Whitley Bay teen is the youngest to score an albatross at South Moor during club’s successful under-14 open
Rosie Belsham may only be 14, but she is already the Northumberland under-21 champion and has set a benchmark at South Moor.
An England junior squad member, Rosie holed out from 166 yards in a regional open tournament to become the youngest player in the 93-year history of the club to sign for an albatross – or three under-par – at the par five second hole.
Rosie’s first albatross followed her first hole-in-one during a Saturday morning friendly match at her home club, Whitley Bay, earlier this season against her mother, Gina. Rosie aced Whitley Bay’s third hole, despite cutting her mother some slack by playing off the men’s tees.
The albatross was chalked up in the second round of the three-day North of England Under-14 Open. Supported by the Stanley Area Action Partnership, the tournament attracted players to Co Durham from across Great Britain as well as Dubai and South Africa.
Rosie, a pupil at Whitley Bay High School, was runner-up in the girls section and one of the event organisers, Guy Carr, said: “We get an albatross at the second hole about once every five years, and never before from a player so young.”
The second hole was 425 yards for the tournament and Rosie’s tee shot finished 55 yards from a copse of trees. She soared over them with a wind-assisted six iron which hit the right fringe of the green before rolling down and across almost the entire width of the green into the hole.
This season has also seen Rosie, a member of England Golf’s North Region Under-16 Squad, finish in a share for second place in the Scottish Girls Under-14 Championship.
The overall North of England title goes to the boy or girl with the best gross score and it was shared on 11 over-par by two Hertfordshire players, Max Hopkins and Ben Pierleoni.
The event was highly successful for Hertfordshire as Zainab Jepp triumphed in the girls section, signing off the final round with a 30ft putt, and George Durkan joined the tournament champions to form the Hertfordshire County Boys side which claimed the team trophy.
Gabe Somerville Smith, from Consett Golf Club, won the under-12 handicap section playing off 22.
One of the organisers, Guy Carr, said: “Every year we try and increase the profile and professionalism of the event. None of this would be possible without the support we get from the local community.”
For more information and the tournament scoreboard, visit www.northofenglandu14golf.co.uk
