The Players Club’s Jack Cope claimed the English Amateur Championship by beating Royal Lytham’s Callan Barrow 4&3 at Woodhall Spa. Picture by LEADERBOARD PHOTOGRAPHY

JACK Cope revealed a deep sense of pride at adding his name to an illustrious list of winners at the English Men’s Amateur Championship.

The Gloucestershire golfer’s name now sits on the imposing trophy alongside Masters champion Danny Willett, Ryder Cup winners Paul Casey, Tommy Fleetwood, Nick Faldo, David Gilford and Mark James.

Cope lifted the famous trophy after a 4&3 victory over Lancashire’s Callan Barrow in a 36-hole final that produced some outstanding moments of golf in the Lincolnshire sunshine.

Cope showed skill and nerve to fend off his friend and rival around the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa Golf Club, the home of England Golf.

The Bristolian was five-up at lunch, shooting seven-under without a blemish on his card.

Barrow – a member at Royal Lytham and St Anne’s Golf Club – can consider himself with a mountain to climb despite shooting two-under over the first 18 holes.

However, Cope’s ball-striking and his touch on the greens proved decisive.

And after racing six holes clear as they turned for home in the afternoon, the Players Club member was finally able to shake off his friend with three holes to spare.

Former England junior international Cope, who celebrated his 21^st birthday on Friday, was clearly emotional at the end of six days of competition.

In the strokeplay qualifying, only fellow Gloucestershire team-mate Joe Long headed Cope with a nine-under total three better than Cope over 36 holes.

And in the matchplay, Cope was superb and deserved to end the week as champion to succeed last year’s teenage sensation Conor Gough, from Stoke Park.

‘Thrilled to be named champion’

COPE could not quite believe what he had just achieved after being handed the trophy at Lincolnshire’s “Home of England Golf.”

“I’m absolutely thrilled to hear it,” admitted Cope after being announced as the winner, two years after he finished third in the Brabazon Trophy at Frilford Heath.

“It’s been a gruelling week, but I’m thankful and proud.

“The morning round was very good. I was seven-under and bogey free.

‘And this afternoon, I kept my wits about me as Cal is an exceptional golfer and he made it a very good game.”

The significance of joining the likes of Sir Nick Faldo, Fleetwood, Willett, Casey – and amateur legends like Gerald Micklem and Sir Michael Bonallack, who claimed the title a record five times – had yet to sink in.

“It feels fantastic – I’m very honoured to be alongside the names on the trophy,” added Cope, who had a spell away from the game recently after breaking his arm.

“The last two years have been exceptionally tough on-and-off the golf course, and I have to thank my parents, coach Russell Covey and Gloucestershire County Union,” Jack said.

“I hope this a big leap in the right direction. I always knew I had ability, but it’s about producing it when it counts.

“I played the West of England fourball at the weekend before this and was asked about my form. I said a big win was close the way I was playing.

“I finished second in the stroke and won the matchplay,” added Cope, who became the youngest-ever Gloucestershire champion in 2017, aged 17.

Callan Barrow was two-under over the first 18 holes, but found himself trailing by five holes in the English Amateur Championship final. Picture by LEADERBOARD PHOTOGRAPHY

Cope was quick out of the traps going five-up

BARROW and Cope racked up a total of 10 birdies between them in the morning’s play.

Cope was quick out the traps and was four-up through seven holes thanks to birdies at the third, fifth, sixth and seventh.

Barrow had barely put a foot wrong, but the quality on show from his 21-year-old opponent was impressive.

A quality iron into the par three, eighth hole allowed Barrow to roll home a birdie putt from 15 foot and he followed that up with two more on the ninth and 10^th holes to peg back Cope’s lead to just one.

But Cope won both the 13^th and 14^th to restore his grip on the match and he never let it go.

Barrow’s 10-footer down the slope at 18 grazed the hole, while Cope knocked his in from eight feet to take a five-hole lead into lunch.

Yet the Lancashire man refused to give up. He birdied the first hole of the afternoon to get one back, but then lost the next.

A birdie two at the fifth offered hope again, but Barrow couldn’t quite reel in his man.

Even though he found himself six down with nine to play in the afternoon Barrow’s fighter’s instinct took over.

A birdie at 10 and then another 14 kept the match alive. But a par four on the 15^th sealed with a tricky six-foot putt down the slope clinched the title for Cope.

Jack Cope will have the chance to complete a rare English double later this month.
Picture by LEADERBOARD PHOTOGRAPHY

Can Jack be the lad at Brabazon too?

COPE will now look to carry his form into the Brabazon Trophy later this month at Sherwood Forest.

He will head to Nottinghamshire bidding to become just the fourth player to win both major trophies in the same season – and the first since Mark Foster in 1995.

Cope appeared to play all this week without nerves.

“I’m glad it looked like that but it didn’t feel like that,” he said with a smile. “My attitude was the main thing.

“I just kept plugging away and tried to keep hitting good golf shots.”

“Cal’s a great guy and a great golfer. That’s the way it goes. I just played exceptionally well.”

