TWENTY-two-year-old Ben Sharp was the toast of Wortley Golf Club members after winning the prestigious Examiner Matchplay title over the broad acres of Meltham’s Thick Hollins course.
In a tremendous final, which went down the 19th after Sharp and his opponent Longley Park’s Tommy Ward finished all square after 18, the six-handicapper from the Sheffield club, produced a solid par at the first extra hole to claim a memorable victory.
And that not only gave the Professional Golf Adviser, who works for Direct Golf UK at the Stadium Driving Range, the title, but with it the first prize of a week’s golfing holiday to Benidorm on Spain’s Costa Blanca in November.
It was a great win for the youngest of the four players in the final, and one which he richly deserved after coming back from dormie two down in the morning’s semi-final clash with Chris Holmes from the host club.
Sharp was staring defeat in the face when he stepped onto the par three 17th tee, but he then found the green with his drive, while Holmes missed it, and conceded the hole to a par.
But when the Meltham man put his second shot to the front edge of the green on the 18th, and Sharp fired his into the fringe wide right, it looked all over.
But the youngster stepped up and ‘canned’ his third stroke for a birdie, while Holmes saw his putt slide just past the hole to force ‘extra time’.
Both players landed their second shot on the green at the first, but it was Sharp who sank his 10-footer to complete back-to-back birdies and book a spot in the final.
Meanwhile, in the second semi, Fixby’s Jonny Heyes – like Holmes playing in his third Examiner finals day – led Ward by three holes at one stage, and looked set to progress to the afternoon’s main event.
But Ward, a former winner of the Examiner’s Overseas Challenge in Portugal, is not a man to be underestimated, and with the benefit of seven strokes over Heyes he gradually fought back to level the match at the long par four 15th and then also won the 16th.
However, probably his best shot came at the par three 17th when (with another stroke advantage) he missed the green to the right but then chipped over the bank and left it ‘stone dead’ for a gross three nett two, which left Heyes who had found the green, needing to hole out from 20-odd feet to send the match to the 18th, which he was unable to do.
Conversely, the afternoon’s final was completely the opposite.
Having won the opening hole with a good par, Ward held the upper hand for much of the round, although he was never able to get beyond a two-hole lead, hampered by a number of missed putts which, had he holed them, would have taken him out of sight.
Sharp levelled the match at the second, halved the third, but then found himself two down as Ward knocked in back-to-back pars at the fourth and fifth and with shots to come on the sixth and seventh seemed set to open up a crucial gap.
However, Sharp hit two ‘screamers’ at the 503-yard par five sixth and came away with a birdie and a win, only to go two down again at the seventh.
The two men swapped holes over the next two leaving Ward two up at the turn, but it was Sharp’s turn to put the pressure on levelling the match at the 11th.
Back came Ward at the dinky little downhill 12th when Sharp found sand, came out well but missed a five-footer, while the Longley man was down in three.
But then came the shot of the final!
Having driven into a fairway sand trap round about the 150yard mark on the 13th at the side of the lake, Sharp took an iron and knocked it to within 4½ft of the pin, and although he left that above ground, Ward sailed past the hole with his approach putt and then missed a four-footer on return.
Another lipped putt from short range on the 14th allowed Sharp to hit the front for the first time, and he consolidated it on the 15th when Ward twice found the trees while the Wortley player landed a par at what was another stroke hole for his opponent.
A half at the 16th left Ward staring down the barrel at dormie two and the complete opposite for Sharp, who had been exactly in the same situation earlier in the day.
Both players bogeyed the par three 17th but it went in favour of Ward with his final shot from his seven-stroke difference on handicap, leaving him one down with one to play.
And amazingly he did the same as his young opponent had in the morning by birdieing the last to level the match once again.
Ward was unable to repeat his showing from the first time round however, leaving his second over the ridge left of the green, while Sharp put his second to within 12 feet.
After chipping onto the green for three, Ward was left with a long-range putt to save par which he left short, and Sharp sealed the title with his par to start the celebrations among his hefty number of supporters.
“It’s an amazing feeling, and I’m over the moon,” said a slightly stunned Sharp at the end.
“I was more bothered about taking part than actually considering winning. But I think this is about the best I’ve ever done.
“Everything seemed to just gel straight away in the morning and I managed to keep it going all day.”
Sharp, who lives at New Mill, began playing golf as a junior at Longley Park and Bagden Hall, but for the last six years has been playing at Wortley.
“I’ve never played golf abroad before, so it will be great experience and I’m really looking forward to it.”
In the third and fourth place play-off, Heyes and Holmes finished all square after 18, but instead of going to sudden death, decided to watch the final denouement behind them, and then very generously both donated their prize-winning vouchers to the Forget-Me-Not Trust Fund.
The event was sponsored jointly by the Examiner and Paul Hanson, from Hanson Travel, and the presentations were made by Examiner Sports writer David Lockwood.
