Robin Dawson (Silver), Nicolai Hojgaard (Gold) and Jerry Ji (Bronze) (Photo: European Golf Association / Ronald Speijer)
Nicolai HOJGAARD (DEN) won the 2018 European Amateur Championship at Royal Hague today.
A final round 73 (+1), which included a double bogey 7 on the 18th, was good enough for a 281 (-7) total and a 1 shot win. The victory comes with an exemption to the 2018 Open Championship to be played at Carnoustie Golf Links in three weeks time.
Nicolai Hojgaard’s Scorecard (Photo: European Golf Association / Golfbox)
Norwegians Viktor HOVLAND and Kristoffer REITAN both recorded best of the day 67’s (-5) in Round 4 to finish the event strongly.
Hovland finished tied 2nd on 282 (-6) alongside Robin DAWSON (IRE), who himself shot a 68 (-4) today, Jerry JI (NED) and Mitch WAITE (ENG). In accordance with the competition rules Dawson and Ji won the silver and bronze medals based on a 36, then 18, hole count back.
Robin Dawson’s Scorecard (Photo: European Golf Association / Golfbox)
Mitch Waite’s Scorecard (Photo: European Golf Association / Golfbox)
Dawson’s compatriots Conor PURCELL and Rowan LESTER also finished the Championship well and can be pleased with their 6th and tied 7th place finishes respectively.
Here is a list of the GB&I final results (only players who made the T60 54 hole cut): –
T2 Robin DAWSON (IRE) 71 72 71 68 282 (-6)
T2 Mitch WAITE (ENG) 72 69 68 73 282 (-6)
6 Conor PURCELL (IRE) 74 69 71 69 283 (-5)
T7 Rowan LESTER (IRE) 70 73 71 70 284 (-4)
T16 Matthew JORDAN (ENG) 74 70 69 73 286 (-2)
T21 Alex FITZPATRICK (ENG) 75 69 71 72 287 (-1)
T21 Euan WALKER (SCO) 72 71 70 74 287 (-1)
T21 Jack GAUNT (ENG) 70 72 69 76 287 (-1)
T29 Jamie STEWART (SCO) 72 73 72 71 288 (Ev)
T37 Rory FRANSSEN (SCO) 77 70 71 72 290 (+2)
T44 Andrew WILSON (ENG) 75 68 76 73 292 (+4)
T49 Bailey GILL (ENG) 71 77 71 74 293 (+5)
T49 Ben JONES (ENG) 75 71 73 74 293 (+5)
T49 Ben CHAMBERLAIN (WAL) 72 73 72 76 293 (+5)
T54 Tom SLOMAN (ENG) 72 69 72 81 294 (+6)
T59 Robin WILLIAMS (ENG) 78 68 73 76 295 (+7)
T59 Nick POPPLETON (ENG) 71 72 75 77 295 (+7)
Nicolai HOJGAARD (DEN) leads the European Amateur after 54 holes with a 208 (-8) total. The 17 year old identical twin of Rasmus (who is tied 15th) shot a 68 today.
A number of British players moved nicely into position on Friday. Mitch WAITE (ENG) also shot 68 to move into sole second on -7 and Jack GAUNT (ENG) a bogey free 69 to start Day 4 in tied 3rd on -5.
Matthew JORDAN (ENG) 69, Euan WALKER (SCO) 70 and Tom SLOMAN (ENG) 72 all finished their third rounds strongly to end the day on -3, tied 8th.
Irish trio Conor PURCELL, Robin DAWSON and Rowan LESTER all recorded 71’s and are now tied 15th on -2. Dawson and Lester are paired together tomorrow at 11.20am so will hopefully drive each other on to good finishes.
63 players, including 17 from GB&I, made the top 60 and ties cut which fell at 220 (+3). Mark POWER (IRE), Joe PAGDIN (ENG) and BEN HUTCHINSON (ENG) were amongst the 8 players who just missed out on +4. It was particularly hard on both Power, who had fought back well from a first round 79, and 16 year old Pagdin who shot a brave 69 in Round 3.
Australia’s Charlie DANN went out in a blaze of glory recording a 67, the best round of the day. Unfortunately it could only lift him to +5 for the Championship and hence he still missed the cut by two shots.
ME.
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28th June 2018
Whilst Thursday was hot and sunny throughout unfortunately it proved to be a day of two halves with regard to the wind. This morning saw wind speeds of 10mph but this afternoon they were generally stronger gusting up to 30mph.
Inevitably this had an impact on the scoring. The first 72 players out today, teeing off between 7.00am and 11.17am (local time), had an average score of 72.39. The next 72, teeing off between 11.32pm and 3.49pm, were 1.47 shots higher at 73.86.
Blake WINDRED (AUS) finished with 4 birdies in his last 6 holes to post his second 69. He leads on 138 (-6) from overnight leader Perry COHEN (SUI) whose even par 72 left him on 139 (-5).
Giovanni TADIOTTO (BEL) bounced back from a first round 80 with a 66, the best of the week so far. He finished the day tied 51st nicely within the top 60 cut line which will be applied tomorrow.
Mitch WAITE (ENG) and Tom SLOMAN (ENG) who have been pretty inseparable in recent weeks both shots 69’s to move up to tied 5th on 141 (-4).
Jack GAUNT (ENG) is the only other home player in the top 10. He produced a good 72 playing late this afternoon to stay on -2 and tied 8th.
Andrew WILSON (ENG) produced the best GB&I round of the day with a 68 (he’s T19). Conor PURCELL (IRE) had a 69 (also T19), notable as he is the first player to deliver a bogey free round in the Championship to date.
ME.
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27th June 2018
Switzerland’s American-based Perry COHEN leads the European Amateur at the end of Round 1 after a superb 67 (-5). After bogeying the 1st hole the recent graduate of St. Mary’s California University produced an unblemished round featuring three birdies on each side.
Jack GAUNT (ENG), Alex GLEESON (IRE), Rowan LESTER (IRE) and Tom PLUMB (ENG) were the best of the 36 Great British and Irish players competing at Royal Hague. Their 70’s (-2) represented a very creditable start to this prestigious amateur event.
Gleeson had more birdies (7) than any other player in the field in Round 1 and will clearly have been disappointed to tarnish a great day with a double bogey 7 on the home hole.
Robin DAWSON (IRE), Bailey GILL (ENG) and Nicholas POPPLETON (ENG) are also under par for the championship after shooting 71 (-1) today.
Congratulations to Alexander HERRMANN (GER) who recorded a hole-in-one on the par 3 12th in his round of 69.
The average score on Day 1 was 74.39 (+2.39) so anything around par represented a solid start.
The field of 144 players will be cut to the top 60 and ties after 54 holes so there is still lots to play for.
