Yorkshire was named Boys’ Region of the Year at the England Golf Performance Awards at the National Golf Centre, Woodhall Spa.
The closed event saw five awards handed – including the Coach of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, and the Annual Award for Excellence in Coaching.
The 2023-24 campaign was a great one for Steven Robinson, Phil Woodcock, Mark Campbell and the Yorkshire Regional Boys’ Squad. Three of the squad received international caps at U16 level – with Tom Hartshorne competing twice, in September at the Italian Boys’ Championship and in October at Burnham & Berrow, lining up in the challenge match against Ireland.
His Teesside companion Alex Boyes achieved three caps, joining Tom for both the Italian Boys’ Championship and the U16 fixture against Ireland. He also competed in the European Young Masters in Slovakia.
Finally, the youthful George Cooper was also present at the Italian Boys’ Championship, completing the trio of Yorkshire players who received international caps in the past year.
Furthermore, 2023-24 saw the Yorkshire Boys’ Squad achieve consistent success throughout the England Boys’ Order of Merit schedule. It was a strong season across the whole squad, with highlights coming at the North of England U16 Boys, with three players inside the top-five, a top-15 finish at the Reid Trophy, a top-10 finish at the European Young Masters, a top-five finish at the Peter McEvoy, and a top-five finish at the Carris Trophy. Five of the Regional Squad also helped the Yorkshire Boys’ county team win the 2024 Boys’ County Finals at Teignmouth in August.
Meanwhile, Cheshire’s John Watson was named Coach of the Year having helped the England Girls’ teams to wins in U16 matches against Spain, Switzerland and Ireland. There were also individual player wins at the Scottish Girls’ Open Championship and Irish Girls’ Open Championship for Chloe Tarbard and Sadie Adams respectively. There was also a European Young Masters bronze medal for Team England, with an individual gold medal for Annabel Peaford. The girls also won the Home Internationals and the European Girls Team Championships.
Meanwhile, the East Midlands was named Girls’ Region of the Year, Essex’s Ali Horne won Volunteer of the Year, and Cambridgeshire’s Paul Ashwell collected the Award for Excellence in Coaching – recognising his contribution to coaching within the England programme over the past 25 years.