Hartpury golfer George Bryant battled bracing conditions to claim his maiden Association of Colleges national title at a blustery St. Andrews recently.

The Extended Diploma Golf student, 17, claimed a 36-hole four shot victory over Balby Academy of Sport’s Luke Palmowski after the two had been tied for the lead following their opening round.

Bryant and Palmowski had been tied following their initial 18 holes, both shooting two under par 70s on the Kittocks course but Bryant pulled away in challenging conditions on the second day to shoot a two over par 74 as Palmowski faltered to a six over 78.

Fellow Hartpury student Angus Bendall finished fifth in the individual standings with a total of 152 over his two rounds while Alex Talbot and Reece Swain also finished inside the top 30 of the 67-player event to help Hartpury to a second place finish in the team standings.

At the halfway stage Hartpury’s players were also joint top of the team rankings with Balby, but in a reversal of fortunes, the tough day two scoring saw Hartpury slip to second as Balby claimed the overall team title.

Hartpury’s Golf Manager, Matt Ellis, said: “I’m really pleased, not just for George but for the whole team. Everyone has to play against some really tough conditions over the weekend and they all showed their skill and determination to register good scores. Obviously it’s a great result for George, he played some really great golf over the two days and deserved to win. It’s back to the hard work now though as we’ve got a number of competitions coming up.”

With the AoC title wrapped up, Hartpury’s golfers will turn their attentions to the Intercollegiate Tour and the British Schools and Colleges Tour, which they will play qualifiers for over the next couple of weeks.