ME.
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26th June 2018
The 31st International European Amateur Championship starts tomorrow at Royal Hague Golf & Country Club in Netherlands.
This prestigious Championship is run by the European Golf Association (EGA), assisted each year by the host nation; this year, the Royal Netherlands Golf Federation.
Royal Hague G. & C.C. 18th Green and Clubhouse (Photo: rcedejong)
Competition Format
The European Amateur is a 72-hole stroke play competition. 18-holes are played daily over four days.
A cut will take place after 54 holes with the 60 lowest scores and ties qualifying for the final round on Saturday 30th June.
A 3 hole aggregate score play off will decide the winner in the event of a tie. If this doesn’t separate the players then a sudden death play-off will commence over the same holes.
Entries
144 players will contest the Championship this week.
All of the players must have handicaps of 0.0 or better with an entry ballot applied based on the World Amateur Golf Rankings.
Exemptions were also available to the defending champion, a single nomination from each EGA member nation, four nominated players from the host nation, Netherlands, competitors in the most recent Bonallack Trophy, St. Andrew’s Trophy and Jacques Léglise Trophy matches, the 2018 South American Amateur champion and the 2018 European Mid-Amateur champion.
Most of the leading European and Great Britain and Irish (GB&I) players will be on show. There are 36 GB&I players in total competition at Royal Hague.
There are 17 of the current Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking’s Top 100 competing. These are Viktor HOVLAND (NOR) #7, Matthew JORDAN (ENG) #11, Robin DAWSON #16, Lorenzo SCALISE (ITA) #30, Frederik NILEHN (SWE) #35, Kristoffer REITAN (NOR) #41, Mitch WAITE (ENG) #52, Ryan LUMSDEN (SCO) #56, David HAGUE (ENG) #71, Stefano MAZZOLI (ITA) #66, TOM SLOMAN (ENG) #79, Gian-Marco PETROZZI (ENG) #82, Alex GLEESON #86, Victor PASTOR (ESP) #87, Conor PURCELL (IRE) #92, Laird SHEPHERD (ENG) #93 and Shae WOOLS-COBB (AUS) #100.
Stefano Mazzoli is a past champion having won the event at Penati Golf Resort in Slovakia in 2015.
I will be providing a short report after each day’s play on this webpage throughout the Championship.
Royal Hague Golf Club
The 2018 Championship is being staged at Koninklijke Haagsche Golf & Country Club in Wassenaar, Netherlands. Better known to us in English as Royal Hague.
It is generally acknowledged to be the best course in Netherlands and one of the most challenging in Europe.
15th hole, Royal Hague G. & C.C. (Photo: Frank Pont / Infinite Variety Golf Design)
Founded in April 1893 the Club is celebrating it’s 125th anniversary this year.
The current course was designed by Englishmen C. Hugh Alison and Harry Colt and opened for play in 1939.
Since 2008 Dutch architect Frank Pont has been engaged on an extensive course restoration project. He has reviewed all of the greens, bunkers and tees greatly improving Royal Hague’s playability and presentation.
Located on the famous strip of Dutch links land, just north of The Hague city centre, the course lies a couple of miles inland from the North Sea. Uneven stances on an undulating dune landscape, with a few blind shots thrown in, are very much the order of the day here.
10th hole, Royal Hague G. & C.C. (Photo: Frank Pont / Infinite Variety Golf Design)
A standard par 72 championship course it stretches to 6,844 yards with two very even nines.
It is going to play firm and fast this week albeit I understand the upturned saucer greens have been watered and are therefore holding well struck approach shots.
Weather Forecast
A hot and sunny week is forecast for Northern Europe and conditions should be very good over the four competition days. Winds tend to increase in speed here as the day goes on.
Weds 27th June – Sunny. Wind 15 mph (NNE). Max. 23°C / Min 14°C. Thurs 28th June – Sunny. Wind 17 mph (NNE). Max. 24°C / Min 14°C. Fri 29th June – Sunny. Wind 20 mph (NNE). Max. 23°C / Min 13°C. Sat 30th June – Sunny. Wind 16 mph (NNE). Max. 24°C / Min 16°C.
Prizes
Gold, silver and bronze medals are awarded to the Top 3 finishers.
More importantly the champion receives an exemption into this year’s Open Championship at Carnoustie Golf Links in Angus, Scotland. Last year Alfie Plant used his exemption to go on and win the low amateur Silver Medal at Royal Birkdale G.C.
The Championship Trophy is held by the winning player’s national golf authority.
2017 European Amateur Championship
England’s Alfie PLANT won the 2017 European Amateur Championship on the Old Course at Walton Heath Golf Club in England.
Alfie Plant, 2017 European Amateur Champion (Photo: GolfBible)
Alfie overcame Italian duo Luca CIANCHETTI and Lorenzo SCALISE on the fifth play-off hole after all three had tied on -15 for the 72 holes of stroke play.
Luca had won the 2016 European Amateur in Estonia after seven play-off holes with Norway’s Victor HOVLAND so a trend appears to be developing.
The competition was first contested in 1986 at Eindhoven G.C. Initially it was held biennially before moving to an annual fixture from 1990.
2018 will be the second occasion the Netherlands have hosted it. It has been held in 18 different countries in total.
Former winners who have gone on to enjoy very successful professional careers include Stephen GALLACHER (1994), Sergio GARCIA (1995), Gregory HAVRET (1999), Carl PETTERSSON (2000), Rory MCILROY (2006) and Victor DUBUISSON (2009).
In addition to Gallacher and McIlroy other GB&I past winners include Jim PAYNE (1991), Paddy GRIBBEN (1998), Stephen BROWNE (2001), Brian MCELHINNEY (2003), Matthew RICHARDSON (2004), Rhys PUGH (2012) and Ashley CHESTERS (2013 and 2014) and Alfie PLANT (2017).
Ashley Chesters is the only two-time winner and the only player to have retained the trophy.
143 players initially progressed from Regional Qualifying today with 40 amateurs amongst them.
8 of the 13 events were won by amateurs. Well done to James SUGRUE (IRE) 64 (-8), Jake BURNAGE (ENG) 65 (-7), Gaelan TREW (WAL) 65 (-7), Joshua MCMAHON 66 (-6), Tom SHERREARD 67 (-5) William BOWE (ENG) 68 (-4), Freddie MACARTHUR 67 (-3) and Ben FIRTH 72 (Ev) for great rounds.
Here is a full list of all of the amateur qualifiers from each event.
Subsequently 20 additional amateurs were called up from the Reserve List to make up the Final Qualifying field. However, one of them, Stephen ROGER (SCO), withdrew opening the way for another, Gavin NESBIT (ENG). So the final number of amateurs progressing from Regional Qualifying was 59 – these additions have subsequently been added below for completeness.
