Alex Osborne rallied down the stretch to lift the senior boys’ title in dramatic fashion at the 23rd annual Glidden Bowl junior golf tournament at Belmont Hills on Thursday.

The 14-year-old Saltus Grammar School student drained a clutch 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole of regulation play to force a sudden death play-off with overnight leader Joshua Cabrera.

And then he sunk another long putt to win the play-off.

Osborne birdied the par-four 18th after his approach shot from the fairway with a seven iron landed on the middle of the green, leaving the youngster with what appeared to be a difficult putt. But in clinical style he nailed his putt to finish the 54-hole tournament tied with Cabrera, who parred the final hole, at 227 and force sudden death.

“I knew we were all close. One guy hit out of bounds and I thought he was the one closest to me at the time,” Osborne said afterwards.

“So I was kind of relaxed because he went out of bounds while all I had to do was two putt. And it (putt) just happened to go in.”

Cabrera left himself short by 25 feet on the first play-off hole (18th) but managed to save par. Osborne then followed suit by also making par thanks to a “miraculous” shot from a fairway bunker that dropped just behind the pin to drag the two-man battle to an extra hole.

With the wind in their faces on the par-four first hole, Cabrera’s approach shot landed on the fringe of the green while Osborne soared over the pin, leaving himself with another difficult putt.

Cabrera made a valiant effort with the putter but his effort from ten feet rolled past the cup. And with the pressure mounting Osborne steadied his nerves and sunk a 22-footer to clinch the tournament.

He later noted that extra putting practice under the watchful eye of national coach Darron Swan had paid off.

“That helped my putting a lot and gave me a lot of confidence,” said Osborne, who celebrated winning a first title despite the fact that several players in his division were older.

“To play against all of the older guys and prove to everybody that I can play with them meant a lot to me. It was a very big achievement for me,” he said.

With Cabrera, who played steady golf throughout the three-day tournament, taking second place, third went to Cornell Bean jr.

Ryan Roberts, meanwhile, captured the boys’ 13 to 14 title by a comfortable five shots over Ryan Benevides. Yana Ballantyne placed third.

“It was just so nice to see all of the junior golfers play so well,” commented coach Swan.

“It’s a real treat to see them all mature and enjoy the fruits of their labour.”