Local golfer of the year?

The 2011 golf season has virtually drawn to a close and to mark the end of the year we have decided to run a poll to find out who Huddersfield Golf visitors think has been our local golfer of the year!

It's just for fun and is really more to highlight the remarkable achievements by three of our golfers but please do let us know who you think is 'golfer of the year' by voting on the poll to the right.

Whilst dozens of golfers have had fantastic years at club, union and regional level we have selected what we think are the leading three candidates

International recognition came the way of 18-year-old Jamie Bower this year. It is a deserved acknowledgement for what has been a couple of magnificent seasons for the  Meltham youngster. 

He was called up to the England Under 18 Boys squad at the start of the year and never looked back making the main A squad later in the summer.

The season started promisingly for Bower with a sixth placed finish in the McEvoy Trophy at Copt Heath in April. The following month the Yorkshire Boys captain also fired the lowest gross score in the HHDUGC Junior Team Championship over his home course. 

In June another strong performance in the Sir Henry Cooper Masters at Nizels was just the sign of things to come. Later that month Bower represented England at the Rudersal Junior Open in Denmark and scored a top-ten finish. The following month he landed the coveted English Schools National Championship at Belton Park and even had time to help lead his club to victory in the HHDUGC Team Championship at Halifax.

During the season he struck up an excellent partnership with Ellands' Nick Marsh, who was also recognised by England, and they formed a rock for Yorkshire in both the first team and boys side.

Perhaps the highlight of the year came in August when he went one better than in 2010 and created history in winning the North of England Youths title in both the under 23 and under 18 sections, the first time that has ever happened. He also performed admirable in the Lee Westwood Trophy, an Amateur World Ranking event at Rotherham Golf Club, finishing twelfth.

Just when he thought it couldn't get any better he captured the Faldo Series UK Championship at Hollinwell but was unable to compete in the World finals in Ireland because he was representing England in Canada. All in all a wonderful season for the teenager.

If Bower has been the leading light amongst amateur golfers it's fair to say that Woodsome Hall's Chris Hanson has been top dog in the professional ranks.

2011 has been an outstanding year for the 26-year-old, the best he has enjoyed as a professional golfer. And whilst he didn't quite put the icing on an already very sweet cake at Q-School last week it's a year that has brought him one step closer to realising his ambition of playing on the main European Tour.

Mixing his golf between the EuroPro Tour circuit and regional events Hanson has been in the winners circle more times than you can count on both hands.

He kicked his season off in March with a victory on the Northern Pro Tour at Hart Common before adding to his trophy cabinet in April with an impressive win at Bridlington Links in the Yorkshire PGA Links championship.

Numerous top ten finishes were interspersed by Pro-Am victories at Dewsbury and Bovey Castle. The triumph at Bovey would kick start one of the hottest streaks of the year. Rounds of 68, 69 and a stunning closing 63 landed Hanson his first EuroPro title of the season. And he didn't have to wait long for the second because a fortnight  later he was celebrating a play-off win at Galgorm Castle following rounds of 66, 71 and 65. What makes it even more remarkable is that a fourth placed finish at Longhirst Hall was sandwiched in between those victories.

Hanson would go on to finish fifth, sixth and third in his next three EuroPro competitions at The Players Club, Formby Hall and Lingfield Park respectively. A mark of just how consistent his golf had become was that his scoring average was 68.6 during those winless events.

More Pro-Am wins were chalked up at West End and Mottram Hall, where once again he would back it up with a victory in the main event, a wire-to-wire triumph and his third of the season on the EuroPro Tour, matching Graeme Clark's achievement of 2007. Two more wins at Howley Hall and Oulton Hall were also added to the list of accomplishments along with a top-ten finish in the EuroPro Tour Championship Final in Murcia.

Three victories on the EuroPro Tour, regarded as the third tier of professional golf, led to Hanson winning the order of merit title with a total of just under £40,000 and over £8,000 more than his closest challenger. It also secured him a card on the Challenge Tour which he will hope proves to be a stepping stone to the big time and the main European Tour.

There's no disputing that Bower and Hanson have had sensational seasons each tasting victory on a number of occasions and backing them up with other high finishes. But our third choice could arguably claim to have achieved the greatest fete when it comes to local golf. 

That happened when 50-year-old Andrew Whitworth won The Halifax, Huddersfield & District Union of Golf Clubs Matchplay Championship for an unbelievable eleventh time!

Halifax Bradley Hall's Whitworth is regarded as one of, if not the best, amateur golfer to play his golf in the local union certainly over the past three decades.

Having represented Yorkshire on several occasions he no longer plays at the top county level but his win in the union's flagship event this year proves he is still the best in the area, especially when it comes to knockout golf.

His 4&3 win over Huddersfield's Brad Tupman came 28 years after his first win, highlighting just how dominant he has been in the event over the years.

Vote for who you think is golfer of the year in the poll to the right. We'll close the poll at midnight on 31st December.