IT’S hard to fathom given the golfing successes of Steve and the prodigious rise of James, but the latter on Sunday became the first Conran to have his name etched on the Duntryleague A-grade club championship winners’ board.

James, with his dad - golf professional Steve - as his caddie, claimed the 2016 club championship courtesy of a 3 and 2 victory over perennial finalist Andy Campbell.

Hitting the lead after the fifth hole, Conran didn’t relinquish his advantage despite Campbell’s best efforts throughout the eight-hour epic played in, at times, extremely challenging wind.

The No.1 qualifier heading into the championship finals, Conran, 17, bested Sam Pasquali (9 and 8), Adrian Priest (8 and 6) and then Dean Turner (4 and 3) in the semi-final before producing some stellar golf in the clutch to edge Campbell for the top-grade crown. 

To do so with the help of his father Steve was a special moment.

“It was really great to win and just about everyone at the club came up and said congratulations, which was nice ... and it’s always good to do something that Dad never did,” Conran junior joked.

“Obviously it was good having him there helping me out and just trying to keep everything positive when I was hitting some terrible shots that I don’t normally hit.

“And the wind was just constantly blowing so it was good having him there helping me with what clubs to hit and where to hit it even though I wasn’t doing a very good job of hitting it where I was meant to.”

For Campbell, it’s the second year running he has finished second after going down in last year’s A-grade final 11 and 10 against a runaway Robert Payne.

But for most of the 2016 final, Campbell was well in the fight.

In treacherous conditions, Conran hit the lead at the fifth hole before some wayward shots enabled Campbell to edge within one hole of levelling with the junior golfing gun.

It wasn’t until the 32nd hole that Conran rose to the challenge.

At 1 up and in the wake of some “terrible holes to let him back in it”, Conran squared the  par four 14th with a par after a great chip from an awkward lie on the edge of a greenside bunker  where “my feet were in the bunker and the ball was about at my waist”. 

After nailing the putt to preserve his lead, Conran won the 33rd hole and then produced a cracking putt for birdie on the championship’s 34th hole to claim the A-grade crown.

“It was one of the best birdies of my life up 16 to win,” Conran added.

“It was a tough day in the wind so there were a lot of up-and-down moments in the match.

“But I felt pretty comfortable because I held the lead the whole way through from the fifth hole until the end so that was good. 

“After I won I was relieved that it was over because it had been going for about eight hours or so up until then and I was just physically and mentally drained by the end of it.”

In the lower grades Ian Paine defeated Justin Thrift 5 and 4 to claim the A-reserve crown, Adrian Acheson knocked off B-grade giant-killer John Farquharson 3 and 1 and Allan Fogarty won the C grade title with a 6 and 5 triumph over Chris Durack.