Teenager named national golf champion now sets sights on professional career
He first picked a golf club up by chance at the age of four. His grandad took him to the driving range for a bit of fun, but he hasn’t been without one much since - and now Charlie Boys is aiming to become a professional in three years.
The Shropshire schoolboy has just won the prestigious Independent School Golf Association Tournament (ISGA) and has a clear plan for when he leaves school this summer.
“I will go down the amateur route for three years, working at the local golf club in the shop and helping out while taking part in men’s competitions and see how I do,” he said.
“I will be playing around Europe in competitions and just see how I do, I aim to try to go professional in three years.
“My main goal is to play in professional tournaments and maybe one day the Masters or the Open, but I am in the development stage at the moment and will see how I go.”
Charlie, who lives in Wrexham and turned 18 last week, has been in the England set up for two years.
He trains at the Hill Valley Golf Club in Whitchurch and plays at the world-renowned Belfry Hotel once a month.
He’s passed a Diploma in Sporting Excellence with the England team and will have a PGA place in the future - but for now he’s looking for sponsorship and has all the support he needs to put his plan into action.
He has been a pupil at Ellesmere College since year seven in 2018 - actually joining on a cricket scholarship and could have pursued a career as a professional cricket player instead, but at the age of 16 he had to make a decision.
“At one time I was better at cricket, I was playing for Wales,” he said.
“I decided golf was the one for me because I saw more potential, more opportunity and knew I could get better and I enjoyed it more
“It was the first sport I participated in a lot, actual competitions, and I’m told I was always very determined even from a very young age.
“It would be much more difficult to get to where I am now if I wasn’t at Ellesmere College, it has been so vital for my development, not only in golf but in getting into England too.”
At school, at the age of 12, he was playing with 15 year olds and being coached by Rob Ashbrook PGA Advanced Pro, head of the College Golf Academy.
Charlie said it was a ‘privilege’ to be captain of the Ellesmere College golf team since the start of Year 11, a time when there were older pupils in the Golf Academy too, but Charlie was picked for his talent in ‘motivating others and the quality of golf’.
He has also had the ‘great honour’ of being nominated to be Shropshire and Herefordshire Junior Captain for the 2025 season.
Charlie has had his mum and dad, Kathryn and Gareth Boys, supporting him every step of the way, as well as granddad Leslie Lee, the person who first introduced him to the game, who gets to as many competitions as he can to watch Charlie play.
Dad Gareth said: “He’s got such great motivation himself and the school has been great giving him the time and facilities too.
“He’s a credit to the school, he’s changed so much in his time there and grown into a young man, he’s gone beyond what we thought he would do and we’re just so proud of him. It really was just by chance that he picked up a golf club, but it’s been a great journey already and we look forward to seeing where it takes him."
