Shanklin & Sandown’s Jordan Sundborg became the first player from the Isle of Wight to land the Solent Salver after finishing 2 shots clear of record-breaking English Amateur Champion Harry Ellis over the weekend.
Ellis, who took the country’s matchplay title at just 16, breaking Sir Nick Faldo’s record set as an 18-year-old back in 1975, claimed the Mike Smith Memorial Trophy at Brokenhurst Manor on Saturday.
Sundborg ended up third in the first leg of 2 of the most important Hampshire Order of Merit events of the season, at the New Forest club, 3 shots behind Ellis, who also won the Lagonda Trophy on the national amateur circuit at the end of May.
Jordan then made another ferry crossing on Sunday to compete in the Stoneham Trophy at the Southampton club.
Another third place – this time 2 shots behind the host club’s Ryan Henley, with the Shanklin teenager carding rounds of 68 and 69 to finish on 8-under par.
That total was enough to see Sundborg finish 2 ahead of Ellis and claim the Solent Salver, which was established back in 1994 and has been by the likes of European Tour players Richard Bland, Matt Blackey, and Sam Hutsby, who played against Ricky Fowler in the 2009 Walker Cup before turning pro.
Sundborg and his clubmate Ryan Harmer had been challenged by Hampshire captain Martin Young to play well enough to force him to pick them to represent the county in next month’s English County Finals.
While Harmer, who is a former member at Brokenhurst from when he was a college student in the town, finished eighth in the Mike Smith, after rounds of 70 and 74 left him 4-over par.
And 2 69s were good enough for fourth place, just 1 behind Jordan. While Young was not showing his hand after the event, both players were pleased with their strong showing in the spotlight after last week’s headlines.
And yet it could have been even better for Sundborg, who yet again set a fast pace at Brokenhurst.
Having led in the first round of qualifying at last year’s county championship with a 66, he shot another 4-under par round before lunch but could not back that up, sliding from first to third courtesy of a 73.
Last year, the 18-year-old reached the quarter-finals of the British Boys Championship at Royal Birkdale.
Last week, Ryde’s Josh Oddy made it into the last 64 of the matchplay at Muirfield, having shot a 74 around the venue of the 2013 Open Championship after a first round 72 at The Renaissance course next door on the Lothian coast.
But the Hampshire Boys captain could not progress beyond the first round of the matchplay, losing 2&1 to Nottinghamshire’s Daniel O’Loughlin.
Mike Smith became the youngest-ever Hampshire Amateur Champion in the event’s history when he won at Shanklin and Sandown in 1989, aged just 17. He was tragically killed in a car accident a year later and the Mike Smith Memorial Trophy has been played in his memory since 1991.
