Two teenage Leighton Buzzard golfers have won Bedfordshire county titles playing on their home-town course on the same day.

Wanna-be professional Gavin Samuels was crowned county under 18 champion after a sterling performance which saw him claw back a seven-shot first round deficit to win by a two shot margin.

Vandyke student Jonathan Whiting landed the county under 16s handicap trophy with a two-round nett score of 136 to claim his first major piece of golfing silverware since taking up the sport a couple of years ago.

Former Cedars student Gavin, 17, now studying at the National Sports Academy, thought he had blown his last chance of winning the Under 18s title after a first round 76 left him trailing in the wake of South Beds' Blane Breheny.

But the gutsy determination of the scratch golfer, who this week is competing in the National Club 'Champion of Champions' tournament, saw him chip 12 shots off his first round score to card a mouth-watering 64, to give him a two shot victory over the rival who led at the halfway stage and club colleague Louis Farrelly.

The ever-improving 15-year-old Jonathan Whiting missed out on the under 16s champion title by the narrowest of margins – losing out to Nick Cunningham from Mowsbury Park on countback over the last nine holes after both carded identical gross scores of 152.

Jonathan, an eight handicap golfer, got off to a disappointing start and was six over after nine holes.

But a handful of birdies put him back on course…and earned him the handicap trophy with a nett 136.

There were other noteable achievements by the Leighton contingent.

Cedars student Mathew Hill had the best first round gross score of 73 in the Under 15s while younger brother Richard, 12, a student at Gilbert Inglefield, had the third best gross score in the Under 12s event. And 11-year-old Harry Noton came third in the Under 14s.

Other Leighton finishers in the Under 18s championships were Louis Farrelly, 142 gross, nett 138; Matt Tizzard and Freddie Meikle both with gross scores of 149 netted to 139; Josh Rowles with a gross 174, nett 142 and Michael Connybeare, whose gross 161 gave him a nett 145.
In the Under 16s, Mathew Hill marrowly missed out on the silverware with a gross 159 which gave him a nett 151.

Leighton's Mixed team celebrated a 7-1 victory over Buckingham, with two games tied. Captains Andy Wright and Joyce Jay, David Jay and Jan Buckler, Morley Smith and Margaret Browning, Derek Browning and Val Smith, Mike Bluett and Sylvia Dell, Terry Dell and Norma Stevens, and Trevor Stimpson and Julie Smith won for Leighton with Kevin O'Donoghue and Lorraine Leaver and John Smith and Jackie Stimpson both halving their games.

Gill McDougall won Leighton Buzzard Birdies golf match at St Neots with Lesley Ganley runner-up, while Sylvia Dell was top scorer in the match at Whipsnade, with Joyce Jay runner-up.

Golfing history was recorded at the Leighton Buzzard club when 15-year-old Mathew Hill won both the Saturday and Sunday July Division One Medals on countback….. and dad Mike took the Saturday Division Three title.

Mathew, a four handicap golfer and student at Cedars, took the Saturday title with a nett 65 which pipped Nigel Watmough, who recovered after carding a six on the second hole…and 24 hours later returned a nett 67 to beat county player Chris Sweetnam on countback in the Sunday event.

Leading weekend results were:

Saturday: Division One - 1 Mathew Hill 70-5-65; 2 Nigel Watmough 74-9-65; 3 Billy O'Neill 78-10-68; 4 Gavin Samuels 69-1-68; 5 Morley Smith 76-7-69; 6 Mick Myatt 75-5-70; 7 Tom Whiting 76-5-71; 8 Laurie Benson 78-6-72; 9 Jeff Wood 83-10-73; 10 Chris Sweetnam 74-1-73; Division Two - 1 Russell Rowles 78-16-62; 2 Dave Hanley 80-15-65; 3 Colin Ball 81-15-66; 4 Nick King 79-11-68; 5 Richard Rogers 86-16-70; 6 Stuart Leslie 82-12-70; 7 Jeff Glover 82-12-70; 8 Harry Noton 82-11-71; 9 Peter Willis 87-16-71; 10 Nick Brown 83-12-71; Division Three - 1 Mike Hill 80-17-63; 2 Ron Pearce 85-19-66; 3 Jim Parkin 85-19-66; 4 Colin Southwell 92-25-67; 5 Stuart Goodwin 90-19-71; 6 Paul Tracy 90-19-71; 7 Victor Albertella 89-18-71; 8 Keith Camp 91-19-72.

Sunday: Division One - 1 Mathew Hill 72-5-67; 2 Chris Sweetnam 68-1-67; 3 Peter Brennan 72-4-68; 4 John McKay 74-6-68; 5 Terry Lingham 79-10-69; 6 John Tarbox 79-8-71; 7 Tom Whiting 76-5-71; 8 Eddie Edwards 78-7-71; 9 Richard Samuels 77-5-72; 10 Colin Wilson 79-7-72; 11 Louis Farrelly 74-2-72; Division Two - 1 Peter Gadsden 74-11-63; 2 Graham Freer 75-12-63; 3 Dan Herron 82-15-67; 4 Keith Brazier 82-14-68; 5 Vince Ganley 83-15-68; 6 Darren Valentine 85-16-69; 7 Nigel Phelps 83-14-69; 8 Ken Wilson 82-11-71; 9 Will Koch 83-12-71; Division Three - 1 Peter Hazell 92-25-67; 2 Mick Holmes 87-20-67; 3 Peter Banwell 85-18-67; 4 Syd Pniewski 87-19-68; 5 Steve De Nisi 93-22-71; 6 David Debell 94-22-72; 7 Bob Marshall 93-21-72.

The Leighton Buzzard club are now accepting applications for playing membership. Golfers requiring details on the range of options available can contact the club manager/ secretary Duncan Mutton on 01525 244800.