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Boys' Amateur
Lafeber and Horno to contest Boys’ Amateur Final at County Louth
15 Aug 25
6 mins
Guus Lafeber has a chance to do at County Louth what no other Dutch player has done in golf history – win the R&A Boys’ Amateur Championship.
Opponent Yago Horno is bidding to join Spanish legends Sergio Garcia and José María Olazábal as winner of the premier under-18 event. Picking a winner isn’t easy. Both are the top-ranked junior players of their respective nations. Lafeber denied Kuan Zhou from becoming only the second American to reach the Boys’ Final with a one-hole victory. Horno defeated Sweden’s Oscar Stendahl by two holes.In-form pair
Both men arrived in Ireland in excellent form. Horno, ranked 605th on the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR®), has won the Spanish Amateur Match Play and the Spanish U18 Championships this year. Lafeber turned up fresh from winning the Dutch National Stroke Play. He is 448th on the WAGR® table. Lafeber perhaps has extra incentive: fellow countryman and friend Scott Woltering lost in last year’s Final, the first player from the Netherlands to make it to the ultimate match. “I know him well,” Lafeber said. “It was a great achievement to become the first Dutch player to reach the Final. I’m honoured to follow him. It would be nice to win to do it for him and for my country.” Lafeber’s father is former DP World Tour player Maarten Lafeber, winner of the 2003 Dutch Open. He’s been Guus’s coach since the youngster was old enough to swing a club.Proud family links
“I wasn’t born when my dad won the Dutch Open but I know about it and I’m very proud of what he achieved,” he added. “I’m very fortunate to have someone like him for my dad. I know he’s proud of me and will be hoping I can win.” There was never more than one hole in Lafeber’s contest against Zhou. The American dropped a shot at the par-3 15th hole, and three ensuing halves saw the Dutchman into the Final. “It was a grind all day,” Lafeber said. “The match was really close and tough. I think I just maybe got a bit luckier than he did. But I putted well. When he had a short birdie putt I managed to hole one longer than his to make sure he didn’t get ahead or back to all square.”Horno success
Horno, who defeated John Doyle in the quarter-finals to end Irish hopes of a first win since 1986, battled back from two down after four to defeat Stendahl.
Yago Horno - Boys' Amateur Finalist
"My short game has kept me in a lot of holes and matches this week."
He did it thanks to a brilliant short game. For example, he ran his approach shot through the green at the par-4 10th, finishing 30 yards past the flag and facing a tricky pitch over a mound in the green. With Stendahl just off the green but 20 feet from the hole, the Sotogrande member looked like going one down. However, he played a brilliant flop shot to within two feet of the hole for a half.
“My short game has kept me in a lot of holes and matches this week,” he admitted. “It’s something I work really hard on.”
That much was obvious on the 18th. Holding a one-hole advantage and with Stendahl ten feet away for birdie, Horno pitched into the hole from 40 yards short and right of the green for eagle to book his place in the Final.