Since 1965, the universities of Lancaster and York have emulated their dynastic forefathers in doing battle, though these days it is fortunately much more civil.
What started out as competition with few events, largely limited to feats of strength and athleticism, has now evolved to incorporate events as diverse as Esports and Korfball.
However, the famous sport of golf has received limited exposure at a tournament that has hosted upwards of forty sports across its distinguished run as the largest inter-university sports competition in Europe.
The last Roses tournament, contested in 2019 before COVID-19 struck, was the first to host golf. Lancaster won by ten points to York’s seven although the event was worth no points in the overall competition – making this year’s event the first golf tournament to have a direct bearing on the winner of Roses.
Connor Little, Community Secretary of the Lancaster Golf Society, gave SCAN a preview of the key weapons in Lancaster’s arsenal ahead of their Roses battle. “I would say that our captain, Phillip Maguire, is our biggest asset and strength. He currently holds a handicap of +5 and has been selected for the European all-stars team. He has committed to studying a postgraduate degree at the division one college Stanford in the states next year.”
Alongside Maguire is new recruit Emma Mysiuk, who Little told us had “only played for a year [back] when she was seven, but is now a regular first reserve for the first team, which is astonishing.”
He also gave credit to three Lancaster golfers, both past and present. “I’d like to mention one of our players Joesph Stanton, who has been guiding us and will be supporting us even though he is taking a year out to do charity work in Birmingham.” Before him, Connor praised the still-felt influence of society founders Alex Cookson and Spencer Hughes: “we owe them a lot of credit for getting us into this position.”
Lancaster evidently have a lot of firepower and pedigree in their ranks and it’s safe to say it paid off with Lancaster defeating York in the mix open and adding four points to the Roses tally.
