Year Review – The best of 2024

We look back at the biggest stories of 2024 – from international success to national titles, and lots more

The 2024 season produced big stories close to home and further afield as the region’s top golfers flourished in the spotlight. Here’s the Northern Golfer team’s pick of the biggest wins, stories and successes of the year…

January
2023 men’s Champion of Champions winner Harrison Sewell committed to joining Midland Junior College in Texas, while Romanby-based Ben Brown was picked in the England men’s team following his win in the English Amateur in 2023. The first tweaks to the World Handicap System since its launch came into effect, and new men’s county presidents were installed in Northumberland and Durham as Paul Brennan and Gerry Johnson took up the roles respectively.

February
Longhirst Hall-based Charlotte Naughton – England’s number one U16 female golfer – starred on the cover of our Feb/Mar edition as she looked ahead to a season in which she would hit the headlines an incredible number of times.

March
Teesside Golf Club captain Peter Scott won the national HowDidIDo How Do We Beat It competition at Trump International, while Tyneside’s James Wilson won the NE/NW PGA’s Turkey pro am. Slaley Hall’s men’s team added to their 2023 success by winning the delayed Dixon Cup.

April
Eight aspiring tour players starred on the cover of our Apr/May edition, while Garrick Porteous won his second Challenge Tour title at the Abu Dhabi Challenge. Charlotte Naughton won three points in four matches as England were beaten by Spain in Valencia, before going on to be narrowly beaten after storming through the field and into a playoff on the final day of The R&A Girls’ U16s at The Berkshire. James Wilson added the NE/NW PGA Dundonald Links pro am title to his collection, and Northumberland Golf Club’s Harrison Sewell and Paul Caldicott lifted the Inter-County Foursomes trophy. Meanwhile, England international Lottie Woad won the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and Scottie Scheffler won his second Masters title.

May
The Northumberland’s Antonia Emmerson won her first Northumberland Ladies County Championship, while Ponteland’s Claire Brown won her fifth Northumberland County Veteran Ladies’ title. Hartlepool’s Chris Pascall handed over the England Golf presidency after her year in office, and Bishop Auckland’s Jess Hall won the first Ladies Salver at Seaton Carew. Xander Schauffele won the first of his two majors in 2024 at the PGA Championship.

June
Seaton Carew Golf Club took centre stage in our Jun/Jul edition as the club celebrated its 150th birthday and prepared to host the English Amateur Championship. Charlotte Naughton finished second in the St Rule Trophy at St Andrews while leading the field by 13 shots in The Lawson Trophy for players aged U18. Harrison Sewell broke the course record in the final round at the English U18 Championship at Hesketh to force his way into a playoff. Jess Hall won her sixth Durham County Ladies Golf Association Championship at Houghton-le-Spring. City of Newcastle-based Andrew Minnikin won his fifth Northumberland Strokeplay Championship, while Bedlingtonshire’s Alan McBride won the county’s Seniors Championship and Backworth’s Steve Anderton won the senior matchplay title. South Moor’s Ian McEntee mastered a windswept Whitburn to win the Durham County Seniors Championship, as Bishop Auckland’s Callum Brown and Wearside’s Millie Hixon were crowned Durham Boys’ and Girls’ champions respectively. Yuka Saso won the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club, and Bryson DeChambeau won his second US Open at Pinehurst.

July
Morpeth’s Cameron Twynholm became the youngest-ever winner of the Northumberland County Championship – 20 years after his dad, Sandy, won the same event. Harrison Sewell became the first amateur winner of the Northumberland & Durham Open since Chris Paisley in 2009. Brampton-based Matty Lamb won the Coca-Cola PGA Assistants’ Championship at Farleigh. Charlotte Naughton helped England win their first European Girls’ Team Championship in 19 years in Sweden – while Rosie Belsham and Jess Baker were part of the England women’s team which won bronze in Spain, and the boys’ team won silver in Austria. South Shields’ Martin McCririck won his second Durham County Championship, while Newcastle United’s Simon Lee won the Welsh Mid-Amateur at Aberdovey. Heworth-based Will Marshall won on the 2020protour at Woolley Park, and David Clark won his third NE/NW PGA Championship at Slaley Hall. Lindrick’s Holly Morgan won the Women’s PGA Professional Championship at Goswick, as Holly Haslam (Stock Brook Manor) won the Assistants’ Championship. Xander Schauffele won the 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon.