3. Andrew WILSON (A) – Darlington 67 (-4)
T6 Joseph BANNON (A) – The Manchester 69 (-2)
T9 Ben HUTCHINSON (A) – Howley Hall 71 (Ev)
T11 Christopher GREEN (A) – Cleakheaton & District 72 (+1) Reserve No.17
T12 William SHUCKSMITH (A) – Alwoodley 72 (+1) Reserve No. 43
1. Tom SHERREARD * (A) – Kings Hill 67 (-5)
T5. Liam BURNS (A) – Chislehurst 69 (-3)
T8. Harvey BYERS (A) – Walton Heath 70 (-2) after play-off
T8. Jack DYER (A) – Rochford Hundred 70 (-2) lost out in play-off / Reserve No. 12
T17 George GENNINGS (A) – Thorndon Park (-1) Reserve No. 38
* Tom Sherreard is a reinstated amateur since January 2018. He was previously a successful amateur before turning pro.
The Open website provided updates from all venues throughout the day. Click here to take a look at the full story – Regional Qualifying Live Reporting
ME.
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24th June 2018
Regional Qualifying for the 2018 Open Championship will take place tomorrow at 13 courses across Great Britain and Ireland.
The qualifying venues are Alwoodley, Berwick-Upon-Tweed, Burhill, County Louth, Fairhaven, Frilford Heath, Kedleston Park, Minchinhampton, Northamptonshire County, Panmure, Sandy Lodge, West Lancashire and Wildernesse.
This is the point at which most amateur golfers enter the competition, although some are exempted in to Final Qualifying and a lucky handful the Championship itself.
Format
18 holes of stroke play golf will be played by each competitor in Regional Qualifying.
Field / Qualifiers
At the time of writing 1,213 players have entered Regional Qualifying with 384 being amateurs.
In addition to male and leading women professionals male amateurs need to have a scratch playing handicap or to have been ranked in the Top 2,000 of the WAGR between 1st January and 1st June 2018 to be eligible for entry. The cost is £150 per player.
The number of qualifying places available at each of the 13 venues is linked to the number of players starting at each course and will be confirmed during the day.
Any ties for the last qualifying places in each competition will be resolved by a hole by hole play-off at the end of play.
Reserve places, in case of subsequent withdrawals from Final Qualifying, will be decided by a card countback, if necessary, from each Regional Qualifying competition.
Host Courses / Tee Times
Here is a list of the 13 Regional Qualifying events with all of the amateur entries (in tee time order) noted. Full Tee Times links are also shown below: –
ALWOODLEY – Tee Times
07:41 WILSON, Andrew (a) – Darlington
07:52 SHUCKSMITH, William (a) – Alwoodley
08:03 MORTON, Josh (a) – Huddersfield
08:14 ROBINSON, Brad (a) – Close House Golf
08:25 GREEN, Christopher (a) – Cleckheaton & District
08:36 IRWIN, Tom (a) – Alwoodley
08:58 RHODES, Ben (a) – Woodhall Hills
09:47 ROBINSON, Luke (a) – Hornsea
09:58 GRAY, Thomas (a) – Moortown
10:09 BANNAN, Joseph (a) – The Manchester
10:31 STEPHENSON, Matthew (a) – Ramside Hall
10:42 PRITCHARD, Jack (a) – Worsley
11:20 COLBECK, Nigel (a) – Cleckheaton & District
11:20 SARDO, Ben (a) – Moor Allerton
11:31 JARMAN, John (a) – Hallowes
11:53 HOULDING, David (a) – Moortown
12:04 NICHOLSON, Mark (a) – Doncaster
12:15 COLCOMBE, Matthew (a) – Longley Park
12:37 PERRY, Jordan (a) – Phoenix
12:37 DONE, Sam (a) – Kenwick Park
12:48 HUTCHINSON, Ben (a) – Howley Hall
BERWICK-UPON-TWEED (GOSWICK) – Tee Times
08:41 ROGERS, Alastair (A) – Grange
09:03 JUNK, Simon (A) – Germany
09:03 HENSON, Michael (A) – Bishop Auckland
09:14 TAGLE, Andres (A) – Argentina
09:14 JACKSON, Sean (A) – Magdalene Fields
09:47 BUTTERWORTH, Elliott (A) – Middlesbrough
09:58 BLAIR, Stuart (A) – Royal Musselburgh
10:09 SALDAROV, Nurtai (A) – USA
10:25 FAIRBURN, Simon (A) – Torwoodlee
10:25 BOWE, William (A) – Workington
10:36 AINSCOUGH, Jack (A) – Hartlepool
10:36 NOON, Ross (A) – The Renaissance Club
10:47 NESBIT, Gavin (A) – Boldon
10:58 FOX, Daniel (A) – Brancepeth Castle
11:09 THOMPSON, Keith (A) – Prestonfield
11:31 SMITH, Dale (A) – Saltburn
11:42 WALKER, William (A) – Glenearn
11:53 HANDY, Christopher (A) – South Moor
11:53 PITT, Jeff (A) – Consett
BURHILL (NEW COURSE) – Tee Times
07:00 CORSCADDEN, Richard (A) – Boughton
07:11 TREW, Gaelen (A) – Wentworth
07:22 JACKSON, Peter (A) – Woking
07:55 RUSSELL, Sam (A) – Royal Eastbourne
08:28 ROGERS, Andrew (A) – Bramley
08:55 STEWART, Lucas (A) – Woburn
08:55 LOBACZ, Ben (A) – Blackmoor
09:06 HENDERSON, Alex (A) – Australia
09:39 MACKAY, Callum (A) – West Hill
09:39 OAKLEY, Jacob (A) – Styal
09:39 SLOMAN, Sam (A) – Burnham & Berrow