•For full scores from the championship click here.

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Tommy Fleetwood talking to the England players online during the Q&A session

TOMMY Fleetwood has admitted pulling on England Golf’s kit as an amateur helped to make him a star on the European Tour.

Fleetwood rose from the Lancashire ranks, via the England set-up, to the Challenge Tour and the European Tour, and was crowned winner of the Race to Dubai in 2017.

He revealed his career has been fuelled by two main goals – becoming World No. 1 and winning The Open Championship – and spoke about the work ethic, strategy and techniques that drive him towards more success.

Currently ranked No. 10 in the world, the runner-up in last year’s Open at Royal Portrush still has his sights set firmly on those twin career targets – depsite the lay-off caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Fleetwood freely admits his amateur apprenticeship – coupled with England Golf’s coaching set-up and the connections he made while wearing the cross of St George on his polo shirt, is stlll having an impact on his golfing career 10 years after turning pro.

The 29-year-old spoke to members of the current national squads and coaches during a frank and honest online Q&A session with the former European No. 1.

Tommy Fleetwood – the 2010 English Amateur Champion at Little Aston. Picture by TOM WARD

Fleetwood, who hails from Southport, said: “I remember as a really young kid there was a British Amateur played at Southport and Ainsdale and Birkdale (2005).

“Taking part was a group of players wearing that England shirt and with the rose emblem on their shoes.

“It was a quite a powerful symbol to me and I looked and said to myself that one day I wanted to wear those shoes and that shirt.

“My first England call-up was to play an event in Holland and I remember getting my kit delivered and being proud to pull it on.

“There is a pressure as you represent your country. Throughout my amateur life I always respected my country and I still have that appreciation and respect for the amateur game.

“I couldn’t have had a better apprenticeship. There is always the debate about US college or staying in the England system.

“I travelled the world playing the game I love with great players and fantastic coaching.

“When you learn your game and craft that’s all you want. There’s nothing I would have done differently, and I couldn’t have got any more out of the system.

“I’m grateful for what England gave me as an amateur and passionate about the experience. I have only fond memories and I want to give back.”

Tommy Fleetwood won the Scottish Amateur Strokeplayer in 2009, adding the English Amateur the following year with a win over Wentworth’s Warren Harmiston

Fleetwood’s rise to Ryder Cup fame

IN 2010 – aged just 19 – Fleetwood won the English Amateur Championship at Little Aston, in Birmingham, having won the Scottish Amateur Strokeplay a year earlier.

Recalling the win the five-time European Tour winner said: “Any amateur event or team event I won I still think how amazing it was and I’d do it all again.

“I don’t put the English Amateur beneath anything I’ve achieved since. All my wins mean so much.

“Any old pics that I see bring back that butterflies feeling in your stomach.”

One of Fleetwood’s England coaches as a teenager was Graham Walker. The Yorkshireman is now part of Fleetwood’s support team as a short-game coach.

And it’s that connection from his England amateur days that Fleetwood credits with taking his game to a new level.

That included becoming a Ryder Cup star after his famous partnership with Francesco Molinari in the 2018 win over the USA at Le Golf National that saw the pair dubbed “Moliwood.”

Walker was named England Golf Coach of the Year in 2019.

Fleetwood said: “I wanted to improve my short game in 2016 and the first person that came to mind was Graham.

“As the relationship has blossomed, he has taken me from someone who didn’t have a great short game to the point where I was leading scrambling stas on the PGA Tour.

“I love his knowledge and passion and when you enjoy working with a coach it makes a massive difference to how you learn.

“I still live my England life through Graham by asking him about the current group of players and England events.

“I’m always supportive of what the guys are doing. If there are Home Internationals or Europeans on the go, I’m an England fan,” added Tommy, who played in the 2009 Walker Cup at Merion against an American team containing Rickie Fowler, Peter Uihlein, Cameron Tringale and Brian Harman.

Tommy Fleetwood presents Josh Hill (left) with his Guiness World Records award at the Abu Dhabi Championship, in January. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

‘Hill did not look out of place in Abu Dhabi’

ONE of the latest talents to emerge in the England squads is Dubai-based Josh Hill.

In October, the teenager became the youngest-ever winner of a world ranking professional golf event aged just 15, on the MENA Tour, in the Middle East.

Fleetwood presented England Boys’ squad member Hill with his Guinness World Record certificate at the Abu Dhabi Championship in January and was happy to see another emerging English talent make headlines.

Tommy said: “It’s amazing really for a 15-year-old. To be fair, he’s a big lad and he didn’t look out of place at the tournament.

“It’s great to see stuff like that. My dad was always keen for me to get into things as soon as possible.

“Josh has a great future and what he experienced at the age of 15 will do him the world of good.”

•Fleetwood joined fellow European Tour and LET stars Matt Wallace, Matt Fitzpatrick and Meg MacLaren, who have spoken to the squads in recent weeks.

Danny Willett, Bronte Law, Chris Wood and Mel Reid are next in line to pass on their experience and wisdom to members of the England national squads.

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