ANDY WHITWORTH continued his almost relentless pursuit of ‘immortality’ in Huddersfield golfing folklore when he completed an incredible 11th victory in the Halifax, Huddersfield Union Matchplay Championship.

The Bradley Hall scratch man beat Huddersfield’s Brad Tupman 4&3 in the 36-hole final at Bradley Park to once again lift the Trophy, now renamed the John R Crawshaw Trophy, in memory of the former Union president, and sponsored by BM Howarth.

It was Whitworth’s first win since his 10th triumph in 2006, although he was the beaten finalist in the following two years, and with all due respect to his opponent Tupman (whose time will surely come) he was probably one of the most popular winners since the competition was first contested back in 1948.

One of the most likeable, laid back and unassuming golfers this area has ever produced, Whitworth has added to what was already a quite remarkable achievement – and the ‘good news’ for his opponents is that at the moment he apparently has no intentions of calling it day.

Asked whether his 11th title has sunk in yet, Whitworth replied: “I don’t think so really!

“Obviously I was chuffed to win it again, and I did a bit of celebrating that night. I was over the moon when I won it for the 10th time, so I suppose it’s a bit good really, isn’t it?

“When I lost in the finals to Richard Broadley in both 2007 and the following year, I thought ‘maybe this is it’.

“But as long as I can get round 36 holes in the day, then I’m just happy to keep on playing.”

Whitworth admits to having had a bit of an ‘up and down’ year which has seen his handicap fluctuate between scratch and plus one. He played off scratch in the final, but needs a reduction of just .1 to go back to plus one, which is pretty tidy for a man who has just turned 50!

He was never headed in the final having taken an early lead, and although Tupman levelled at one point, Whitworth went into lunch two up, after birdying both the 17th and 18th, to complete a gross 71.

He extended that to a three-hole lead by the 9th in the afternoon, and then went four up with five to play when he birdied the 13th. Tupman briefly halted his charge at the 14th, but only delayed the inevitable, as Whitworth birdied the 15th to end the match, at which point he was three under par gross and extending his now legendary Matchplay record even further!

In the Junior Matchplay Championship final, sponsored by Cartridge World, Halifax’s Jamie Smith proved far too good for his Calderdale rival, Brad Hardcastle, from West End.

The Ogden junior held a seven hole lead after the opening 18 holes, and although Hardcastle fared better after lunch and stemmed the flow a little, he simply had too much to do, and was eventually beaten 9&8.