Top Teen Golfers Heading To Nottingham

Nearly 200 of the world’s top young golfers will be playing at Radcliffe-on-Trent later this month.

The players – from 18 different nations including India and Sri Lanka – will be competing for the prestigious McGregor Trophy: the major worldwide competition for players under 16.

The event starts on Monday 14th July with a practice day and then runs from Tuesday 15th to Thursday 17th July 2025.

Past winners of the event include players who are now amongst the world’s best: Justin Rose, Edoardo Molinari, Paul Waring, Oliver Fisher, Marco Penge and Rasmus Hojgaard.

In fact, it was 30 years ago this year that Justin Rose won the event at Radcliffe, which was the founding home of the competition when it started in 1982.

Founded as a boys golf tournament by Roy Case, who later became president of the English Golf Union, the trophy was donated by then captains at Radcliffe-on-Trent, Matt and Kathy McGregor. After long success, the competition was adopted by England Golf in 1993 as the English Boys U16 Open Amateur Stroke-Play Championship, moving to various locations across the country, but often back to its original home in Nottinghamshire.

Last year, Spaniard Yago Horno won at West Essex Golf Club, the most recent event held in Nottinghamshire was in 2022 when Mark Gazi won at Sherwood Forest Golf Club. The most recent winner at Radcliffe was Joshua Hill who won in 2019.

The first ever winner in 1982 was Martin Long, Jim Payne holds the joint-most titles with two, he won in 86 & 87 and went on to have a couple of European Tour wins in the 1990’s whilst Sebastian Crookall-Nixon is also the only other player to win back-to-back (he winning at Highpost Golf Club in 2008 before again in Radcliffe the following year).

Perhaps the best known of all, Justin Rose won at Radcliffe in 1995 with a winning score over four rounds of 287, a year later Edoardo Molinari recorded his only McGregor Trophy win in Nottinghamshire, the most notable recent winner was Rasmus Hojgaard in 2016, although that was at Royal Ashdown Forest.

Previous McGregor Trophy winners

2024 Yago Horno (West Essex GC)
2023 Kris Kim (Hunstanton GC)
2022 Mark Gazi (Sherwood Forest GC)
2021 Harley Smith (Camberley Heath GC)
2020 Cancelled due to COVID
2019 Joshua Hill (Radcliffe on Trent GC)
2018 Conor Gough (Kedleston Park GC)
2017 Joonas Turba (Burnham & Berrow GC)
2016 Rasmus Højgaard (Royal Ashdown Forest)
2015 Ignacio Puente (Wallasey GC)
2014 John Axelsen (Radcliffe on Trent GC)
2013 Marco Penge (Seacroft GC)
2012 Jake Storey (Trevose GC)
2011 Jack Hermeston (South Moor GC)
2010 Toby Tree (Princes GC)
2009 Sebastian Crookall-Nixon (Radcliffe on Trent GC)
2008 Sebastian Crookall-Nixon (Highpost GC)
2007 Adam Carson (Southport & Ainsdale GC)
2006 Oscar Sharpe (Worthing (Lower) GC)
2005 Adam Myers (Radcliffe on Trent GC)
2004 Oliver Fisher (Dudsbury GC)
2003 Wouter de Vries (Rotherham GC)
2002 Matthew Baldwin (Sheringham GC)
2001 Paul Waring (Radcliffe on Trent GC)
2000 Michael Skelton (Woodbury Park GC)
1999 James Heath (Fairhaven GC)
1998 Yasin Ali (Radcliffe on Trent GC)
1997 Roberto Paolillo (Radcliffe on Trent GC)
1996 Edoardo Molinari (Radcliffe on Trent GC)
1995 Justin Rose (Radcliffe on Trent GC)
1994 Graeme Storm (Radcliffe on Trent GC)
1993 Kurt Bridgen (Radcliffe on Trent GC)
1992 Steve Webster (Radcliffe on Trent GC)
1991 Jonathon Bromley (Radcliffe on Trent GC)
1990 David Turnbill (Radcliffe on Trent GC)
1989 Steven Weir (Radcliffe on Trent GC)
1988 Phil Edwards (Radcliffe on Trent GC)
1987 Jim Payne (Radcliffe on Trent GC)
1986 Jim Payne (Radcliffe on Trent GC)
1985 Heath Linacre (Radcliffe on Trent GC)
1984 Mark Nunn (Radcliffe on Trent GC)
1983 Shaun Smith (Radcliffe on Trent GC)
1982 Martin Long (Radcliffe on Trent GC)

Radcliffe-on-Trent Golf Club General Manager Rob Smith stated “These amazing young golfers really are quite incredible, they play a different game to most of us and, even at 16 years old and younger they know how to manage a golf course.

Justin Rose went from victory at Radcliffe-on-Trent in this event in 1995 to becoming the world’s number one golfer and many of the winners have also gone onto have successful careers and play at a very high level– so we may well see stars of tomorrow here in Nottingham.”