10:23 FLOYDD, Jack (A) – Haywards Heath
10:23 TONGE, Alex (A) – Burhill
10:34 O’HAGAN, Max (A) – West Hill
10:50 KEEP, Edward (A) – Clandon Regis
11:01 MARINOV, Vladislav (A) – Bulgaria
11:01 CHEYNE, Alasdair (A) – South Winchester
11:12 LONGLEY, Nathan (A) – Worthing
11:23 DODDS, William (A) – Styal
11:34 SLOMAN, Thomas (A) – Taunton & Pickeridge
11:34 TAPLIN, Daniel (A) – Chartham Park
11:45 FLANAGAN, Angus (A) – St George’s Hill
11:45 SINGH BRAR, Arrun (A) – Parkstone
11:56 DOBLE, Mikey (A) – Reigate Hill
11:56 HODGSON, Duncan (A) – Burhill
12:07 CATON, Daniel (A) – Burnham Beeches
12:18 WALLIS, James (A) – Reigate Heath
12:45 JONES, Maxwell (A) – West Sussex
12:56 GODDARD, George (A) – West Hove
12:56 GREENHALGH, Thomas (A) – St George’s Hill
13:07 BUTLER, Prescott (A) – USA
13:40 FLOWER, Robert (A) – Royal Winchester
14:02 BAEG, Peter (A) – Korea
COUNTY LOUTH – Tee Times
08:30 MULLIGAN, Thomas (A) – Laytown & Bettystown
08:30 HAPGOOD, Jake (A) – Southerndown
08:41 WHELAN, Jake (A) – Newlands
08:52 HICKEY, John (A) – Cork
08:52 DUNNE, Gerard (A) – County Louth
09:14 O’NEILL, Declan (A) – Carton House
09:25 TOTTON, Ronald (A) – Laguna National Golf & Country Club
09:36 LYONS, Joe (A) – Galway
09:36 WILLIAMSON, Rory (A) – Holywood
09:47 O’CONNOR, Ruairi (A) – County Sligo
09:58 KENNEDY, Max (A) – The Royal Dublin
10:09 ROYSTON, Gregory (A) – South Africa
10:25 CROOKS, Owen (A) – Bushfoot
10:25 BEST, Ben (A) – Rathmore
10:36 CONNOLLY, Paraic (A) – Clontarf Golf Club
10:47 SUGRUE, James (A) – Mallow
10:47 BRAZILL, Robert (A) – Naas
11:09 FOX, James (A) – Portmarnock
11:20 ZILLEKENS, Marcel (A) – Germany
11:31 KEARNEY, Aaron (A) – Castlerock
11:42 FOLEY, Hugh (A) – The Royal Dublin
11:42 BRADY, David (A) – County Sligo
FAIRHAVEN – Tee Times
07:22 GILL, Bailey (A) – Lindrick
07:44 BROWN, Barclay (A) – Hallamshire
07:55 WALKER, Luke (A) – Ulverston
08:06 PRICE, Joe (A) – Hagley
08:17 CULL, Robert (A) – Bromborough
08:17 CHESTER, Adam (A) – Morecambe
08:28 CLARKSON, Jack (A) – Lancaster
08:28 LONSDALE, Chris (A) – Herons’ Reach Golf Resort
08:39 TURNOCK, Joshua (A) – Prestbury
08:39 CARNEY, Christopher (A) – Morecambe
09:06 WALLWORK, Mike (A) – Ringway
09:17 FEARN, Harry (A) – Leek
09:50 AVERY, Samuel (A) – St Annes Old Links
10:01 LUNDELL, Filip (A) – Sweden
10:01 D’ARCY, James (A) – Northcliffe
10:01 TALARCZYK, Harvey (A) – Royal Lytham & St Annes
10:23 NEVIN, Rhys (A) – Hartford
10:23 ASHWORTH, Mark (A) – Clitheroe
10:34 HOLMES, Greg (A) – Royal Birkdale
10:34 LEONARD, Eoin (A) – Wentworth
10:34 TALARCZYK, Louis (A) – Royal Lytham & St Annes
11:01 PEOPLES, Nicholas (A) – Royal Lytham & St Annes
11:01 HARPIN, Shaun (A) – Rhos-on-Sea
11:23 BEAVAN, Harry (A) – Crewe
11:34 COMISKEY, Sean (A) – Hesketh
11:45 NEWTON, James (A) – Prestbury
12:07 DELANY, Matthew (A) – Prestbury
12:07 HUNT, Michael (A) – Pleasington
12:18 RUSHTON, Christopher (A) – Ashton & Lea
12:18 RYDER, Tom (A) – St Annes Old Links
12:18 FREEMAN, Matthew (A) – Notts
12:29 SPENCE, Rob (A) – Furness
12:29 COUMBE, Simon (A) – Pontefract & District
12:56 WILDING, John (A) – Heysham
13:07 TURNER, Sam (A) – Royal Lytham & St Annes
13:18 NEVINS, Ryan (A) – Styal
13:29 CRANFIELD, Reece (A) – Wigan
13:40 FIRTH, Benjamin (A) – Leeds Golf Centre
13:51 BARROW, Callan (A) – Royal Lytham & St Annes
FRILFORD HEATH (RED COURSE) – Tee Times
07:00 BOWNESS, Harry (A) – Newbury & Crookham
07:11 ROSS, Oliver (A) – Ashridge
07:22 WHITE, Lee (A) – Frilford Heath
07:22 SLATTER, Shane (A) – Calcot Park
07:22 PLUMB, Thomas (A) – Yeovil
07:33 CAHILL, Ryan (A) – Mill Ride
07:55 BIRDSEYE, Adam (A) – Maidenhead
08:17 SHERWOOD, Calvin (A) – Rookery Park
08:28 HUGGINS, Olly (A) – Frilford Heath
08:39 TANTON, Oliver (A) – Royal North Devon
08:39 PLUMB, Alasdair (A) – Chelmsford
08:39 MULLAN, Sean (A) – Wentworth
09:06 MICHEL, Lukas (A) – Australia
09:17 GODDARD, Harry (A) – Hanbury Manor
09:39 HAINES, Jack (A) – Gerrards Cross
09:50 BYFORD, Samuel (A) – Ipswich
10:01 STOKES, Jason (A) – La Moye
10:12 SPREADBOROUGH, Thomas (A) – Farnham
10:23 SIDDELL, Aaron (A) – Castle Royle
10:23 PHILLIPS, Cameron (A) – Hindhead
11:23 GRIMES, Owen (A) – Romsey
11:23 BOLTON, Jake (A) – Ogbourne Downs
11:34 SHEPPARD, Corey (A) – High Post
11:45 BALCOMBE, Alister (A) – Clevedon
11:56 HACKER, Josef (A) – La Moye
12:07 BROWN, Oliver (A) – The Vale Resort
12:18 PAUL, Taylor (A) – Stoke Park
12:18 SHIN, Timonty (A) – Castle Royle
12:45 BATTY, Adam (A) – Beaconsfield
12:56 PERCIVAL, Will (A) – Orsett
13:07 PRITCHARD, Ben (A) – Parkstone
13:18 HANDCOCK, Peter (A) – Harleyford
