Yorkshire golf: Howley Hall's Ben Hutchinson is new White Rose champion

New Yorkshire champion Ben Hutchinson receives the trophy from Yorkshire Union of Golf Clubs' president Jonathan Plaxton.

HOWLEY Hall's Ben Hutchinson went lower with each round to come from three shots back and win the Yorkshire amateur championship at Moortown.

The event had to be reduced to three rounds following heavy overnight rain and excellent work by the club’s greenkeeping staff got the course ready for a final day played in breezy conditions.

Wath’s Nick Poppleton had led after 36 holes on level par following rounds of 75 and 67, the latter the best of the championship.

But his final-round 75 saw a familiar pattern of several short-range putts failing to drop and Hutchinson’s 73 72 71 arithmetic progression earned him the crown by one shot from both Poppleton and Shipley’s Will Whiteoak (73 72 72).

Wath's Nick Poppleton receives the Alvin Trophy, for the lowest first 36-hole score, from Yorkshire Union of Golf Clubs'president Jonathan Plaxton.

Hutchinson avoided a tie by playing the last four holes in par, including at the last where he pushed his drive and could only lay up 50 yards short of the green.

He pitched to six feet to deny county team-mates Poppleton and Whiteoak, the former gaining some consolation in the form of receiving the Alvin Trophy for the lowest first 36-hole total.

Hutchinson succeeds Meltham’s Jamie Bower, the England international and Brabazon Trophy holder who is preparing for the US Amateur championship, which starts at Oakland Hills Country Club, in Michigan, next Monday.