TOBY HARRIS and Ali Kelly have been crowned the 2018 champions at Cirencester Golf Club after the annual 36-hole competitions on Saturday which were played in heatwave conditions of up to 30 degrees, writes Danny Hall.

For Harris it was his maiden club championship, while Gloucestershire county stalwart Kelly lifted the Ladies’ Scratch Cup for the fifth time.

The course was in excellent condition and while a strong swirling breeze gave some respite from the heat, the wind and the baked fairways made it a real challenge for the elite players of the club, especially with their approach shots to the green.

Harris has been in consistent form all season with a number of top-10 finishes and the four handicapper put together two solid rounds of 73 & 75 on the now par-71 circuit, which boasts a spectacular new closing par four.

He had got back to level par after back-to-back birdies on the 2nd and 3rd holes of the afternoon round. However, despite wilting slightly and signing for five bogeys on the back nine, he rallied to finish a comfortable three shots ahead of ex-pro Mark Shipley (73, 78), who had matched him in the morning before taking the runner-up slot.

“I was going great well into the second round but it was a brutal day, mentally quite draining to play 36 holes in that heat, and I almost let it slip,” said Ciren A team player Harris.

“I actually hit four tee shots (three provisionals) on the 35th, all of them way offline. Luckily we found my first ball which must have hit a tree to stop it going out of bounds and I was able to make a par.

“I have had to give up my cricket, hockey and football because of a knee problem so I have focused on my golf in the last two years.

“But the key was a putting lesson from (Cirencester pro) Ed Goodwin a few weeks ago. He took a photo and showed me I was lining up 12 inches to the right of the hole and trying to hook it in.

“Since we sorted that out my putting has been so much better. It was my first lesson for years.

“I never won the junior championships at Ciren and that always bugged me but now I’ve won the one that really matters.

“I have moved to Worcester but I work in the Ciren area and I wouldn’t change club because there is such a good vibe around the place.

“In the last two years the green-keeping staff have got the course in such a great condition it now plays as well as any in the county.”

Lewis Flett secured third place and was leading junior thanks to his best-of-the-afternoon round of 74. A happy day for the Flett family was completed when Lewis’s brother Callum aced the 199-yard par 3 11th hole.

In the ladies’ event, Kelly put together what club captain David Soar described as the round of the day with her morning par 73 which included five birdies and gave her a 10-shot cushion over talented teenager Jess Brown.

Like so many, Kelly faltered on the front nine in the afternoon as the course got drier and more difficult, but consecutive birdies on the 14th and 15th steadied the ship and by the finish she had extended her overall victory to 13 shots.

CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP SCORES: 148 Toby Harris (73, 75); 151 Mark Shipley (73, 78); 152 Lewis Flett (78, 74) 152 Jon Cowley (76, 76); 153 Alex Hobson (77, 76); 155 Steve Bishop (77, 78); 155 George Peare (79, 76).

LADIES’ SCRATCH CUP SCORES: 150 Ali Kelly (73, 77); 163 Jess Brown (83, 80); 165 Emma Brereton (84, 81).