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Heswall To Host 2006 Junior Open Championships Contact David Hill (March 21, 2003) - Heswall Golf Club has been chosen to host the Junior Open Championships in 2006, the year that the Open Championship returns to Hoylake. This will be the first time that the club has hosted an R&A Championship although it has held many county events and only last year was the venue for the English Seniors Amateur Championship. Founded in 1902, Heswall commands uninterrupted views over the Dee Estuary to the hills of North Wales and beyond. It will join a list of distinguished Junior Open venues which in recent years include Formby (1998), Crail (2000), Royal Musselburgh (2002) and next year, Kilmarnock (Barassie), when the Open is at Royal Troon. The Junior Open Championships were first played in 1994 and are held every second year. They continue to grow in popularity, a fact that is underlined by the entry in 2002 from over 50 countries all of whom were invited to nominate a boy and a girl golfer to compete in these highly regarded junior international tournaments. The championships are run in three categories namely, gold for handicap 3 and under, silver for handicaps 4 to 9 and bronze for handicaps of 10 to 21. The gold category is played over 54 holes and the other two over 36 holes. Cian McNamara, 16, a one handicap player from Ireland won the 2002 gold category with a gross score of 207 (71, 65, 71). |