Lower Sixth Form pupil, Dan Haycocks, has recently managed to place in the top 40 of a prestigious tournament. He made the cut in the well-known McGregor Cup tournament, organised by England Golf and went on to finish 34th overall, competing against more than 150 youngsters from across the world.

In what was his first ever England event, Dan was pleased with his performance and feels as though he has picked up some valuable experience.

"This was my first England event, and it will hopefully be the first of many to come," Dan said. "I was up against the best players in the world for the age bracket, all from different countries. I play off about two-handicap at the moment, whereas a lot of these players were off -2 and -3. Some have played on television, in pro events and for their national teams, so the standard was very high.

I set myself the target of making the cut initially, then after doing that I set my sights higher and looked at getting a top 10 finish. The scored on the Sunday of the event were very good, so it was difficult to do that. It's given me a lot of confidence for the next one - I was very nervous this time, but I think if I went again, I'd be a lot less nervous having had the experience now. Next year I'm hoping to compete in the Carris Trophy which is the under 18s equivalent of the McGregor Trophy"

Dan's father, Chris Haycocks, said, "As parents who don't play golf, we are enormously proud at his dedication and what he has accomplished in such a short period. Dan has been well supported at Oswestry School who support his golf so much, and they too have a strong golf squad which competes nationally. Watching him compete up and down the country, however, in this often intense sport, is not always easy, and we seem to feel every emotion that he does with each and every round."