Golf by Alan Booth TOM LEWIS seemed set for his first big national title when he needed pars over the last four holes to win the English Boys Under-18 Stroke Play Championship for the Carris Trophy at Wallasey, then it all went wrong and he finished

Golf by Alan Booth

TOM LEWIS seemed set for his first big national title when he needed pars over the last four holes to win the English Boys Under-18 Stroke Play Championship for the Carris Trophy at Wallasey, then it all went wrong and he finished in a tie for fourth place.

Standing one under par in the last group to be ahead of the field, the championship seemed in his grasp. At the 15th he took three putts, parred the short 16, then bogeyed 17 after missing the green and needed a birdie at the last to join two players in a tie on level par. At the 433 yards final hole, he put his approach into deep undergrowth, costing him a double bogey to leave him three strokes adrift.

Stiggy Hodgson, of Sunningdale, and Frederick Kollevoid, of Norway, who had finished on level par 288, went into a marathon play-off, with Hodgson hobbling in pain like Tiger Woods in the US Open after rupturing a ligament in his right knee the previous round, but like Woods he took the title, holing a 2ft par putt on the fifth extra hole.

Hodgson also collected the Malcolm Reid Trophy for the best aggregate return from the Peter McEvoy and Carris Trophy events.

Lewis, from Welwyn Garden City, had opened with 75 but stormed back with four-under-par 68, the second lowest round of the event, to be tied third, then followed with 77, 71 for 291, three over par.

With the top 40 qualifying for the final two rounds, Herts players Sam Claridge (Harpenden Common), 78 78 and Glen Portillo (Brickendon Grange), 79 78, missed the cut.

Also missing out by two strokes after rounds of 75 76 was Tom Brown, former junior captain at Harpenden Common, hoping to emulate his father, Ryder Cup star Ken, who 34 years ago, aged 17, won the Carris Trophy at Moor Park when for the first time it became a 72-hole event, and then decided to turn professional.

The tournament returns to its original home of Moor Park next year.