John with his father, Agnelo

John F.T. Fernandes of Enfield, London won the Middlesex County Golf Union Under 13 scratch championship at Hampstead Golf Club on Thursday the 31st March 2005. He is the son of Dores and Agnelo Fernandes (agnelodafernandes@hotmail.com) ex-Eastleigh, Nairobi and brother of Thomas and Isabella. Agnelo, his main coach and mentor, attended St. Teresa's Boys School, Nairobi and was a top footballer with Simba FC of London in the eighties.

Played over 2 rounds, at the 9 hole, par 34 course, John opened his account with 2 birdies in the first 3 holes. He went out in the lowest front 9 score of 39 and came home in 42 to claim the title by 7 shots. His driver, averaging 220 yards was the key to his victory as he found the fairways and the correct sides, in all but 2 drives. He finished strongly, sinking a 30 foot putt to save Par on the deceptively undulating 18th green.

John practices and plays virtually all year round. His entire 2 week Easter college break was spent practicing up to 8.30 in the night, and playing competitions and this reaped its’ rewards.

Last year, John won the GOA category 2 trophy. The youngest player participating, he equalled the highest stapleford score for the day, 43points, which was the same as the Category 1 winner.

John loves the game and started playing golf when he was 3 years old and competitively for the last 3 years. John loves to practice and experiment with different shots with his elder brother Thomas, a county youth 1.6 handicapper. He has an impressive Junior 2004 resume that also includes winning the Ashford Manor h/c with net scores of 64 and 62 and is the current runner-up in the Stonham Barns Players Championship. Mixing academics with golf is challenging. John has got his handicap down from 26 to 12 in 2004 and is determined to get to Category 1 (h/c 5 and lower) in 2005 and follow in elder brother Thomas’ footsteps and, together become possibly, the first Goans in the Golf Professional ranks.