Golfweek

By ALISTAIR TAIT
Senior Writer

LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England – Look for Matt Haines on next year’s Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup squad. The precocious teenager is on the fast track to success.

Haines made history by becoming the youngest winner in the 43-year history of the Lytham Trophy. The 18-year-old posted rounds of 68-72-74-70 for a 4-over-par total of 284. Dale Whitnell, also 18, finished second, a shot behind. Ireland’s Shane Lowry finished third, two shots behind Haines.

Haines was eligible to play in the Fairhaven Trophy, the under-18 tournament that ran concurrent with the Lytham. However, with a handicap of plus 4, Haines took his rightful place in the Lytham field.

He also rightfully earned victory in one of the biggest amateur events in the British Isles. The Lytham Trophy forms the grand slam of British amateur golf along with the British Amateur Championship, the Brabazon Trophy and the St. Andrews Links Trophy.

Haines began the final round a shot behind Luke Goddard. However, he kept his composure while Goddard’s steady play he had displayed over the first two rounds deserted him.

Goddard made three bogeys in his first four holes to surrender his lead. He stumbled home with a 9-over 79 to finish in 11th place.

Haines ran off five consecutive pars until a bogey at the difficult 494-yard, par-4, sixth hole. He birdied the No. 9 from 12 feet to make the turn in level par.

The amateur from Rochester & Cobham Golf Club in Kent, England, offset bogeys at the 14th and 18th holes with birdies at the 12th and 16th.

His bogey at 14 put him into a tie with fellow England A-squad member Dale Whitnell. The 464-yard, par-4, 15th hole proved decisive. Whitnell, who closed with a level-par 70, made bogey while Haines parred the hole to go one shot ahead.

Haines added a birdie at the 16th for a two-shot cushion. It meant the luxury of bunkering his tee shot at the last, making bogey and still taking the title.

“I just tried to go through my pre-shot routine today and not look at leaderboards,” Haines said. “I didn’t look at any boards until I finished the 15th, so I knew where I stood then.”

Haines’ victory is no fluke. He leapt onto the radar screen last year with two big victories in under-18 tournaments. He began the year by winning the Peter McEvoy Trophy, and capped the season off with victory in the Carris Trophy (the England Under-18 Stroke Play Championship).

He played in his first professional tournament last month when he made the cut in the European Tour's Portuguese Open and finished 60th.

Haines is odds on to be named to the GB&I Walker Cup training squad later this year along with Eddie Pepperell, Whitnell, Goddard, Chris Wood and 15-year-old Oscar Sharpe. Sharpe, who attends the IMG/David Leadbetter Golf Academy in Bradenton, Fla., and is No. 77 in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings, finished 18th.

Haines will play in the United States this month in the AJGA’s Thunderbird International at Grayhawk Golf Club. He will also play in the World Junior Championship in Japan later in the year.

“Next year’s Walker Cup is the goal. I don’t want to play college golf because education doesn’t interest me that much,” he said. “I plan to turn pro after the Walker Cup next year, or maybe before if I don’t make the team.”

• • •

Alistair Tait is a Golfweek senior writer. To reach him e-mail atait@golfweek.com.

---

Final scores with relation to par from the Lytham Trophy, played May 2-4 at the par-70, 6,882-yard Royal Lytham & St. Annes in Lytham St. Annes, England:

