Teenage Bermuda golfer Mark Phillips has capped a superb first term at the International Junior Golf Academy in Hilton Head, South Carolina, winning the Hampton Hall tournament over the weekend to add to a number of top five finishes accumulated over the past three months.

In a field of 126 boys competing in the 13-15 age division of the International Junior Golf Tour (IJGT), Phillips was ranked sixth in the period from September 1 to December 3.

And that ranking is expected to improve after he scored a five-shot victory with rounds of even par 72 and 75 to win the 36-hole Hampton Hall event, his first triumph on the Junior Tour.

Earlier this year, the 15-year-old Ocean View and Belmont Hills member had tied for second at the IJGT World Woods Tournament and the Eagle Creek Tournament as well as placing third in both the Harbour Town Fall event and the Pinehurst Tournament, and finishing fifth at the Palmetto Dunes event.

Prior to Sunday?s triumph, Junior Golf Academy coach Ron Jones, who works alongside 11 golf instructors at the Academy, said: ?Mark has amassed several top tens and top threes in tournaments on the International Junior Golf Tour and with his work ethic he will surely be in the winner?s circle very soon.

?Each day Mark works on specific drills to improve his short game, his overall swing, mental conditioning and physical fitness designed especially for golf. Mark has invested a lot to be here and his hard work is paying off already.

?The fitness training is helping a great deal with Mark?s strength and his swing is improving every day.?

Students at the Academy face a rigorous training schedule each day, following breakfast at 7 a.m. with academic studies until 2.30 p.m. and then golf practice until early evening. After dinner they take part in a fitness programme followed by mandatory study time between 9.00 and 10.30 p.m.

On weekends, groups travel with their coaches to specific tournaments to put their training and progress to the test.