Duke of York Young Champions Trophy

Duke of York Young Champions Trophy
Tournament information
Location	United Kingdom
Established	2001
Course(s)	Links Courses
Format	Stroke play
Month played	September
Final year	2019
Final champion
	Conor Gaugh

The Duke of York Young Champions Trophy was an international golf tournament for boys and girls who were either the current holders of their under-18 National Championship or had won another major golfing event in the preceding twelve months. First played in 2001, the event was supported by the R&A and their affiliated national governing bodies and counts towards the World Amateur Golf Rankings and the American Junior Golf Association's performance based entry system. It had a 54-hole stroke play format.

History

The event was created by The Duke of York and John Simpson. This highly rated invitational event, supported by the R&A, and aims to promote the development of junior golf, encourage competitiveness and friendship between individual champions whilst also offering a unique opportunity for boys and girls to compete for the same Trophy on a top quality UK links course. The standard of competition continues to be incredibly high with the average handicap for last year's event being an impressive +1.5.

The tournament has grown from having just 11 competitors from six countries in 2001, to a field of 55 champions from 32 countries in 2013. The Duke of York Young Champions Trophy is organised in many ways like a professional tournament in order to give the potential stars of the future a chance to experience what life as a golf professional might involve; hence the inclusion of sponsors and official functions, including the Official Dinner hosted by the Duke of York, as well as an educational talk. Past players include Rory McIlroy, Anna Nordqvist, Matteo Manassero and Tom Lewis.

The tournament was wound up in 2020 when the Prince Andrew Charitable Trust ceased operations following the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

Academic and golf scholarships

The Duke of York Sports Foundation is a registered charity established in 2004 to promote amateur sports. Academic and golf scholarships have been awarded since September 2007 to provide under 18 boys and girls with the opportunity to receive a high standard of education whilst at the same time focusing on their golf and offer an alternative to studying and training in the USA.

Wellington College in Berkshire was chosen as the school that met all the criteria required to support both aspects of the scholarship. As one of the best co-educational independent private schools in Britain, it offers the International Baccalaureate, a good standard 9-hole golf course and practice facilities on site. It is also located near many excellent courses (including Wentworth and Sunningdale), coaches and major airports.

Candidates must meet Wellington College's academic standard, demonstrate a high level of golfing ability with clear signs of potential and are selected on a case by case basis. To date, the Foundation has awarded five academic and golf scholarships. All the scholars are aged between 14 and 17, with handicaps ranging from three to plus-two. The Foundation's aim is to award eight to ten scholarships to individuals by 2011.

Champions

Year	Venue	Champion	Winning score	Winning margin	Runner(s)-up	Leading boy/girl	Number of competitors	Countries represented
2001^[1]	Royal Liverpool	Michael Nester	210 (−6)	7 strokes	Grigory Bondarenko	Clare Queen	11	6
2002^[2]	Royal Liverpool	Carlos del Moral	219 (+3)	5 strokes	Cian MacNamara	Azahara Muñoz	26	13
2003^[3]	Castletown	Rikard Karlberg	219 (+3)	6 strokes	Pablo Martín	Justine Barbier	31	16
2004^[4]	Kingsbarns	Zac Gould	212 (−4)	3 strokes	Rory McIlroy	Anna Nordqvist	36	20
2005^[5]	Castletown	Oliver Fisher	212 (−4)	1 stroke	Andrea Pavan	Anna Nordqvist	39	20
2006^[6]	Dundonald	Sam Hutsby	216 (E)	2 strokes	Marc Dobias Robin Wingardh	Carly Booth	42	22
2007^[7]	Dundonald	Claudio Vigano	220 (+4)	2 strokes	Giulia Molinaro Isabelle Boineau Joachim Hansen	Giulia Molinaro	49	28
2008^[8]	Dundonald	Stiggy Hodgson	212 (−4)	11 strokes	Arnaud Abbas	Marieke Nivard	51	28
2009^[9]	Dundonald	Moriya Jutanugarn	218 (+2)	1 stroke	Laetitia Beck	Richard Jung	57	34
2010^[10]	Royal St George's	Gudmundur Kristjansson	218 (+5)	1 stroke	Dermot McElroy	Leona Maguire	57	32
2011^[11]	Royal Liverpool	Harry Casey	226 (+13)	Playoff	Harang Lee	Harang Lee	57	31
2012^[12]	Royal Troon	Ragnar Gardarsson	225 (+12)	Playoff	Max Orrin Katja Pogačar	Katja Pogačar	53	31
2013	Royal St George's	Guido Migliozzi	215 (+2)	1 stroke	Jack Singh Brar	Nicole Morales	55	32
2014	Royal Aberdeen	Gisli Sveinbergsson	137 (−5)*	4 strokes	Ren Okazaki	Carlotta Ricolfi	57	30
2015	Prince's	Oliver Lindell	207 (−9)	1 stroke	Felix Palson	Carlotta Ricolfi	56	29
2016	Royal Birkdale	Chloe Currie	214 (−2)	1 stroke	Markus Braadlie	Markus Braadlie	49	28
2017	Royal Liverpool	Ben Jones	218 (+2)	8 strokes	Oscar Teiffel Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen Keita Nakajima	Franziska Sliper	54	30
2018	Castle Stuart	Christopher Vandette	226 (+10)	Playoff	Joseph Byrne	Heejong Lim	54	30
2019	Royal Portrush	Conor Gaugh	222 (+6)	6 strokes	Callum Macfie	Ina Yoon	62	37

^* Due to fog and poor visibility, the 2014 competition was reduced to 36 holes.

Courses

The Duke of York Young Champions Trophy is held at links courses across the UK. Dundonald Links and Royal Liverpool played host to the tournament four times.