South Tyneside teenage golfer celebrates hitting a hole-in-one at Whitburn Golf Club
A teenage golfer from South Tyneside is celebrating his first hole-in-one.
Fourteen-year-old James Russell, from Cleadon Village, is celebrating after he hit his first hole-in-one at Whitburn Golf Club on Monday, May 13.
The Whitburn Academy pupil was playing a round with his friend, Henry Smith, when he hit the impressive shot on the 13th hole of the course.
Lynne Russell, James’ mam, has revealed to the Shields Gazette how she felt when she found out that her son had achieved a hole-in-one.
She said: “The first I knew about it was from something that he had posted on Snapchat so it came as a bit of shock.
“James has been doing really well with his golf over the years but we were still amazed when he told us what had happened.
“He is really proud of himself - his friend Henry said that he watched the shot go in the hole and said that it was satisfying to see.
“James just loves his golf and we’ve got pictures of him at 18-months-old playing with a plastic set of golf clubs so it feels like he was born to play the sport.
“My husband and James’ dad, Gary, is a golfer so it has been lovely for him to follow on in his footsteps and hopefully it might lead to a good career one day.”
James has been a member of Whitburn Golf Club since he was seven-years-old. He was also a member at Heworth Golf Club before recently moving to Wearside Golf Club.
The Durham County Golf Union have also been working with James since he was 12-years-old on coaching sessions, putting him among the top young golfers in the North East.
His recent hole-in-one goes alongside an impressive ‘albatross’ (when a player scores three strokes under par on a single hole) during a junior competition in Heworth two years ago.
An ‘albatross’ is said to be more difficult to achieve than a hole-in-one, with James hitting a two on a par-five.
Whitburn Golf Club (WGC) congratulated James following his impressive achievement and hopes that the Club will continue to see promising things from its Junior section.
A statement said: “One of our Junior members, James Russell, holed out in one on the 13th hole on Monday 13th May.
“Playing with Henry Smith, the event was witnessed by two other members.
“Well done James, congratulations from WGC members.
“The start of lots of good news from our recently revived Junior section we hope.”