See also

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Features

·4th December 2024

Special Focus – Inn crowd

August
Romanby-based Dan Brown starred on the cover of our Aug/Sept edition – fresh off his top-10 finish in The Open Championship. Middlesbrough’s Katie Stephens won the English Amateur at Seaton Carew, as Harley Smith (The Rayleigh) lifted the men’s trophy. Charlotte Naughton helped England win the combined Girls’ & Boys’ Home Internationals for a fourth consecutive time at Conwy in Wales – then went on to help the GB&I team win the Junior Vagliano Trophy for the very first time. Trevose’s Stephen Jensen was crowned English Senior Men’s Amateur champion for a second time in three years at Brancepeth Castle as the club celebrated its centenary. PGA Tour player Callum Tarren returned to the region and topped the leaderboard in the NE/NW PGA’s Blackwell Grange pro am, while Jonathan Graham won the circuit’s Sunderland of Scotland Masters at Westerhope. Cumbria won the men’s Big Six trophy on home turf, while The Northumberland Golf Club’s five-man team came through a season of close matches to lift the Davison Cup. Wynyard’s Amy and Jack Burton were crowned Durham County Golf Union Mixed Foursomes champions, as Durham City’s Alex Robinson lifted the Durham County Golf Union’s Matchplay Championship trophy. Morpeth’s junior team beat local rivals Longhirst Hall to win The Northumbria Junior Golf League, and Newbiggin’s Adam Wright lifted the Eden Trophy at St Andrews. Lydia Ko and Scottie Scheffler won Olympic gold medals at Le Golf National, before Lydia went on to win the AIG Women’s Open at St Andrews.

September
Consett’s Jessica Dorritt, Ramside Hall’s Evan Oliver, and Slaley Hall’s Angus Buchanan won the Northern Golfer ladies, junior and men’s Champions of Champions events at Longhirst Hall respectively. Teesside Golf Club’s men’s team were crowned Dixon Cup champions at Castle Eden, and Yorkshire won the 2024 Boys’ County Finals – adding to the county’s men’s team winning the northern league title. Castle Eden’s Stuart Brown helped England successfully defend the Senior Home Internationals at Castlerock on his international debut. Durham’s senior men’s team won the right to represent the north in the English County Finals after successfully defending the Northern Counties Seniors’ Qualifying title at City of Newcastle Golf Club. David Clark won the NE/NW PGA Tour Championship at Brancepeth Castle, James Wilson won the Heineken Dunstanbugh Classic, and DP World Tour player Andrew Wilson won the Darlington pro am. Brancepeth Castle-based Richard Aisbitt won the season-long Durham Order of Merit while Boldon’s men’s team lifted the Durham County Golf Union Clark Cup for the first time in the club’s history, as George Washington won the Junior Clark Cup. Blackwell Grange-based Adam Rochester successfully defended the Northern Masters trophy at Rockliffe Hall, while Consett’s Luke Bonser won his first event as a college athlete in the US. Clubs from across the north took part in the finals days for the North East Rabbits Golf Association’s Rabbits and Inter leagues – with Hunley Hall and Cave Castle picking up the team titles. Seaton Carew was named one of the top-100 golf courses in Great Britain & Ireland for the first time in more than two decades, while Matfen Hall officially opened its new clubhouse – The Keepers. The US women’s team won The Solheim Cup at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.

October
John Matthews and Ray Pipe successfully defended the Northern Golfer Match Play Pairs title – beating Allendale’s Neil Forsyth and Peter Robson in the final at Tyneside. George Cowan won the NE/NW PGA Matchplay Championship at Slaley Hall as David Clark sealed victory in the circuit’s Mizuno Order of Merit. England’s U16s – including Teesside’s Alex Boyes and Tom Hartshorne – beat Ireland 16-14 at Burnham & Berrow, and Brampton’s Havish Aravind won the PING Junior Masters at Close House.