ROWLANDS Castle’s former GB&I international Darren Wright will tee it up as the only past champion in the Brabazon Trophy, which begins today (Thursday), on a Surrey course he rates as one of the best in the South.
Wright, who beat a field including a trio of future European Tour stars in Jon Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrrell Hatton at Royal Liverpool in 2010, has been granted an exemption as a past winner of the English Open Amateur Strokeplay Championship, which gets under way at Hankley Common, near Hindhead, finishing on Sunday.
Wright has no illusions of joining the 10 players who have won the Brabazon twice or more – headed by the late Sir Michael Bonallack, who lifted the trophy four times between 1964 and 1971, and was runner-up a further three times.
But he is looking forward to tackling Hankley’s heathland course, having played it in the South East League Final against Hertfordshire in 2009, when the South Division winners halved the last singles to share the Daily Telegraph Salver.
Wright recalled: “In the 2009 final, I had a great match against ex-England junior James Watts. The course has changed a bit since then.
“It’s definitely a lot longer and has some more bunkers to think about off the tee. The course is an amazing place to play golf, set on a beautiful piece of land with plenty of heather you need to stay out of.
“It’s a course that will reward a good striker of the ball and a good driver of the ball. You have to be in the fairway.”
Rowlands Castle’s Darren Wright won the Brabazon Trophy at Royal Liverpool in 2010, beating off the likes of Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton and a very young Jon Rahm. Picture ENGLAND GOLF
Wright, who did not play the English Amateur Championship when it was held at Hankley six years ago, is proud to be the only past champion in the 144-strong field.
Darren added: “It’s an honour to receive an exemption from England Golf into such a great event. Being a past winner it is a special week for me and will always hold a place in my heart as it opened up so many doors for me back in 2010 as a top amateur.
“Winning at such an iconic course as Hoylake was a great week. I felt in control and confident all week, together with a few putts dropping I found myself with an eight-shot lead going into the back nine.
“It was still a nervous back nine but an enjoyable one knowing I was about to win the biggest event of my life.”
Since regaining his amateur status in 2017, Wright has played in the Brabazon twice – at Leeds’ Alwoodley GC in 2019, and Sunningdale in 2023.
•THE other Hampshire player in the 144-strong field is Liphook’s George Saunders, who came through the Southern Qualifier earlier this month.
The former England U16 cap, who won the Hampshire Salver for the best score in the two nationally-ranked events held at East Hampshire’s top Blackmoor course last month, made six birdies in his 65, at Bristol’s Long Ashton GC.
His five-under total saw him finish third at one of the three qualifiers held for 51 places up for grabs in the Brabazon draw, with the rest determined by the World Amateur Golf Rankings, and exemption categories such as the past champions, which opened the door for Wright.
Saunders last qualified in 2023 at Sunningdale, one of his favourite courses but missed the cut along with Wright, who was just a shot shy of the mark on eight-over.
•FULL BRABAZON SOUTHERN QUALIFIER SCORES
Liphook’s in-form George Saunders, who won last month’s Hampshire Salver at Blackmoor, shot a 65 to qualify for this week’s Brabazon Trophy. Picture by ANDREW GRIFFIN / AMG PICTURES
Hoylake win sparked three in row for Hampshire
HAVING entered the Brabazon for the third time since regaining his amateur status back in 2017, past champion Darren Wright is looking forward to a relatively short journey up the A3 from his home to Hankley Common.
As well as having Wright’s name on the prestigious gold trophy, first competed for in 1947, past champions include 1970s winner Sandy Lyle and Peter Baker, who would both go on to star for Europe in the Ryder Cup, along with Europeans Peter Hanson (1998), from Sweden, and Spain’s Ignacio Garrido (1992).
The most famous recent winner from overseas was South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel, who lifted the Brabazon Trophy aloft at Kent’s Royal Cinque Ports in 2002 aged just 17 – nine years before he proved he was the real Deal by claiming the Green Jacket in the Augusta Masters.
Lyle was, of course, another player who went on to win Majors, claiming the Open in 1985, as well as his first Green Jacket three years later. He is also only one of seven players to have won the Brabazon twice, in 1975 and 1977.
That first victory also saw him become just the second player to win the Carris Trophy in the U18 Championship and the men’s equivalent in the same season.
The first was Hampshire’s very own Paddy Hine, who managed the feat as a 17-year-old in an era when boys found it hard to compete with the distances their elders could hit the ball, when persimmon woods ruled the roost rather than titanium drivers.
Corhampton’s Neil Raymond became the first player to win the Brabazon Trophy back-to-back outright in more than 50 years, at Walton Heath, in 2011
Lyle broke that record during his first triumph at Hollinwell, while Wright is one of just 10 players who have managed to win both the Carris and the Brabazon in their amateur careers, having claimed the boys’ title at Sherwood Forest in 2006.
That win saw him emerge from the shadow of Hampshire team-mate Sam Hutsby, who was already an England cap at that stage.
Winning the Brabazon four years later at Hoylake sparked a golden era for Hampshire Golf as Corhampton’s Neil Raymond became the first player to win the Brabazon back-to-back outright in 50 years.
The only other Hampshire winner was Stan Fox at Somerset’s tough Burnham & Berrow links in 1956. Ironically Raymond would also win the Brabazon there 55 years later at the venue where Justin Rose also won the Carris in 1995.
Since Wright completed the second leg of the double 15 years ago, only one player has joined the list of Carris and Brabazon winners – Yorkshire’s Ben Schmidt, who became the youngest at just 16, winning both trophies in 2019. He is now playing on the European Challenge Tour.