Blackburn golf ace McGlynn hails best year after Order of Merit triumph (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Blackburn golf ace McGlynn hails best year after Order of Merit triumph

7:30am Tuesday 27th September 2011 in Golf By Gary York, Sports reporter

RISHTON sensation Steven McGlynn has hailed his greatest year on the golf course after becoming East Lancashire’s newest winner of the Cleveland Srixon Northern Order of Merit.

The 22-year-old Blackburn Golf Club ace landed his first Order of Merit in style on Sunday with a nine-shot victory in the final fixture of the season, Clitheroe’s Pendle Witch.

Supported on the course by fiancee Tori, and his father Mark on the bag, McGlynn needed just 30 points behind previous merit leader Richie Blundell to secure the title, which meant needing at least a seventh place finish.

But he blew away a strong field, including many of East Lancashire’s top amateurs, with two stunning rounds of 70 giving him the maximum haul of 120 points.

“It took a little while to sink in, but I’m over the moon,” said McGlynn, who takes the title off three-time winner Mark Young of Hurst Green. “The Northern Order of Merit is such a huge competition and a lot of people want to win it.

“I’ve needed to be consistent to win it. I’ve had a really good season. I’ve finished in the top 10 nearly every week and so I was always picking up points.”

In an ironic twist of fate, McGlynn, 23 next month, took advantage of the absence of rivals Blundell and Young who were part of Lancashire’s six-man team that finished third in the English County Championship at Ganton.

McGlynn was a non-travelling reserve for the Red Rose county, freeing him to compete at Clitheroe and complete his tittle triumph.

“I would have loved to have played for Lancashire in the county finals,” said McGlynn, a former student at St Augustine’s RC High School in Billington. “That was my aim at the start of the season. But this isn’t a bad second prize!

“I played really well over the two rounds. The course was playing long and wet, but I couldn’t have played much better. It was surprising to win by such a big margin because there was so many good golfers out there.”

It was McGlynn’s third success of the year, taking the honours in the Calvert Trophy at Ashton & Lea and Derek Ingham Trophy at Rossendale. The 2007 Harold Ryden Trophy champion also came second in the Lee Westwood Trophy this year.

The Order of Merit is a series of scratch open golf competitions held at courses throughout the north of England. All events are 36 hole individual golf competitions played off scratch, held mostly in the Lancashire and Cheshire areas.