THE ROLL call of winners in the Boys and Girls Amateur Championships reads like a who’s who of golf with a host of future Major champions landing the R&A’s junior showpiece.

We’ve seen Solheim Cup stars such Georgia Hall, Anna Nordqvist, Azahara Munoz and this year’s captain Suzann Pettersen emerge victorious while, in the boys’ championship, Jose Maria Olazabal, Sergio Garcia and more recently Hallamshire’s Matt Fitzpatrick have landed the prestigious title.

This year an international field of 288 hopefuls will tee it up at Leeds' two leading courses with the girls heading to Alwoodley while Moortown will host the boys. The first two days will feature 36 holes of strokeplay across the two Dr Alister MacKenzie masterpieces, with the leading 64 players then competing in a matchplay format before the 36-hole finals on Saturday August 17.

The boys’ version, which has been played for since 1921, offers exemptions into the Amateur Championship and Final Qualifying for The Open while the girls’ winner has the huge incentive of a place at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur (ANWA) a week ahead of next year's Masters.

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS: The 1oth green at Moortown, where the boys' pre-qualifiers will take place this weekend ahead of the main event throughout this week.

Lottie Woad, another previous winner of the Girls Amateur, became this year’s winner at Augusta after three birdies over the last four holes over the most iconic back nine in the game.

Moortown’s Josh Stephens, who captains the Yorkshire boys’ team this year, will attempt to make it to the strokeplay stages in a pre-qualifier on Saturday. The 17-year-old has been here before when he lost on countback at Fulford which meant an opening day sitting on the sidelines waiting for a withdrawal that didn’t happen.

“The first reserve got in, I was second reserve and spent the day on the 1st tee at Fulford and practising in case I got a chance. It was still a great experience, just seeing the R&A boards it just feels different. They got the course in unreal condition and I heard the same about Ganton – they manage to take the courses to another level. I see a lot of the lads week in, week out and I actually just want to see what they do around my home course. I don't think we go to a place that's harder. Moortown is such an incredible course off the back tees and you have to drive the ball so well,” explains Stephens.

Stephens is part of a thriving junior section which has helped see his handicap plummet – he was off 13 at the start of 2020 and is now down to +2 – and he’s been coached by Moortown’s Assistant Pro Eddie Hammond since he was 10.

“Growing up, I couldn't reach the par 4s in two around here so I relied on my short game a lot. I got down to 3 and I wasn't hitting it more than 220 yards. Also, growing up with so many strong juniors has really benefited my game. There was always a chipping competition going on or you would see things in older boys’ games which you could implement or we would play for a fiver over our own four-round tournaments. So it was always a very high standard plus the members have always been fantastic in having the juniors as part of their club competitions and they couldn’t have been more supportive.”

Opportunity knocks as youngsters aim to land prestigious titles at Moortown and Alwoodley