SHERINGHAM GOLF CLUB – Saturday 7th & Sunday 8th June 2025
NCGU Amateur 2025 – Overall Results
NCGU Amateur 2025 – Team Results
Ed Featherstone defied high winds and stiff competition to record a third straight success in the historic Norfolk Amateur Championship.
The talented teenager secured a two-shot ‘home win’ at an immaculately-presented Sheringham – the club where he learned to play golf.
With his father Neil on the bag, Featherstone finished four-over-par after he fired rounds of 65, 72 and 77.
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock student began the second day a stroke back from overnight leader Sully Goddard, whose opening-day efforts of 69 and 67 left him on four-under-par.
Conditions for the closing 18 holes were much more challenging as a cool north-westerly whistled in from the sea.
Goddard’s approach into the first green blew into trouble and playing partner Featherstone’s par proved sufficient to see him edge into a lead he would never relinquish.
That’s not to say Featherstone didn’t experience his own problems – a wayward drive at the seventh hole resulted in a reload and a subsequent triple bogey.
But Featherstone responded to that setback with a brilliant birdie at the very next hole, fizzing a 9-iron to 15 feet before rolling in a putt.
There were a couple of other wobbles but his short game often stood him in good stead, including at the penultimate hole where he scrambled successfully for his par.
That left Featherstone with a comfortable cushion to close out the deal next to the clubhouse and become the first player since Neil Williamson in 1989 to complete a hat-trick of victories in the 131-year-old tournament.
Featherstone said: “It was a very tough day, one of the hardest conditions I’ve played the course – especially in championship condition with the greens running really nicely. It was definitely a test. I was very pleased with how I managed to scramble. I think that was the key.”
Featherstone’s home-soil win will serve as a booster ahead of a series of high-profile summer engagements.
He added: “It’s massive for my confidence. I wanted to see it and I think it would have been quite a big blow to me if I didn’t win it with how I feel like I’ve developed in my game.
“It means a lot to me – on the home course, it’s really special. It’s going to put a smile on my face for a while.
“And dad on the bag as well – we worked well as a team. He did what I needed and didn’t get in the way. I respect that very much, I’m thankful for him and all the things he does for me.”
Goddard took second spot on six-over-par, a stroke clear of James Tipling.
Tipling and Featherstone were joined by Theo Pudney in the Sheringham trio that landed the team trophy. They registered a combined tally of 423 for a comfortable triumph from runners-up Mundesley.