13:18 TANNUM DONALDSON, Kristian (A) – The Buckinghamshire
13:29 GARDNER, George (A) – Castle Royle
13:29 SMITH, Joe (A) – Wyke Green
13:29 WORTS, Oliver (A) – Orchardleigh
14:02 BARTLETT, Jack (A) – Woburn
KEDLESTON PARK – Tee Times
07:00 BLOOR, George (A) – Cavendish
07:22 MACILWRAITH, Joe (A) – Olton
07:22 YOUNG-ALLS, Henry (A) – Notts
07:33 BALL, Alexander (A) – Beauchief
07:33 NEWLAND, Nick (A) – Willesley Park
07:55 COOP, Darren (A) – Chesterfield
07:55 ROGERS, Luke (A) – Kidderminster
08:17 O’LOUGHLIN, Daniel (A) – Ruddington Grange
08:28 COGGON, Robert (A) – Astbury
08:39 MCDONALD-O’BRIEN, Rory (A) – Lilleshall Hall
09:17 MALONE, Jack (A) – Lutterworth
09:28 ADAMS, Max (A) – Bury St Edmunds
09:39 DOWNES, Matthew (A) – Ingestre Park
09:39 FERN, Callum (A) – The Nottinghamshire
10:01 ASHBY, Paul (A) – Allestree Park
10:23 MCGOLDRICK, Jake (A) – Enville
10:50 CLAYPOLE, Samuel (A) – Notts
11:12 HACK, Joe (A) – Lutterworth
11:23 COPPERTHWAITE, Robert (A) – Stratford On Avon
11:23 TURNER, Gary (A) – Telford
11:34 DAVIDSON, William (A) – Breadsall Priory
11:56 BROOKS, Ryan (A) – Whittington Heath
12:07 TAYLOR, Nicholas (A) – Derby
12:07 RAITT, George (A) – Whetstone
12:18 HAMSON, Tom (A) – Notts
12:40 SAMSON, Reece (A) – Worksop
MINCHINHAMPTON – Tee Times
07:44 FARRELL, Oliver (A) – Evesham
07:55 COOPER, Jamie (A) – Bowood
07:55 LONG, Joseph (A) – Lansdown
08:06 DALE, Callum (A) – Pennard
08:17 BEATTIE, Mark (A) – Royal Johannesburg & Kensington
08:28 CORRICK, Peter (A) – Parkstone
08:28 HUSSAIN, Haider (A) – The Kendleshire
08:39 BURNAGE, Jake (A) – Saunton
09:06 LAW, Tom (A) – Broome Manor
09:17 WARD, Callum (A) – Dorset Golf & Country Club
09:28 WINN, Alex (A) – Worlebury
09:39 VICKERY, Spencer (A) – The Kendleshire
09:39 POOLE, William (A) – Mendip Spring
10:34 BETHWAITE, James (A) – Ogbourne Downs
10:50 RUDDLE, Tom (A) – Broome Manor
10:50 ROBINSON, James (A) – Redditch
11:01 COETZEE, Gert (A) – South Africa
11:12 OTTLEY-WOODD, Harrison (A) – Cotswold Hills
11:23 SHEEHAN, Daniel (A) – Knowle
11:45 COPE, Jack (A) – The Players Club
11:45 LI, Jamie (A) – Cumberwell Park
12:07 POTTER, Laurie (A) – Royal Mid-Surrey
12:07 WHITE, Philip (A) – Burnham & Berrow
12:29 BELLINGER, Scott (A) – Cannington
12:45 DRAYTON, Maximilian (A) – Wrag Barn
13:18 STAGG, Tom (A) – Salisbury and Southwilts
13:40 GREENBERRY, Harrison (A) – Exeter Golf and Country Club
13:51 HESSEY, Noah (A) – Long Ashton
13:51 WORKMAN, Tom (A) – Minchinhampton
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE COUNTY – Tee Times
07:41 NORTHWOOD, Luke (A) – Kenilworth
07:52 BARTRUM, Christopher (A) – Diss
08:03 DAVIES, Owen (A) – Brampton Park
08:14 MCQUEEN, Shay (A) – Chelmsford
08:25 FARR, Callum (A) – Northamptonshire County
08:36 BROADHURST, Sam (A) – Atherstone
08:36 WINTER, Adam (A) – Woburn
08:47 BATES, Warren (A) – Heacham Manor
08:58 MERRY, Jack (A) – Birstall
09:09 HAWKSBY, Jack (A) – The Millbrook
09:09 CARNIHAN, Fraser (A) – Overstone Park
09:09 WOODCOCK, Lee (A) – The Leicestershire
09:25 MACARTHUR, Freddie (A) – Ullesthorpe Court
09:25 CRAIG, Ryan (A) – Dunstable Downs
09:47 DENNIES, Oliver (A) – Willesley Park
10:20 WILLIAMS, Robin (A) – Peterborough Milton
10:20 ABBOTT, Chris (A) – Lutterworth
10:31 MELTON, Jamie (A) – Nuneaton
10:31 TOYNE, Craig (A) – Blankney
10:42 LOVELL, Sebastian (A) – Bedfordshire
10:53 O’CONNOR, James (A) – Centurion Club
10:53 RUST, Oliver (A) – Gog Magog
11:20 GILL, George (A) – The Warwickshire
11:20 ASHBY-CLARKE, Michael (A) – Collingtree Park
11:31 LEVERSUCH, George (A) – Wanstead
11:53 PASK, Michael (A) – Royal Wimbledon
12:04 ALLEN, Luke (A) – Olton
12:15 FORSTER, Thomas (A) – Elton Furze
12:37 BLAIR, Reece (A) – Bluffton & Hidden Creek
12:48 BILLINGHAM, James (A) – Cosby
PANMURE – Tee Times
07:30 BEATTIE, Neil (A) – St Andrews
07:52 GILL, Euan (A) – Fortrose & Rosemarkie
07:52 HENDERSON, Benjamin (A) – Deeside
08:03 UNDERWOOD, Kyle (A) – Australia
08:25 GILL, Richard (A) – Tantallon
08:25 SMITH, Rory (A) – Dalmahoy Hotel & Country Club
08:47 LOCKHART, Simon (A) – Bathgate
08:58 NAYSMITH, Murray (A) – Dalmahoy
09:09 HAIN, Alister (A) – St Andrews
09:09 HUFF, Graysen (A) – USA
09:47 PORTER, Will (A) – The Carnoustie Club
09:58 MCINTOSH, Eric (A) – Bruntsfield Links
10:09 LEZCANO, Matias (A) – Argentina
10:20 BOGASON, Stefan (A) – Iceland
10:42 JOHNSTON, James (A) – Ayr Belleisle
10:53 MCGUIGAN, Callum (A) – Comrie
11:20 GRAYSON, Elliott (A) – USA
11:20 CONNELLY, Jamie (A) – Riverside Country Club
11:20 HERSLOW, Peter (A) – Sweden
11:31 HESSING, Rick (A) – Netherlands
