A Barnard Castle sportsman has been crowned World One-Armed Golf Champion.
Stephen Hutchinson battled near gale-force winds and searing heat as he marched through the two qualifying rounds against tough international competition at Redcar’s Cleveland Golf Course, before clinching a close semi-final and then the final.
Along with many players from the British Isles, the tournament attracted the top one armed golfers from Latvia, Sweden, France and America.
Mr Hutchinson said: “It was a close match all way again. The wind was horrendous. On Tuesday some of the members came out to watch us and they said wouldn’t have bothered playing in that wind.
“On the Wednesday for the match-plays it wasn’t as bad but it was difficult. There was a par three 155 yards into the wind and I hit a five wood, then there was one par 4 downwind and I hit a driver 305 yards – it was so hard to judge where to land the ball to get it to stop on the green.”
Mr Hutchinson, who lost the use of his arm in a motorcycle accident in 2005, has played in the world Championship several times and last made it to the final in 2016, but lost to a South African player.
In the semi-final he faced Frenchman Herve Iguane.
The golfer said: “In the morning it was windy with hot temperatures and I was giving him 12 shots as well, so that was quite hard because he had a 12 shot lead on me.
“He won the first hole and he went two up and then I got it back to all square, as we got to the back half I think the pressure got more to him and I managed to hang on until the 18th.”
In the final that afternoon he was playing against Rob Jenkins.
Mr Hutchinson said: “He had a four-shot advantage so I actually felt more comfortable in the final than the semi-final. It was a close match all way again.”
However the Barnard Castle player managed to clinch the match on the 17th hole.
Golf Club members are rightly proud of their new world champion.
Club captain Dave Sparrow said: “It is an absolutely fantastic performance – he is a credit to the club. It is amazing that someone from this area has managed to win a world championship – we are very honoured to have Steve as a member here.”
Lady captain and the club’s welfare officer Lainey Hunt added: “I work with the juniors and they have found Steve very inspirational. A lot of the juniors after seeing Steve’s achievement have come up to me and asked about it.”
