Ely City Golf Club’s James McLaughlin celebrates Cambridgeshire County Championship success at St Ives Golf Club

James McLaughlin has been celebrating clinching the first Cambridgeshire County Championship title of his career at St Ives Golf Club.

However, it was far from a straightforward success for the Ely City Golf Club member, who went close to winning the top prize in 2021 when he finished runner-up to Ed Dimambro at the Gog Magog Old Course.

On this occasion he sunk a late putt from distance to enter a four-hole play-off with Sam Marshall, with the youngster showing that he also has a bright future ahead of him before ulimtately slipping to a one-stroke defeat to McLaughlin.

The best of the early starters on day one was Ross Wilson with a one over par score of 73. Wilson held the lead for some time before eventual runner-up Marshall of the St Neots Golf Club came in with a level par round of 72.

Former champion Owen Cousins, also of St Neots, showed his class by racing to 4 under par after only six holes.

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It only remained for the defending champion Jake Plumb of Gog Magog to spread-eagle the field, returning a 69, which included six birdies. Plumb recently finished fourth in the Brabazon Trophy at Sunningdale and eighth in the Lagonda Trophy at Gog Magog.

In the afternoon McLaughlin backed up his morning 74 with a 2 under round of 70 to take the lead with 144. And he was soon joined on this score by Marshall with two steady rounds of 72.

Morning leader Plumb, after birdieing two of his first five holes, went on a disastrous run with two double bogeys and two bogeys in his next four holes.

Three more dropped shots on the back nine saw him finish with 79 and a day one total of 148, which left him four strokes off the lead but still in contention.

Owen Cousins joined Plumb on 148 and he was also still very much in contention, along with another six competitors who were within six strokes of the leaders, which meant the cut came at a very high 164 with 28 competitors making it to the final day.

The early leader in the clubhouse on day two was Simon Crick of the home club as he returned in 70, which contained two birdies and 16 pars, for a total of +4.

However, it was McLaughlin that took the lead into the final round after his third round score of 71 for a score of -1. Sixteen-year-old Marshall was four strokes further back while four players – Cousins, Crick, Danny Loveday and Paul Hodgkin – shared third place on +4.

The teenage Marshall made a blistering start to his final round with five birdies in the first seven holes – and combined with McLaughlin racking up a triple bogey on hole seven – he opened up a two-stroke lead going into the last nine holes.

McLaughlin halved the deficit with a birdie on the 11 and much to Marshall’s disbelief he holed a 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th to send the contest into a play-off. And it was another long putt from McLaughlin – after he had twice narrowly avoided the lake – that secured victory.

Next year’s event will be hosted at The Links in Newmarket.