Watch more of our videos on Shots!
and live on Freeview channel 276

Cottesmore Hotel Golf and Country Club hosted their annual Junior and Academy Open.

After a successful Open last year attracting 103 juniors, they exceeded all expectations, with hosting 123 juniors in this year’s event.

The Cottesmore junior section parents and academy manager Calum Callan undertook some meticulous planning over a six-month period to deliver a showpiece event promoting the strength of junior golf at Cottesmore and across Sussex.

They were able to secure a major sponsor, Magma Aviation, for the second year in row for the Junior Open, which hosted golfers with recognised handicaps of 36.4 or below on the Griffin 18-hole championship course.

A sea of happy faces - prizewinners at Cottesmore's junior and academy opens | Contributed picture

Budding golfers with higher handicaps or no handicap were invited to play in the Academy Open, sponsored by CC Golf Academy, on the Cottesmore’s nine-hole Phoenix course, played from the junior blue tees.

Across both Opens, 123 juniors took part and 31 golf clubs were represented across Sussex, Surrey and Kent.

Previous winners of Cottesmore Junior Opens include Justin Rose, Dame Laura Davies, Zane Scotland and Shergo Kurdi.

In the Junior Open there were £1,300 of prizes across five categories, paying down to sixth place for some categories.

Results: Boys Gross Winner Harvey Underwood (East Brighton); Girls Gross Winner Sienna Simmonds (Walton Heath); Nett Winner Jacob Taylor (Cottesmore); Boys Stableford Winner Harry Knight (Chartham Park); Girls Stableford Winner Orla Phelan (Cottesmore). Academy Open, sponsored by CC Golf Academy: Overall Winner Rocky Shi (Cottesmore; U3s Frankie Hopkins (Cottesmore); U5s Cameron Small (Cottesmore); U7s Alex Romanowski (Brighton & Hove); U9s Rocky Shi (Cottesmore); U11s Oliver Stonley (Chartham Park); U13s Aidan Riley (Cottesmore); Girls U9s Payton Morgan (Horsham); Girls U15s April Tian (Cottesmore).

Cottesmore’s junior organiser, Mandeep Dhami, said: “It was another great event and it was wonderful to see so many kids of such a wide age spectrum, and varying levels of golfing ability, all coming together to play golf.

"We are very passionate about growing junior golf within Sussex.”

More than 100 young golfers show prowess at Sussex club’s opens