Duke of York Young Champions Trophy

Duke of York Young Champions Trophy
Tournament information
Location	United Kingdom
Established	2001
Course(s)	2014: Royal Aberdeen
Format	Stroke play
Month played	September
Current champion
Gisli Sveinbergsson

First played in 2001, the Duke of York Young Champions Trophy is a unique, international 54-hole stroke play golf tournament for boys and girls who are either the current holders of their Under 18 National Championship or have won some other major golfing event in the preceding twelve months. The event is supported by the R&A and their affiliated national governing bodies and counts towards the World Amateur Golf Rankings and the American Junior Golf Association's performance based entry system.

History

First played in 2001, the event was created by HRH The Duke of York and John Simpson. This highly rated invitational event, supported by the R&A, and aims to promote the development of junior golf, encourage competitiveness and friendship between individual champions whilst also offering a unique opportunity for boys and girls to compete for the same Trophy on a top quality UK links course. The standard of competition continues to be incredibly high with the average handicap for last year's event being an impressive +1.5.

The tournament has grown from having just 11 competitors from six countries in 2001, to a field of 55 champions from 32 countries in 2013. The Duke of York Young Champions Trophy is organised in many ways like a professional tournament in order to give the potential stars of the future a chance to experience what life as a golf professional might involve; hence the inclusion of sponsors and official functions, including the Official Dinner hosted by HRH The Duke of York, as well as an educational talk. Past players include Rory McIlroy, Anna Nordqvist, Matteo Manassero and Tom Lewis.

Sponsors of the tournament include PGA European Tour, BMW, Ricoh, InterContinental Hotels Group, Man Group, The Fortune, Mizuno, and Callaway Golf Company.

Academic and golf scholarships

The Duke of York Sports Foundation is a registered charity established in 2004 to promote amateur sports. Academic and golf scholarships have been awarded since September 2007 to provide under 18 boys and girls with the opportunity to receive a high standard of education whilst at the same time focusing on their golf and offer an alternative to studying and training in the USA.

Wellington College in Berkshire was chosen as the school that met all the criteria required to support both aspects of the scholarship. As one of the best co-educational independent private schools in Britain, it offers the International Baccalaureate, a good standard 9-hole golf course and practice facilities on site. It is also located near many excellent courses (including Wentworth and Sunningdale), coaches and major airports.

Candidates must meet Wellington College's academic standard, demonstrate a high level of golfing ability with clear signs of potential and are selected on a case by case basis. To date, the Foundation has awarded five academic and golf scholarships. All the scholars are aged between 14 and 17, with handicaps ranging from three to plus-two. The Foundation's aim is to award eight to ten scholarships to individuals by 2011.

Previous winners

Year	Venue	Competitors	Countries	Winner	2nd	Leading Girl/Boy
2001^[1]	Royal Liverpool, Hoylake	11	6	Michael Nester	Grigory Bondarenko	Clare Queen
2002^[2]	Royal Liverpool, Hoylake	26	13	Carlos del Moral	Cian MacNamara	Azahara Muñoz
2003^[3]	Castletown Golf Links, Isle of Man	31	16	Rikard Karlberg	Pablo Martín	Justine Barbier
2004^[4]	Kingsbarns, Scotland	36	20	Zac Gould	Rory McIlroy	Anna Nordqvist
2005^[5]	Castletown Golf Links, Isle of Man	39	20	Oliver Fisher	Andrea Pavan	Anna Nordqvist
2006^[6]	Dundonald Links, Ayrshire	42	22	Sam Hutsby	Marc Dobias Robin Wingardh	Carly Booth
2007^[7]	Dundonald Links, Ayrshire	49	28	Claudio Vigano	Giulia Molinaro Isabelle Boineau Joachim Hansen	Giulia Molinaro
2008^[8]	Dundonald Links, Ayrshire	51	28	Stiggy Hodgson	Arnaud Abbas	Marieke Nivard
2009^[9]	Dundonald Links, Ayrshire	57	34	Moriya Jutanugarn	Laetitia Beck	Richard Jung
2010^[10]	Royal St George's, Kent	57	32	Gudmundur Kristjansson	Dermot McElroy	Leona Maguire
2011^[11]	Royal Liverpool, Hoylake	57	31	Harry Casey	Harang Lee	Harang Lee
2012^[12]	Royal Troon Golf Club, South Ayrshire	53	31	Ragnar Gardarsson	Max Orrin Katja Pogacar	Katja Pogacar
2013	Royal St George's, Kent	55	32	Guido Migliozzi	Jack Singh Brar	Nicole Morales
2014	Royal Aberdeen, Aberdeen	57	30	Gisli Sveinbergsson	Ren Okazaki	Carlotta Ricolfi
2015	Prince's Golf Club, Kent
2016	Royal Birkdale, Southport
2017	Royal Liverpool, Hoylake

Courses

The Duke of York Young Champions Trophy is held at links courses across the UK. So far it has been hosted by nine different courses over its thirteen-year history. Dundonald Links has played host to the tournament four times.

