Essex’s Harley Smith has won the English Amateur Championship after an incredible final day of golf at Seaton Carew.
In the 36-hole final, Smith (The Rayleigh) found himself 7-up through 13, but an unimaginable comeback from Will Tate (The Cavendish) saw him take the match to an extra 37th hole – where a scintillating Smith, who holed out for eagle from distance on the 9th twice on the final day, eventually sealed victory.
Smith and Tate both started the day steadily with the first three holes halved till Smith rolled in a 10-footer for birdie on the 4th, which started an incredible run.
He wedged close for birdie on 7 and holed out from 91 yards for a sublime eagle on the 9th, as he won six holes on the trot for an astonishing 6-up lead after just nine holes.
Tate didn’t roll over though, as Smith made a mistake on 10 to gift a hole back, but the Rayleigh Club golfer blasted a drive just shy of the 12th green to win with birdie and went 7-up with a birdie on the par-5 13th.
Tate clawed two holes back, with a par on the par-3 15th and a superb up-and-down from 70 yards to win the 17th, but Smith ensured he went in at the halfway stage with a six-hole advantage as he birdied the last with a solid 15-foot putt.
After a quick refreshment ahead of the next 18 holes, Smith three-putted the 1st and Tate landed a 30-footer on the 2nd to bring the deficit to four holes.
The Cavendish golfer then hit the green on the 6th to win with par before hitting to six feet from the rough on the 7th for another birdie, and all of a sudden, there were just two holes in it.
As it looked like Tate might be mounting an incredible comeback when he hit the fairway on the 9th and Smith was in the rough, Smith went and replicated what he did in the morning round by holing out for eagle from 81 yards, taking him back to 3-up.
Tate was grinding away and birdied the 11th with a 12-footer and despite it looking like he’d lost the par-4 12th after missing a close birdie putt following a big drive, Smith missed a three-footer as he was unable to convert a brilliant chip which was close to yet another eagle.
The pressure began to mount as Tate hit another magnificent approach on 14 to make it just one hole in the match, but Smith held his nerve to deliver a fine tee shot on 15 whereas Tate couldn’t get up-and-down on the par-3.
The duo halved 16 in pars but Smith’s approach went long on 17, opening the door for Tate who took advantage with a par to make it just one shot in it.
And on the 18th, he stuck an incredible approach to six feet for birdie in front of the big crowd who cheered as he rolled in the putt to force an extra hole.
After some wonderful golf, sadly Tate hit his tee shot out of bounds on the 1st extra hole while Smith made the green in two to be crowned 2024 English Amateur champion.
Smith said: “It’s an unbelievable feeling. With how the match started to the way Will played towards the end, it got very nervy, but I’m glad to be the English Amateur champion.
The way he came back was unbelievable. At lunch I knew he was going to come out fighting and I knew it’d be a good game in the afternoon, but I kept telling myself to stay patient and keep chalking the holes off but he just didn’t let up. I was like, ‘Is this guy ever going to go away?!’”
On his two hole-outs for eagle on the 9th on the day, he explained: “I’d like to say I intentionally hit it down the rough line but I knew there was space over there.
This morning I had 91 yards and somehow found the bottom of the cup, and then this afternoon I had 81 yards, and found the bottom of the cup again! It was quite a moment and I’ve never had that before!”
The champion admitted there’s no time to celebrate, as he drove straight up to Scotland after his win to represent England in the Women’s & Men’s Home Internationals.
He added: “I can’t wait to get there. It’s always a pleasure to represent your country. We’ve got a very strong team so I’m looking forward to seeing the guys.”