1. Matthew Haines	68-72-74-70--284	+	4
2. Dale Whitnell	70-72-73-70--285	+	5
3. Shane Lowry	72-73-72-69--286	+	6
4. Chris Wood	71-75-73-68--287	+	7
4. Maximilian Roehrig	72-72-74-69--287	+	7
6. Farren Keenan	73-71-74-71--289	+	9
6. Gavin Dear	71-70-74-74--289	+	9
6. Mark Halliday	74-71-70-74--289	+	9
9. Eddie Pepperell	74-73-70-73--290	+	10
10. Paul O'Hara	69-77-72-73--291	+	11
11. Sam Hutsby	71-76-74-71--292	+	12
11. Keir McNicoll	71-76-70-75--292	+	12
11. Gareth J. Evans	70-77-69-76--292	+	12
11. Luke Goddard	66-71-76-79--292	+	12
15. Alexander Knappe	73-74-72-74--293	+	13
15. Niall Kearney	74-72-73-74--293	+	13
17. Andrew Cooley	68-79-71-76--294	+	14
18. Richard Kind	71-76-77-71--295	+	15
18. Oscar Sharpe	71-72-77-75--295	+	15
18. Ben Westgate	71-76-72-76--295	+	15
18. Rhys Black	71-75-73-76--295	+	15
18. Max Kraemer	70-76-72-77--295	+	15
23. Scott W. Mann	75-72-73-76--296	+	16
23. Jake A. Shepherd	70-72-77-77--296	+	16
25. Jamie Abbott	69-78-77-73--297	+	17
25. Miles Mackman	71-74-78-74--297	+	17
25. Bryan R. Fotheringham	68-73-77-79--297	+	17
28. Nicholas McCarthy	72-75-76-75--298	+	18
28. Wallace Booth	72-74-75-77--298	+	18
28. Floris De Vries	67-79-73-79--298	+	18
31. Billy Hemstock	71-74-80-74--299	+	19
31. Craig N. Evans	71-72-81-75--299	+	19
33. Gavin P. O'Neill	71-75-80-74--300	+	20
33. Maximilian Kieffer	70-77-74-79--300	+	20
33. Collin Edwards	67-79-75-79--300	+	20
36. Gordon Yates	71-76-81-73--301	+	21
37. Benjamin J. Enoch	73-74-74-81--302	+	22
37. David Coupland	69-71-80-82--302	+	22
39. Darren Renwick	71-74-82-77--304	+	24
40. John Gallagher	72-75-79-79--305	+	25
41. John Carroll	67-77-82-83--309	+	29
• • •
Missed the cut
42. James Robinson	77-71--148	+	8
42. Ken Benz	75-73--148	+	8
42. Nigel Edwards	75-73--148	+	8
42. Michael R. Swan	73-75--148	+	8
42. Reinier Saxton	73-75--148	+	8
42. Hanspeter Bacher	73-75--148	+	8
42. Dara Lernihan	72-76--148	+	8
42. Shaun McAllister	72-76--148	+	8
42. Mark Bell	71-77--148	+	8
42. Sean Einhaus	70-78--148	+	8
52. Mark Young	77-72--149	+	9
52. Kevin McAlpine	76-73--149	+	9
52. Glenn Campbell	76-73--149	+	9
52. Mark Thistleton	76-73--149	+	9
52. Gary Wolstenholme	75-74--149	+	9
52. Robert Carson	74-75--149	+	9
52. Tommy Fleetwood	74-75--149	+	9
52. Matthew J. Nixon	74-75--149	+	9
52. Jonathan Hurst	74-75--149	+	9
52. Jonathan Gidney	73-76--149	+	9
52. Kris Nicol	73-76--149	+	9
52. Mark Hillson	71-78--149	+	9
52. Matthew Cryer	71-78--149	+	9
52. Alex Christie	70-79--149	+	9
52. Robert Cannon	69-80--149	+	9
67. Daniel Wuensche	77-73--150	+	10
67. Ian Winstanley	73-77--150	+	10
67. Matthew Clark	72-78--150	+	10
67. Ian Kenwright	72-78--150	+	10
67. Scott Henry	71-79--150	+	10
67. Neil Chaudhuri	71-79--150	+	10
67. William Bowe	70-80--150	+	10
74. Glenn A. Taylor	77-74--151	+	11
74. Steven McEwan	75-76--151	+	11
74. Ian J. Crowther	74-77--151	+	11
74. Allyn Dick	74-77--151	+	11
74. Jason Barnes	73-78--151	+	11
74. Richard Prophet	73-78--151	+	11
74. James Smedley	73-78--151	+	11
74. James White	72-79--151	+	11
74. Simon Coumbe	72-79--151	+	11
74. Sven Maurits	71-80--151	+	11
74. James E. Frazer	70-81--151	+	11
85. Darius Van Driel	76-76--152	+	12
85. Adam Best	75-77--152	+	12
85. Miro Veijalainen	75-77--152	+	12
85. Tim Stewart	75-77--152	+	12
85. Neil Dean	74-78--152	+	12
85. Robert McKnight	74-78--152	+	12
85. Philip McLean	73-79--152	+	12
85. Greg Paterson	72-80--152	+	12
85. Gregg Blainey	72-80--152	+	12
85. Callum Macaulay	71-81--152	+	12
95. Stiggy Hodgson	79-74--153	+	13
95. Adam Wills	75-78--153	+	13
95. Andrew Hogan	73-80--153	+	13
95. Jack Clarke	73-80--153	+	13
95. Tano Kromer	73-80--153	+	13
95. Benjamin Sigl	73-80--153	+	13
95. Richard Smith	72-81--153	+	13
102. Jason Palmer	78-76--154	+	14
102. Shaun P. Malone	75-79--154	+	14
102. Zachariah Gould	73-81--154	+	14
102. Jack S. Senior	71-83--154	+	14
102. Pat Murray	71-83--154	+	14
107. Ross McLister	76-79--155	+	15
107. Rohan Blizard	76-79--155	+	15
107. Paul Lowey	76-79--155	+	15
107. Ross Kellett	76-79--155	+	15
107. Roberto Laino	75-80--155	+	15
107. Neil Henderson	74-81--155	+	15
107. Andrew Johnston	72-83--155	+	15
107. Edward J. Richardson	70-85--155	+	15
115. Ben Kerr	78-78--156	+	16
115. Ryan J. Brown	77-79--156	+	16
117. Henri Satama	79-78--157	+	17
117. Andrew Hardie	78-79--157	+	17
117. Steven Uzzell	76-81--157	+	17
120. Jody P. Greenall	76-82--158	+	18
120. Adam Wainwright	76-82--158	+	18
120. John Kemp	75-83--158	+	18
120. Cian Curley	73-85--158	+	18
120. Luke W. Cornford	72-86--158	+	18
125. Ben A. Stafford	83-76--159	+	19
125. Marcel Schneider	77-82--159	+	19
127. James Prince	79-81--160	+	20
127. Marek Novy	78-82--160	+	20
127. Jason Shufflebotham	75-85--160	+	20
130. Scott Borrowman	83-79--162	+	22
130. Allan W. Harrison	78-84--162	+	22
132. David Henderson	84-79--163	+	23
133. Ian D. Hill	83-81--164	+	24
133. Paul J. McKellar	80-84--164	+	24
133. Aaron Fitzpatrick	80-84--164	+	24
136. Tuomas Pollari	81-84--165	+	25
137. Simon J. Robinson	84-83--167	+	27
137. Craig R. Cuthbert	80-87--167	+	27
WD. Daniel Solomon	85-WD
WD. Nicklaez Rasmussen	79-WD
WD. James White	73-WD
WD. Michael Buchan	80-WD
WD. Eliot J. Wise	79-WD
WD. Zach Saltman	73-WD

Posted: 5/4/2008

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