Royal Liverpool

Castletown Golf Links

Kingsbarns

Dundonald Links

Royal St. George's

Royal Troon

Royal Aberdeen

Prince's Golf Club

Royal Birkdale

Duke of York Young Champions Trophy (the United Kingdom)

Participating countries

As of 2014, 50 countries have participated in the Duke of York Young Champions Trophy.

Legend

1st — Champion
x — Did not participate
1 — Number of participants

Country	2001 (11)	2002 (26)	2003 (31)	2004 (36)	2005 (39)	2006 (42)	2007 (49)	2008 (51)	2009 (57)	2010 (57)	2011 (55)	2012 (53)	2013 (55)	2014 (57)	Total (619)
England	2	2	4	2	3	5	2	4	3	2	4	4	3	4	44
Scotland	2	2	2	3	3	3	1	3	2	1	1	3	3	3	32
Sweden	x	1	2	3	3	2	2	3	2	2	2	2	2	3	29
Italy	x	2	2	1	2	2	4	1	2	2	2	2	2	4	28
Denmark	x	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	26
Wales	2	1	1	4	3	1	1	2	1	2	2	1	1	2	24
Belgium	x	x	2	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	2	2	2	24
South Africa	x	x	x	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	2	3	24
Ireland	2	2	2	1	2	1	1	1	1	4	3	x	1	1	22
Finland	x	2	2	1	3	2	1	2	1	2	1	1	2	2	22
Norway	x	2	x	x	x	2	3	2	2	2	3	2	2	2	22
Iceland	x	x	2	3	1	2	2	2	1	1	2	2	2	2	22
Switzerland	x	x	x	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	21
Czech Republic	x	x	x	x	2	2	2	1	3	2	1	2	3	2	20
France	x	2	x	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	x	x	x	19
Austria	x	x	2	1	2	2	1	1	2	2	2	x	1	2	18
Spain	1	4	3	3	x	1	1	1	2	x	1	x	x	x	17
Germany	x	2	1	x	1	2	1	2	1	2	3	1	1	x	17
Netherlands	x	x	x	1	x	x	2	3	3	2	x	2	2	2	17
Japan	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	2	2	2	2	3	2	2	15
Turkey	x	x	x	1	1	1	2	1	2	1	1	1	2	1	14
Slovenia	x	x	x	x	x	1	2	x	2	2	2	2	1	2	14
Canada	x	x	x	x	x	x	2	2	2	2	x	1	x	2	11
USA	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	2	2	2	2	3	11
India	x	x	x	x	x	x	2	x	1	1	1	2	2	x	9
Portugal	x	x	2	x	x	x	2	x	1	2	x	1	1	x	9
Thailand	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	2	2	3	2	x	x	x	9
Russia	2	2	1	1	x	x	x	1	x	x	x	x	x	x	7
Hungary	x	x	x	x	1	x	x	1	1	x	1	1	1	1	7
Estonia	x	x	x	x	1	1	1	x	1	1	x	x	1	x	6
Luxembourg	x	x	x	x	1	2	x	x	x	x	1	1	x	1	6
Latvia	x	x	x	x	x	x	2	2	1	x	x	x	x	1	6
Mexico	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	2	2	2	6
Israel	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	1	2	1	x	x	1	x	5
Argentina	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	1	1	3	x	5
Puerto Rico	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	1	1	1	1	1	5
Poland	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	1	1	x	x	1	1	4
Greece	x	x	x	x	x	x	1	1	1	x	x	x	x	x	3
Hong Kong	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	1	1	1	x	x	x	3
Trinidad & Tobago	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	1	1	1	3
Monaco	x	x	1	1	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	2
South Korea	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	1	x	1	x	x	x	2
Colombia	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	1	1	x	x	2
Bulgaria	x	x	x	x	x	x	1	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	1
Jamaica	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	1	x	x	x	x	1
Northern Ireland	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	1	x	x	1
New Zealand	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	1	x	x	1
Paraguay	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	1	x	1
Australia	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	1	1
Dominican Republic	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	1	1