Shanklin and Sandown’s Jordan Sundborg bowed out of the junior ranks by collecting the Harry Vardon Trophy, after being named the Hampshire Junior Player of the Year.
The 18-year-old caused one of the biggest shocks of the season by knocking out England No 1 Bradley Moore at the British Boys Championship at Royal Birkdale, in August. That victory – even though he lost in the quarter-finals 24 hours later – propelled him up the 2015 English Junior Order of Merit, eventually finishing fifth, with Sussex star Marco Penge and Moore in the top two spots.
Sundborg shone at the English Boys Finals – his second appearance with the Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Channel Islands team in three years. Jordan picked up 5 out of 6 points during the 3 matches against Wiltshire, Northamptonshire and Durham – only bettered by Westridge’s Josh Oddy. But the pair’s valiant records were not enough to bring Hampshire U18s their first victory in the English Boys Finals at the fifth attempt since the competition came into being in 1986.
Sundborg showed he can mix it with the men, shooting a breath-taking 62 to break the Corhampton course record in the second round of the Courage Trophy, the final event in the Hampshire Order of Merit, back in September. That earned him the Cole Scuttle for the best 72-hole score in the Hampshire County Championship qualifier at Brokenhurst Manor and the Courage. Only his first round score of 76 prevented him from winning the latter trophy claimed by England A squad member Scott Gregory, playing on his home course where he was everyone’s favourite to win.
Jordan said:
“The most pleasing thing for me is the consistency I achieved during 2015. Not so much in the scoring even when playing 36 holes in one day, but the consistency of the finishes.
“I didn’t play well in the morning at the Courage but came back very strongly after lunch. In the big junior events I was 20th at the Sir Henry Cooper Masters, 15th at the Carris, 30th at the McEvoy Trophy plus my wins at the British Boys after qualifying in the strokeplay.
Article continues below this advertisement “Against fields of the top 140-plus juniors in the country they are respectable results. But next year is going to be a whole new challenge playing just men’s golf from now on.
“Firstly, I am going to concentrate on completing my BTEC studies and then press on from there. I am considering where to go and study in September – my aim is to get on a university golf programme.
“Men’s golf will be a whole new ball game, but I intend to carry on working hard at my game and hope the results follow. “How I structure my season is going to be very, very important.
“It’s a great way to end my junior career to see my name on the Vardon Trophy alongside Justin Rose’s.”
Sundborg leaves behind in the junior ranks for one more year his Shanklin and Sandown team-mate Conor Richards, the current Hampshire Junior Champion, and Oddy – who was appointed the new Hampshire Boys captain at the same county junior AGM at South Winchester GC.
Showing that the conveyor belt of new talent Hampshire has invested in heavily over the last decade, shows no signs of faltering, Newport GC’s Nick Matthews picked up the Hampshire U14 Player of the Year, in front of his father Wayne, who will become the Hampshire U14 manager this year.
