# British Youths Open Championship

The British Youths Open Championship was a youths golf tournament that was played from 1954 to 1994. It was 72-hole stroke-play event for golfers under 22. From 1954 to 1962, it was organised by a committee led by Sam Bunton, a Glasgow architect, and was open to assistant professionals as well as amateurs, but from 1963, it was taken over by The R&A and became an amateur-only event, called: the British Youths Open Amateur Championship. The R&A dropped the event because they felt it was no longer needed to bridge the gap between boy's and men's golf. A 54-hole girls' event was also held. In 1963, the event was taken over by the Scottish Ladies' Golfing Association and called the Scottish Girls' Open Stroke-play Championship.

## Winners

| Year | Winner | Score | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up | Venue |
| 1954 | John More (p) | 287 | 1 stroke | David Mackie | Erskine |
| 1955 | Brian Stockdale | 297 | Playoff | Michael Bonallack | Pannal |
| 1956 | Alan Bussell | 287 | Playoff | Peter Binns | Barnton |
| 1957 | George Will | 290 | 6 strokes | Angus Grossart | Pannal |
| 1958 | Richard Kemp (p) | 281 | 7 strokes | Brian Huggett (p) Tony Jowle | Dumfries & County |
| 1959 | Tony Jowle | 286 | 7 strokes | Tony Highfield (p) Jack Sanderson Eddie Shamash | Pannal |
| 1960 | Alex Caygill (p) | 279 | 7 strokes | Campbell Brownlee | Pannal |
| 1961 | John Martin | 284 | 5 strokes | Alan Scott | Bruntsfield Links |
| 1962 | Alex Caygill (p) | 287 | 12 strokes | Cliff Bowman | Pannal |
| 1963 | Alistair Low | 283 | Playoff | David Murdoch | Pollok |
| 1964 | Brian Barnes | 290 | 4 strokes | Scott Macdonald George Macgregor | Pannal |
| 1965 | Peter Townsend | 281 | 3 strokes | Buddy Allin | Gosforth Park |
| 1966 | Peter Oosterhuis | 219 | 4 strokes | Bob Durrant Michael Kelley | Dalmahoy |
| 1967 | Peter Benka | 278 | Playoff | Bernard Gallacher | Copt Heath |
| 1968 | Peter Benka | 281 | Playoff | Bob Durrant | Ayr Belleisle |
| 1969 | John Cook | 289 | 2 strokes | Baldovino Dassù Andrew Forrester Leonard Owens | Lindrick |
| 1970 | Baldovino Dassù | 276 | 2 strokes | Alan Bird | Barnton |
| 1971 | Pip Elson | 277 | 3 strokes | Warren Humphreys | Northamptonshire County |
| 1972 | Andrew Chandler | 281 | 2 strokes | Pip Elson | Glasgow Gailes |
| 1973 | Carl Mason | 284 | 3 strokes | Garry Harvey | Southport and Ainsdale |
| 1974 | David Robertson | 284 | 3 strokes | Sandy Stephen | Downfield |
| 1975 | Nick Faldo | 278 | 1 stroke | Martin Poxon | Pannal |
| 1976 | Malcolm Lewis | 277 | Playoff | Peter Wilson | Gullane |
| 1977 | Sandy Lyle | 285 | 6 strokes | Steve Martin Paul McKellar | Moor Park |
| 1978 | Brian Marchbank | 278 | 3 strokes | Hugh Evans | East Renfrewshire |
| 1979 | Gordon Brand Jnr | 291 | 1 stroke | Colin Dalgleish Paul Gallagher | Woodhall Spa |
| 1980 | Garry Hay | 303 | Playoff | Philip Walton | Royal Troon |
| 1981 | Torbjörn Antevik | 290 | 1 stroke | John Huggan | West Lancashire |
| 1982 | Philip Parkin | 280 | 7 strokes | Colin Dalgleish | New course, St Andrews |
| 1983 | Paul Mayo | 290 | 1 stroke | Craig Laurence | Sunningdale |
| 1984 | Richard Morris | 281 | 2 strokes | Andy Clapp | Blairgowrie |
| 1985 | José María Olazábal | 291 | 6 strokes | Steven Bottomley Andrew McQueen Eoghan O'Connell | Ganton |
| 1986 | David Gilford | 283 | 8 strokes | Jan Pedersen | Carnoustie |
| 1987 | James Cook | 283 | Playoff | Olle Nordberg | Hollinwell |
| 1988 | Christian Cévaër | 275 | Playoff | Craig Cassells | Royal Aberdeen |
| 1989 | Mike Smith | 285 | Playoff | Andrew Coltart | Ashburnham |
| 1990 | Mathias Grönberg | 275 | 1 stroke | Andrew Coltart | Southerness |
| 1991 | Jim Payne | 287 | Playoff | Ralph Hutt | Woodhall Spa |
| 1992 | Warren Bennett | 282 | 3 strokes | Stephen Pullan | Gosforth Park |
| 1993 | Lee Westwood | 278 | 8 strokes | Steven Carmichael | Glasgow Gailes |
| 1994 | Freddie Jacobson | 277 | 2 strokes | Simon Hurd | Royal St David's |
(p) = professional
In 1954 there was an under-18 section which was won by Ronnie Shade.

## International matches

In 1955, an international match between England and Scotland was arranged the day before the start of the championship, although the match had a lower age limit than that used in the championship. Another match was arranged the following year, although the result was decided on holes rather than matches. There was no match in 1957 but it was arranged again in 1958 and 1959. From 1960, the event was contested for the Alex Mackay Memorial Trophy.
In 1967, a second match was arranged, between Great Britain & Ireland and the Continent of Europe, later called the EGA Trophy. This was played the day before the start of the championship with the England/Scotland match being played a day earlier. The same system was retained for a number of years while the EGA Trophy match was played before the championship. In 1976, and on a number of occasions from 1980, the EGA Trophy match was not played in connection with the championship, and on those occasions, the England/Scotland match was played the day before the championship rather than two days before.

## British Girls' Stroke-play Championship

The girls' section of the British Youths Open Championship was inauguated in 1955 and played over 54 holes. It was later called the British Girls' Stroke-play Championship. In 1963, the event was taken over by the Scottish Ladies' Golfing Association and called the Scottish Girls' Open Stroke-play Championship. The Scottish under-21 event was played from 1963 until 2015, when it was dropped from the schedule. The last winner was Cloe Frankish.
* 1955 Marjory Fowler
* 1956 Belle McCorkindale
* 1957 Marjory Fowler
* 1958 Ruth Porter
* 1959 Diane Robb
* 1960 Julia Greenhalgh
* 1961 Diane Robb
* 1962 Susan Armitage
* 1963 Ann Irvin