TEENAGE sensation Lucas Herbert won Neangar Park Gold Club’s championships in a thrilling finish on Saturday.
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The third and final round of the championships ended in a battle of two between Herbert and Shane Muir, with the pair neck-and-neck all afternoon.
Muir trailed by one shot at the 17th hole had the chance to sink a birdie putt to tie the game but fell just short.
They moved to the 18th tee with one shot still separating them.
Both produced solid drives but Herbert remained cool under pressure to hit an excellent approach shot, leaving himself with a 10-foot putt for birdie.
Muir was unable to sink his long birdie attempt and Herbert calmly produced a two-putt par to win the event by one shot.
He returned a score of even par 213.
Tim Daykin, an 11-time winner of the championship, was third, followed by Braiden Connor.
It was Herbert’s third big win on the Neangar Park course in recent months, having won the Central Victorian Junior Masters in February and the Neangar Park Classic in May.
Herbert became the first junior to win the championship since Chris Trowell triumphed in 1992.
Runner-up for the junior title was Braiden Connor with a gross score of 221.
In the A-grade men’s net event, Paul Pickford, who led after an opening round of 66, won with a score of 211 from John Holland on 214 and Braiden Connor on 215.
In B-grade, Matt Shanahan won his first club title with a gross score of 243 after a final round of 82, beating home a fast-finishing Nick Bell by three strokes, with Trevor White third.
In the net event, Bell reversed the tables, winning the title from Shanahan and Ray Garcia.
Wayne DeAraugo led from start to finish to win the C-grade title, with a total of 249, with Shane Gilchrist and Phil Maisano rounding out the placings.
DeAraugo’s hot run of form also saw him win the net event with a score of 207, which was the best three-round net score of the championships.
In the competition for the D-grade title, Alan Lea coasted to a nine-shot victory after a solid final round.
He scored 276 to beat Peter Combe and John Mangan.
Lea also won the net event by three shots from Combe and Mangan.
In the senior’s gross event, Jeff Lonsdale claimed his sixth title in seven years with a score of 242 off the stick.
Surprise packet Wayne DeAraugo claimed second and Trevor White was third.
The battle for the Martin Carboon memorial award, which is awarded for the best gross and net score of the championships, was closely contested over the three weeks of the event.
Three players – Shane Muir, Eric Barclay and Lucas Herbert – produced the low gross score of 70.
The result was decided on a countback, with Barclay declared the gross winner.
Alan Lea’s net score of 64 gave him honours.