11:31 LAWRENCE, Dan (A) – Ballumbie Castle
11:42 GORN, Hamish (A) – Aberdour
11:53 MORRISON, Thomas (A) – Kilsyth Lennox
11:53 MCLAREN, Stuart (A) – Bruntsfield Links
12:04 KINSLEY, Benjamin (A) – The St Andrews
12:04 BAIN, Lewis (A) – Musselburgh
12:04 MONTENEGRO, Marcos (A) – Argentina
12:15 ROGER, Stephen (A) – Peebles
12:15 GUNNYEON, Kenny (A) – Murcar Links
12:26 GOODRUM, Jamie (A) – Arbroath
12:26 PATERSON, John (A) – New Golf Club St Andrews
12:37 CABLE, James (A) – USA
12:37 HOLBROOK, Alan (A) – Murcar Links
12:37 FISHER, Adam (A) – Peterculter
SANDY LODGE – Tee Times
07:00 AZOULAY, Eliott (A) – France
07:11 SAGOO, Pavan (A) – Ealing
07:22 HOPKINS, Max (A) – Bishops Stortford
07:22 COURTNEY, Lawrence (A) – Apple Valley
07:44 KELLY, Jack (A) – Sandy Lodge
07:55 SLATER, Jack (A) – Letchworth
07:55 COLGATE, Luke (A) – Berkhamsted
08:17 FISHER, Andrew (A) – Temple
08:39 WIGGINS, Gregory (A) – Falkenstein
08:55 O’BRIEN, Connor (A) – Mid Herts
08:55 COLLINS, Harry (A) – Dudsbury
10:01 GREEN, Edward (A) – Moor Park
10:12 RUDGE, Charlie (A) – South Herts
10:23 WILLIAMS, Philip (A) – The Buckinghamshire
10:34 BERG-CAPIN, Alexander (A) – Sandy Lodge
10:34 HALIL, Alfie (A) – Flempton
11:01 SANDERS, Mike (A) – Beaconsfield
11:12 HAMILTON, Martin (A) – Woking
11:34 COMBER, Tom (A) – Golf & Country Club de Bossey
12:29 NEWTON, Tim (A) – South Herts
12:29 RILEY-BOURNE, Daniel (A) – The Essex
12:29 WALCH, Harry (A) – Ashford Manor
12:56 HAGGERTY, George (A) – Miami Shores
13:07 KO, Jeong Weon (A) – France
13:18 CLEMONS, Dominic (A) – Hanbury Manor
13:29 HOPKINS, Jon (A) – Bishops Stortford
13:29 RATTANSI, Riaz (A) – Queenwood
13:40 PATRICK, Stuart (A) – Sandy Lodge
13:51 TYACKE, Jared (A) – West Herts
13:51 CASHMORE, Max (A) – Jumeirah Golf Estate
WEST LANCASHIRE – Tee Times
07:33 MCMAHON, Joshua (A) – Wallasey
08:06 MACLEOD, Fraser (A) – Hazel Grove
08:06 KELLY, Luke (A) – Ashton Under Lyne
08:17 STURROCK, Lee (A) – Brampton
08:17 RAVENSCROFT, Oliver (A) – Hillside
08:17 BANKS, Joseph (A) – West Lancashire
08:33 JEANRENAUD, David (A) – Houghwood
08:44 EVANS, Giles (A) – Sprowston Manor
08:55 HOLLAND, James (A) – Southport & Ainsdale
09:06 KELLETT, Jordan (A) – Fleetwood
09:06 FROOM, Thomas (A) – Nefyn & District
09:28 BUCKLEY, Matthew (A) – Bolton Old Links
09:28 CAPPER, Steven (A) – Royal Liverpool
09:39 SIDDLE, Ashley (A) – Rossendale
09:39 BROOK, Jack (A) – The Mere
09:50 STREET, Josh (A) – Heyrose
10:06 GOODMAN, Paul (A) – Huyton & Prescot
10:17 WALSH, Joseph (A) – West Lancashire
10:28 WHITE, Chris (A) – Hunstanton
10:39 THOMAS, Martin (A) – Royal Liverpool
10:39 CHAMBERS, Michael (A) – Overstone Park
11:39 SUTTIE, Jack (A) – Denton
11:50 CARROLL, John (A) – Huyton & Prescot
12:12 DAVIES, Jacob (A) – Rhuddlan
12:34 BOOTH, Graeme (A) – Formby Hall
12:45 BEE, Richard (A)- Sitwell Park
12:56 MITCHELL, George (A) – Congleton
12:56 HIBBERT, Jake (A) – Delamere Forest
WILDERNESSE – Tee Times
07:11 HOOPER, Joe (A) – Woodlands Manor
07:22 CROW, George (A) – Rochester & Cobham Park
07:33 O’NEIL, Gary (A) – Westerham
07:44 PLOWMAN-OLLINGTON, Harry (A) – Addington Palace
08:06 HUCKE, Ansgar (A) – Germany
08:17 GENNINGS, George (A) – Thorndon Park
08:39 CORNWALL, Christopher (A) – Dubai Creek & Yacht Club
08:55 JONES, Danny (A) – Wildernesse
08:55 BYERS, Harvey (A) – Walton Heath
09:06 DYER, Jack (A) – Rochford Hundred
09:17 SWIFT, Callum (A) – Kings Hill
09:28 COLLINS, Mark (A) – Littlestone
09:28 PANTING, Nick (A) – Rochester & Cobham Park
09:39 HAWKINGS, Tom (A) – Sunningdale
10:01 BURNS, Liam (A) – Chislehurst
10:12 CHEGWIDDEN, Zachary (A) – Orsett
10:12 SCOWSILL, Monty (A) – Aldeburgh
10:23 STATHAM, Sam (A) – Knole Park
10:23 GODWIN, Lloyd (A) – Mid Kent
10:23 BROWN, Daniel (A) – Littlestone
10:50 SHERREARD, Tom (A) – Kings Hill
11:01 SCHMUECKING, Patrick (A) – Germany
11:12 BAWDEN, Bradley (A) – Rochford Hundred
11:23 SPOONER, Luke (A) – Sundridge Park
11:23 ESSAM, Mason (A) – Dartford
11:23 HARRINGTON, Nigel (A) – Worthing
11:45 REISS, James (A) – Aldeburgh
12:18 CLIFTON-HOLT, Toby (A) – Littlestone
12:18 ROBERTSON, Sam (A) – Chestfield
12:29 JORDAN, Max (A) – Langley Park
13:07 CONSUL, Claudio (A) – Germany
13:18 WAGHORN, John (A) – East Sussex National
13:29 HICKLING, Charles (A) – Wildernesse
13:29 THURLOWAY, Thomas (A) – Chartham Park
13:51 GUPPY, Jamie (A) – Littlestone
14:02 SCHIERGEN, Laurenz (A) – Germany
Final Qualifying
Final Qualifying will be held over 36 holes at Notts (Hollinwell), Prince’s, St Annes Old Links and The Renaissance Club on Tuesday 3rd July.
