Nine-year-old Archie Hargreaves, a rising star from Petersfield Golf Club, realised a dream by winning the nine-hole Faldo Futures Championship in the seven to eight age group.

His victory, secured at the iconic Belfry Golf Course, has earned him a place at the Junior World Championships in California next summer. The tournament has a long history, with past champions including Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els.

Archie’s journey to victory began in April when he got through the first round of the competition at his home club. He then won the regional final, booking his place in the national final, held during the British Masters tournament at The Belfry near Birmingham.

Archie, whose handicap is 18.6, was presented with his trophy by Sir Nick Faldo, who praised the young golfer’s performance. The win was made all the more impressive given that Archie and his father and caddy James had flown back especially from a family holiday in Turkey to compete.

“It was too good an experience to miss,” said James. “And to win his age group was the icing on the cake for Archie. All the way back to Turkey I kept nudging him and saying, ‘You did it!’”

A pupil at Liss Junior School, Archie first picked up a golf club, a junior nine-iron at the age of five. He quickly fell in love with the sport and joined the Op 36 coaching programme at Petersfield Golf Club, where both his father and grandfather, Simon, also play. The programme, which starts players just 25 yards from the green and challenges them to shoot 36 over nine holes before moving further out, has been instrumental in Archie’s development. Remarkably, he passed the 25-yard level with a plaster cast on a broken wrist and has now progressed to the 200-yard stage.

Archie has also been training with Hampshire Junior Golf and was invited to play with the under-12 squad but was on holiday. His talent is already turning heads in adult competition. He recently won a men’s event at Petersfield, wielding a new set of custom-fitted Ping clubs.

Archie’s parents made a deal with him that if he could get his handicap below 25 before the end of the year then James and wife Vicky would contribute towards a new set of Ping clubs. Which he did with ease, dropping 15 shots from the start of 2025.

James said: “Archie’s touch and confidence around the green is very impressive but above all, he has incredible composure under pressure. He really delivers when it matters, and The Belfry was a perfect example. It’s a very tough course, and he was playing against the best juniors in Great Britain and Ireland.”

Donovan Hall, Archie’s Op 36 coach at Petersfield GC, added: “The whole club is thrilled for Archie. We had so much fun tracking his score live during the final on the Faldo Futures leaderboard.”

To celebrate Archie’s achievement, junior organiser Chris Dowty had a Petersfield Golf Club polo shirt specially embroidered with: ‘Junior Champion – Faldo Futures 2025’.

Archie’s golfing hero is Rory McIlroy, who he met at a Pro-Am event at Wentworth after making a giant sign to catch Rory’s attention.

“Rory asked to see my swing and he said it was good,” said Archie. “Then I quickly pulled out my pen and got his autograph.”