Teenage Sunbury golfer stars in Spain

Feb 11 2009 By John Whitbread, Staines News

There's nothing like a bit of sibling rivalry to whet the competitive juices - as teenage Sunbury golf prospect Craig Cameron can prove.

The 16-year-old former Thamesmead School pupil watched with pride as elder brother, Lee, became the Surrey and Middlesex amateur champion in successive seasons.

Now Craig can point to his own trophy on the family sideboard, after claiming third place in the Andalucia Junior European Open in southern Spain last month.

Craig first took up golf when his dad, Gary, took him to the driving range at Hazelwood.

He began having lessons from Terry Healy at the Sunbury club, before moving to Fulwell where he was coached by Ian McFarlane.

"It was when I won the Junior Match Play tournament at Fulwell that I began to realise that this was more than just a hobby for me," said Cameron.

"I also realised I needed to really work at my game if I was to get to the standard Lee had already achieved."

He joined Wentworth last summer and in his first season lifted the Junior

Match Play crown beating scholarship student Rees Hall in the final.

Cameron was nominated by Wentworth for the Junior European Open, but had quite a battle to get to Spain.

He finished third in the first qualifier at Hampton Court, but then finished joint first in a runners-up competition at Cottesmore.

The top 24 boys and 12 girls from across the country were flown out to the Alcaidese Golf Complex near Gibraltar, where two rounds were played on both the heathland and links courses.

Despite having to contend with fierce winds, Cameron managed to qualify in second place, but still 10 shots behind Ben Taylor of Walton Heath.

The final round was played on the brand new Finca Cortesin course where the Volvo World Match Play will be held for the first time in September.

"It was a really tough course where you had chances to make birdies or eagles, but also could quite easily run up big numbers," explained Cameron.

"I decided to try and play it steady for the first nine and then have a go for it I thought I might have a chance.

"Ben looked very nervous early on he started dropping some shots so I thought I might as well lose by 15 shots as two or three."

In the end his cavalier attack backfired on Cameron, with two triple and one double bogey to eventually finish in third spot, six shots behind winner Taylor.

"It was a great experience and I was really happy to finish in the top three. I certainly learned a lot I can build on for the future."

Cameron has turned his back on education to concentrate on his golf, and is now under the direction of Wentworth chief coach Kristian Baker, who is already aiding the club's European Tour stars Ross Fisher and Seve Benson.

He added: "Kristian is a fantastic teacher and I have also been lucky enough to play quite a few rounds with Seve this winter. I can find something new to work on every time I go out on the course with him.

"I know there are hundreds of lads like me dreaming of a career in professional golf, but I am willing to put everything I have into the game."