Here is a list of the amateur exemptions for Final Qualifying: –
Playing members of the 2017 Walker Cup Trophy Teams.
The Amateur Champions 2013-2017.
The US Amateur Champions 2012-2016.
The International European Amateur Champions 2012-2016.
The 2017 English, Scottish, Irish and Welsh Amateur Champions, from the respective closed Amateur
Championships.
The runners-up in each of the 2018 Amateur Championship and 2017 European Amateur Championship, the 2017 US Amateur Championship and the 2017 European Amateur Championship.
The leading 10 WAGR ranked players, not otherwise exempt as at WAGR Week 21.
The Boys Amateur Champion 2017.
The 2017 Latin America Amateur Champion and runner(s)-up.
The 2017 Asia-Pacific Amateur Champion and runners(s)- up. This is only applicable if the entrant has not played in the 2018 OQS Singapore (SMBC Singapore Open).
The above are only applicable if the entrant concerned is still an amateur.
The three leading players at each of theses events will advance to the Open Championship to be played at Carnoustie Golf Links on 15th – 22nd July.
As always 156 players will contest The Open, with the majority of these being exempted into the field.
Amateur exemptions directly into The Open Championship include: –
The Amateur Champion for 2018 – Jovan REBULA (RSA)
The U.S. Amateur Champion 2017 – Doc REDMAN (USA)
The European Amateur Champion for 2018 – To be played 27th – 30th June.
The Mark H McCormack Medal (Men’s World Amateur Golf RankingTM) winner for 2017 – Joaquin NIEMANN (CHL)
The Asia-Pacific Amateur Champion 2017 – Lin YUXIN (CHI)
The above are only applicable if the entrant concerned is still an amateur. Redman and Niemann have both turned Pro in 2018 thus foregoing their exemptions.
For more information on the Low Amateur prize at The Open Championship you may like to take a look at an article I wrote earlier this year – ‘The Open Championship’s Silver Medal’.
Jovan Rebula (Photo: The R&A / Mark Runnacles / Getty Images)
He is the first South African winner since Bobby Cole in 1966 and can now look forward to playing in the 2018 Open Championship at Carnoustie Links, the 2019 Masters at Augusta National and the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links.
He beat Robin DAWSON, 22, (IRE) 3&2 in today’s 36 hole Final at Royal Aberdeen G.C.
Following his win 20 year old Jovan spoke to The R&A: “It’s unreal. It’s really something that is hard to describe. I feel like many have been in this position before but its an unreal feeling. It hasn’t sunk in quite yet but hopefully tomorrow morning I can wake up and I will feel a little different.
“I’m shattered. It’s been a long week and especially today. I should have finished maybe a couple of holes earlier, but it’s been awesome. A very tiring week. I’m standing here right now and there’s so much adrenaline pumping through me.
“I had my friend Matt (Saulez) on the bag and he has been unbelievable for me this week. He’s been the foundation to me, keeping me calm, and we just have an awesome time out there. It’s just so much fun.”
It was cloudy with a modest north westerly breeze blowing when the morning round started at 8.30am; conditions which remained throughout the day, save for a slight increase in the wind speed later in the day.
Here’s The R&A film of the opening tee shots.
That special feeling when your name is called to the tee for the 123rd Amateur Championship Final 🙌🏻
We are underway with @JovanRebula and @dawson_robin fighting it out for one of the biggest prizes in amateur golf.
Both players made a steady start halving the first five holes. The South African then birdied 6 before being gifted 7 and 8 when Dawson bogeyed. The remainder of the morning round was up and down with Rebula eventually taking a 1-Up lead into lunch.
A poor front nine in the afternoon round by Dawson allowed Rebula to extend his lead to 5-Up by the turn. Both players settled and halved the opening three holes of the back nine in par. Then the nerves seemed to kick in particularly for the South African whose mind may have started to wander given his strong position. Double bogeys on the 13th and 15th gave Dawson some encouragement.
However, hopes of a big turnaround over the last few holes like last year were quickly extinguished on 16 when Rebula got up and down from a green side bunker to close out the match 3&2.
With Wilco NIENABER also winning the Stroke Play Qualifying the Championship proved to be a very successful one for the South African’s.
It was the fifth time a South African had made the Final but just the second time they had claimed the Gold Medal: –
2014 – Zander Lombard Lost 2&1
1997 – Trevor Immelman Lost 3&2
1988 – Ben Fouchee Lost 1 Hole
1980 – David Suddards Lost 4&3
1966 – Bobby Cole Won 3&2
It wasn’t long before his Uncle Ernie passed on his congratulations to Jovan too.
@JovanRebula You #Legend for winning the Amateur Championship First time since 1966 SA player WON! My man! Jovan ✌✌✌✌
Playing conditions proved to be far more amenable today. Whilst cloudy, with temperatures struggling to rise above 13°C, the north westerly wind was much more manageable at 15mph.
Semi Finals
Jovan REBULA (RSA) beat Mitch WAITE (ENG) 6&4. Waite has enjoyed a very good year and Championship but like compatriot Tom Sloman this morning was unable to find his game in this afternoon’s semi final. Rebula was again not made to work very hard for his victory.
Rebula, the 20 year old nephew of Ernie Els, plays for Auburn University in Alabama and finished tied 21st in the NCAA Division I Men’s Championship in late May. He joined up with the South African touring party for the recent St. Andrews Links Trophy but missed the cut by 1-shot.
Speaking to The R&A afterwards Jovan said: “My game was really solid and I kept the ball in play all day. I took advantage on the holes you need to attack, played it clever out there and I’ve got a good feel of the golf course at this stage. I’m honestly having so much fun. I’m not even looking at my opponents beforehand. I just take it easy and spend time with my mates. They’ve been a great support structure. Also, they keep me motivated and it’s awesome having one of my good friends (Matt Saulez) on the bag too. I’ve been working hard towards this so being able to reach the final is such a big thing and hopefully I can take it a step further tomorrow.”
Tomorrow he will play Robin DAWSON in the 36 hole Final over the Balgownie Links at Royal Aberdeen G.C., their match starting at 8.30am.
Dawson was too good for Conor PURCELL this afternoon winning 3&2. Purcell handed Dawson the initiative with bogeys on the 1st and 3rd and despite fighting all the way to the end couldn’t get close to his fellow Irishman.
