UCLAN Storm to Exeter Invitational Victory

Now in its second year, the Exeter Invitational welcomes some of the most talented student golfers from across the UK and Ireland for three days of competition in both team and individual events.

Having lost out to the University of Exeter on home soil in the 2013 BUCS Championship final, UCLAN took revenge by winning the team and individual men’s event at Trevose Golf and Country Club, Cornwall.

Scoring consistently well throughout the order, UCLAN finished on 561, eleven shots clear of second place Stirling (572) with hosts Exeter (579) just missing out on a podium spot to an ISGA all-star side (574).

In the individual men’s event UCLAN continued to perform well, Chris Thursby shooting a winning Level Par ahead of Mark Duncalf (UCLAN) at +1 and Alexander Culverwell (Stirling, +4). An impressive performance by Exeter’s Chris Johnston also saw him finish seventh, out of 42 contenders.

A closely contested women’s event saw Chloe Howard (Devon / Boringdon Park) win on +7, two shots clear of Stirling’s Hannah McCook on +9, with last year’s title winner Sinead Sexton (NUI Maynooth) taking 3^rd on +10. A strong performance by Exeter’s Katie Bradbury saw her finish fifth, just one shot short of the podium.

Howard, who was the youngest competitor in the field - aged just 15 years old, put in an exceptional performance scoring a hole in one on the first day at the third whole.

Event organiser Craig Townsend explained how the difficult weather conditions created a quality golf display. He said “The blustery and showery conditions have made it very difficult for the players, but that has meant that everyone has really stepped up their game and put in some brilliant performances.

“Despite the weather Trevose Golf and Country Club have again presented an excellent course for us to play on and we are indebted to Nick Gammon and David Cowan for making the weekend possible.”

The University of Exeter has long been recognised as one of the top golfing institutions in the country. Ranked number one in the 2012 / 2013 British Universities and Colleges Sport National Golf rankings, Exeter has recently invested over £140,000 in a new golf short-game practice facility due to be completed in April 2014.

Craig added: “Work on the new facility is continuing at a pace. The main structure and eco bunker have been completed and the two greens are currently being landscaped. Having an on-site all-weather pitching and putting green will be a huge benefit to the club and the regions golfers as a whole. We can’t wait to see the University Golf Centre completed and open for business”.

You can keep up to date with the progress of the new facility by following @uoexegolfcentre on Twitter.