2nd Place for Lauren in Junior European Open

Congratulations to Lauren Gooding (C) who, at the end of last term, achieved 2^nd place in the Junior European Open golf finals in southern Spain.

The tournament started with 50 qualifiers and Lauren played brilliantly through a series of events to reach the last stages. In the final, she held her nerve through four initial rounds, made the cut of 18 players, before facing a final round. Sky Sports were there for the last two days of play and, as Lauren was in the final group, her last round received full media coverage. Lauren was unfazed by the added pressure: she climbed from 13^th place, to 3^rd, to 1^st, and eventually finished 2^nd – a remarkable achievement for a student who, only a few weeks earlier, was crowned a National Champion in rackets, along with her playing partner Issie Thorneycroft.

Lauren is proud of her achievement and is sanguine about being pipped at the post to 1^st place: “I lost to an 18-year-old full-time golfer who lives in Spain for half of the year to get used to the conditions – she was a deserving winner. I was really pleased with the week and it was a great finish to my season”.