’ve been very fortunate to win it twice in the last three years. I’ll be trying very hard to make it three in four next year! It’s one of the highlights of the calendar now and I look forwarded to trying to defend it at Burhill next year.”
Stephen also paid tribute to his wife, who drove almost five hours to come and support him in the final. He added: “We are going to go out somewhere very nice for a meal and a couple of glasses of wine and reminisce about how wonderful the whole day was. She is a calming influence, and I wouldn’t have done it without her. I got a little bit nervous against Danny in the semis and when she said she was going to come up, I said ‘please do’ as when things aren’t going my way, like on the 10th, she put her arm around me when I was walking up to the green and said: ‘Come on, we can still do this’. That’s what you need sometimes and I’m most grateful to have her here.”
Meanwhile, Consett’s John Kennedy reached the quarter-finals, and South Shields’ Nigel King made it through to the last 16 at Brancepeth, which hosted the event as part of its centenary celebrations.
