One of the most promising young golfers in Staffordshire went on a relaxing family non-competitive golfing holiday to Portugal in September and ended up coming home with a very important junior trophy for his mantelpiece.
Alfie Warke (13) and his parents had no idea that the Paul Mcginley Junior Cup for 10- to 18-year-old golfers from across Europe was set to be held at Quinta do Lago, the very resort they were staying at when they arrived for the holiday. The very day before the competition was set to start, Alfie was out on the course playing just a normal round and was accompanied by a member. Alfie (current handicap 2.3) shot level par, his impressed playing partner assumed it was a warm-up round for the comp, until Alfie told him he knew nothing about it!
Entries for the competition had closed no less three months beforehand so it looked like the late query the family made was going to be unsuccessful. However, and to cut a long story short, a little member intervention (which apparently involved Peter Crouch as well!) got Alfie an entry. His new Quinta fan club got him in, predicting confidently that, “this kid’s going to win this.”
Well their faith was rewarded – after a comparatively modest start to the competition during the first 27 holes, Alfie put on the burners during the final afternoon on day two and shot an incredible six-under par on the back nine to stroll to victory by no less than seven shots. His two-under finishing total was the lowest in the U14 and U16 categories.
At home, Alfie already plays for the Staffs county junior U16 team, and he’s unbeaten in his singles matches so far this year. He is also a regular charity fundraiser through his golfing and runs a very popular TikTok channel too called golf_by_alfie_warke – a screenshot here of Alfie with Wolves legend Steve Bull.
