A 16-YEAR-OLD member at Oswestry Golf Club recently managed to place in the top 40 of a prestigious tournament.

Daniel Haycocks made the cut in the well-known McGregor Cup tournament, organised by England Golf.

He went on to finish 34th overall, competing against more than 150 youngsters from across the world.

In what was his first ever England event, Dan was pleased with his performance and feels as though he has picked up some valuable experience.

“This was my first England event, and it will hopefully be the first of many to come,” he said.

“I was up against the best players in the world for the age bracket, all from different countries. I play off about two-handicap at the moment, whereas a lot of these players were off -2 and -3. Some have played on television, in pro events and for their national teams, so the standard was very high.

“I set myself the target of making the cut initially, then after doing that I set my sights higher and looked at getting a top 10 finish. The scores on the Sunday of the event were very good, so it was very difficult to do that.

“It’s given me a lot of confidence for the next one – I was very nervous this time, but I think if I went again, I’d be a lot less nervous having had the experience now. Next year I’m hoping to compete in the Carris Trophy which is the under-18s equivalent of the McGregor Trophy.”

The 16-year-old gave credit to his parents and coach Richard Edwards at Oswestry Golf Club.

He added: “Richard has been brilliant. He’s very calm and we get on very well. He’s got me to where I am, so he obviously really knows what he’s doing.

“I’m never going to not have him as my coach wherever I end up going with golf.

“My mum and dad have been great too – they’ve been so supportive all the way through.

“I’m hoping in a couple of years’ time that I’m able to win a competition like this, then in five to 10 years’ time I would love to turn professional.”

Dan’s father, Chris Haycocks, said: “As parents who don’t play golf, we are enormously proud at his dedication and what he has accomplished in such a short period.

“He has also been well supported at Oswestry School who support his golf so much, and they too have a strong golf squad which competes nationally.

“Watching him compete up and down the country, however, in this often intense sport, is not always easy, and we seem feel every emotion that he does with each and every round.”

Coach Richard also said: “Dan started with me as a beginner. He had one lesson and fell in love with the game.

“He has progressed so much and I’m really excited to see where his great potential will take him.”

“We worked hard on his technique all winter, so now we will look more at course management and other more in depth things to help him progress even more.”