Eastbourne golfing twins qualify for Junior European Open

George and Archie Shakespeare, 15, secured their places at the Championships, which are sponsored by Sky Sports, in a Qualifier held at Eastbourne Downs Golf Club on 7th May.They teed off knowing that they needed to finish in the top three to be in with a chance of qualifying.

Archie finished his round first with a score of 3 over par and for much of the afternoon was the clubhouse leader. As George approached the 16th tee, Archie headed out to support him having had word that George had dropped only one shot and was on course to finish his round 2 under par.

On the 17th green, with a few tense spectators, George holed a 15-foot putt for par before heading up the 18th where he made another solid par to finish his round at 2 under, a score of 70, which secured him the win.

Both boys were delighted to have their qualification for the Championships confirmed later that day. George commented: “Absolutely delighted to have made it through! I still can’t quite believe it, so excited to play abroad for the first time!”The boys will now focus on their busy summer schedule playing in Club, County and National competitions before heading to Spain for the Championships in November.

They will spend a full week in Cadiz playing 4 days of competition rounds over two courses in the hope of making the cut for the final round on day five.

Archie said: “It will be amazing to play abroad for the first time and to compete with other junior players from across Europe.”

Previous winners of the Junior European Open include Justin Rose, Sergio Garcia, Luke Donald, Georgia Hall and Bronte Law.