ED FEATHERSTONE will defend the Norfolk Amateur Championship crown at his home club Sheringham Golf Club on June 7-8 – and believes he is a better player now after starting his American adventure.
The teenager has just completed his first year at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock where he is combining a degree in business management with collegiate golf.
Exposure to top-quality courses, strong fields and intensive practice has led to Featherstone progressing to his current plus-4 handicap index.
Featherstone, 19, said: “I’d definitely say I’ve gone up a gear. I’ve changed shapes over the year from draw to fade and feel like I’ve got much more control off the tee, iron play, wedges. And the putting and short game has improved, so overall I’m definitely a better player than when I left.”
Featherstone can become the first player since Neil Williamson in 1989 to win three straight renewals of the Norfolk Amateur Championship.
He is in a confident mood ahead of the prestigious 54-hole tournament but acknowledges his own progression is no guarantee of success in a high-quality 60-strong field that includes 14 players with a handicap rating better than scratch.
Featherstone said: “To do it at Sheringham as well would be really special for me. I know how much the greenkeepers are looking forward to it – they’ve got a bit of rain, so I know the course will be in unbelievable condition.
“We can pray for good conditions weather-wise but I’m really excited to see what happens and I accept any challenge that anyone puts up. It’s going to be good fun, I think, for everyone. Anyone can win it. The course plays tough and in the wind it evens the playing field pretty well, so we’ll see.”
The superb test that is Sheringham is a fitting venue for Norfolk County Golf Union’s flagship championship – and Featherstone has become accustomed to high-quality lay-outs during his freshman year in America.
He said: “It’s been a really cool experience for me. We practise three or four hours every day, we play three or four times a week. We get to play some of the nicest courses I’ve ever seen to be honest. A couple of them are super-good courses.
“We played all over. We played in California, we had a really awesome training week in Arizona. We were very fortunate with that and then we played Louisiana.
“This coming fall there’s going to be five tournaments in six weeks, so it’s pretty full on and we don’t have many breaks but we really enjoy it.”
Featherstone is back in Norfolk for much of the summer and plans to keep his clubs fairly busy.
He said: “I’m going to be doing the Tillman Trophy (July 15-17, The Caversham Golf Club), Open Qualifying and I’m hoping to get in the English Amateur (July 29-August 3, Royal Liverpool GC and Wallasey GC.”
