Lucas planning 2024 campaign

Lucas Kuiper (Stockport GC) has enjoyed a terrific season in club and county junior golf which concluded with him being awarded the trophy as Cheshire Junior Player of the year at the County dinner at Carden Park.
He also won the Cheshire junior boys title at Delamere Forest GC in a great battle with former champion Dan Hayes.
Lucas tells the story of his time in golf from beginning to now: “My golf journey began when I started walking -swinging a plastic club in my living room whilst watching the golf on TV.
“I then took this onto the golf course and played Disley GC as a young kid and was instantly obsessed with the game.
“When I was seven years old I moved to Abu Dhabi where I started to take my golf game seriously and began to become better and won the Troon Junior Order Of Merit at 11 years old which involved all juniors that were members of Troon courses in the UAE.
“At 12 years old I moved back to England off a five handicap, and Richard Green became my coach which allowed me to take my game to the next level becoming a Cheshire squad member for the u14s and shortly became an u16 member as well.
“By the age of 15 I was off +1 but still was not satisfied with what I achieved and I worked hard throughout the winter season on every aspect of my game, with my new short game and putting coaches, Charlie Markert and Jordan Massey.
“This led to me starting the year strong with a third place finish in one of my first northern order of merits at Ormskirk, then a fifth place finish at Cheshire men’s championship and 23rd at the MacGregor Trophy.
“After an unfortunate missed cut the week after at the Carris Trophy, I was more determined to win the upcoming Cheshire Boys championship the following week, and so I went out with intentions to win in which this hunger led me to a victory against some strong competition.
“Finally to cap off a great season I got called up to the men’s team to play their final two matches, one of which was to win the league against Yorkshire. Unfortunately we didn’t win overall, but I went and won 4/4 games to be undefeated for the men’s team in which I hope to continue throughout next season.
“I owe special thanks to my team around me: Richard Green, Jordan Massey, Charlie Markert, Cheshire coaches, England regional coaches and most importantly my mum and dad for running me up and down the country to compete against the best in the country and help improve my game.
“My plans for winter are to focus on short game with both Charlie and Jordan and make sure it is at its very best rolling into next season and getting stronger in the gym but at the same time focusing on my swing fundamentals and technique with Richard to make sure ball striking and confidence over the ball is good throughout next season.
“My next season objectives are to have a Top 10 finish in Carris Trophy, get through the second round of match play at British boys, win the Cheshire match play, stroke play and boys championships, go undefeated next season for the county and get a place in the national squad and qualify for home internationals.
“I’m attending Aquinas College in Stockport, and I am doing applied business, psychology and economics for A-Levels and my aim is to get a degree in Business in the future.
“My golfing idol, like a lot of people, is Tiger Woods due to his charisma on the course, the escape shots he pulls off with his immense vision and the clinical aspect of his game when the pressure is on and he has to play a shot, he is able to play that shot or make that putt, which is why I admire him so much and how his mentality is so key.

Pics Lucas receives the Junior Player of the year award from Cheshire President Tony Gregory, 2 Lucas with the Cheshire Boys Champions Trophy