Speaking to The R&A afterwards Robin said:“It feels good. I’m somewhat relieved to make it this far and I’m looking forward to tomorrow. I’m a bit tired now so it’ll be good to get a good sleep tonight and get set for tomorrow. Today was great but it wasn’t easy (playing against fellow countrymen). They are both good friends of mine from being in Ireland teams in the past but we had a couple of good friendly matches out there today. It was nice. I had a good strategy in place and was just hitting decent shots. My swing was good and I was in my own little world at times out there, which was great. To get the chance to play in one major, never mind three, is great. I would love that opportunity but there is still a lot of golf to play tomorrow.”
Dropping very few shots in his two matches today Robin should go in to the Final with great confidence. The winner of the Irish Amateur in May is seemingly in complete control of his game.
The Quarter Finals started at 8.15am with Tom SLOMAN (ENG) taking on Jovan REBULA (RSA) in Match 1. Unfortunately it proved to be a game too far for Sloman who will be disappointed that he didn’t make the South African work harder for his 2&1 victory. Neither player was at their best this morning in a poor quality affair.
England’s other quarter finalist Mitch WAITE faired better beating Christoffer PÅLSSON (SWE) 3&2. As is becoming the norm for Waite it was far from straight forward. He was 3-Up after 7, before slipping to AS after 12 and then recovering to win comfortably on the 16th.
Conor PURCELL recorded an eagle and 4 birdies in a great 3&2 win over David MICHELUZZI (AUS). Micheluzzi, the highest ranked player left in the field, was simply unable to live with the Irishman’s superb play in the middle of their match.
In perhaps the highest quality Quarter Final Robin DAWSON overcame fellow Irishman John MURPHY 2&1. The Waterford man had the upper hand throughout but was certainly made to work hard for the win.
It was a dry but cool day in Aberdeen, temperatures not rising much above 13°C. The wind was the big story. Like yesterday it was primarily from the north west but today it consistently blew at 25mph with occasional gusts reported of up to 45mph.
This made playing conditions particularly challenging. With hole-by-hole scoring now available (click the score or result in the middle of each game to reveal) it was clear to see how tough the links played today.
Round 4
Round 4 proved to be the end of the line for Wilco NIENABER (RSA). In a tight match where neither player led by more than 1 hole Tom SLOMAN (ENG) was handed a 1-Up win when the 18 year old South African missed a relatively short par putt on the last hole.
Fellow South African Jovan REBULA was behind for virtually all of his match before two bogeys on the last two holes by Ben HUTCHINSON ensured there would be Boks representation in the Quarter Finals. Rebula won by 1 hole.
Match 3 arguably proved to be the most exciting in the last 16 with Bristol’s Mitch WAITE attempting to grasp defeat from the jaws of victory before thankfully saving the day against Timo VAHLENKAMP. As you can see from the scorecard below the German made a strong comeback over the last 8 holes but a three putt on the 19th meant it was all in vein.
Mitch Waite v. Timo Vahlenkamp Rd 4 Scoreboard (Photo: R&A / Golfbox Scoring)
Christoffer PÅLSSON (SWE) again didn’t have to work very hard to progress. Luca FILIPPI (RSA) struggled this afternoon and easily fell to a 4&3 defeat.
Conor PURCELL (IRE) was the first of three Irish to make the last 8 at The Amateur Championship. The Charlotte 49ers via Dublin golfer reeled off five birdies in 6 holes from the 11th to blow away Adam BLOMMÉ (SWE).
Robin DAWSON was next up. He beat Elis SVÄRD 6&5 as the relatively inexperienced Swede finally bowed out having enjoyed a very good Championship.
John MURPHY, who seems to have transformed himself into a world beater in the last two weeks, was the third Irishman to make it through to the Quarter Finals. He beat a clearly out of sorts Viktor HOVLAND (NOR) 6&5.
Murphy talking to The R&A afterwards said: “I feel a lot more confident coming off the back of winning the St. Andrews Links Trophy. I feel I can win against the top ranked players in the world and I don’t think I would have felt that way without the victory last week. I’m feeling good and every part of my game is clicking. I was the 14th Reserve so when I got the call to say I was playing here at Balgownie I was delighted.”
There were a number of one sided matches this afternoon as perhaps the physical and mental exertions of the last four days started to affect some of the remaining competitors.
In the other last 16 game David MICHELUZZI played well to beat Paul PEREDA (MEX) 5&4. The experienced Australian seems to be making very comfortable progress, largely under the radar, and must now be one of the favourites for the title.
The highlight of this morning’s golf was the final match, played between relatively unknown Tom FORSTER (ENG) and WAGR Number 5 Viktor HOVLAND (NOR).
Forster, who is studying in the USA at NCAA Division II college Carson-Newman, is clearly not a respecter of reputations as he gave Hovland, one of the star players at Oklahoma State, the 2018 NCAA Division I champions, a game to remember.
Tom Forster v. Viktor Hovland Rd 3 Scoreboard (Photo: R&A / Golfbox Scoring)
As you can see from the above scoreboard Forster led 4-Up after 13 holes, Hovland in all kinds of trouble in the wind. Thankfully the Norwegian recovered his senses just in time and with a little help from an increasingly nervous Forster escaped with a 1 hole victory.
Round 3 started at 7.30am with Wilco NIENABER (RSA) playing US-based Perry COHEN (SUI) in Match 1. The stroke play medalist started well and quickly built a 3-Up lead after 8 holes. However, some loose play around the turn and improvement by Cohen saw the match All Square with just the 18th to play. In the end a par down the last was good enough to secure the win for the South African protégé.
Tom SLOMAN (ENG) enjoyed a tight match with Jeff WRIGHT (SCO). A bogey on the 17th by the battling Scotsman finally letting in the big man from Somerset, who would hold on down the last for a 1 hole win.
Ben HUTCHINSON (ENG) overcame Rowan LESTER 2&1 in Match 3. The Irishman was leading 1-Up after 15 but sadly stumbled down the last 3 holes.
Ben JONES (ENG) had an horrific start in his match and was quickly 5-Down to Timo VAHLENKAMP after just 7 holes. The German youngster ran out a surprisingly easy winner 7&5 in the end.
Mitch WAITE (ENG) beat Stuart EASTON (SCO) by 1 hole in a rollercoaster match. Waite was 2-Up after 4 before then falling 3-Down after 11. Easton then lost his way, recording four bogeys in a row, allowing the man from Bristol to pull 1-Up after 15. Both players then steadied themselves before halving the last in double-bogey 6, Waite moving on.
James SUGRUE (IRE) lost 3&2 to Christoffer PÅLSSON (SWE) in what appears to have been a poor quality Match 7. The Irishman bogeyed or failed to finish 11 of the 16 holes contested.
Matthew JORDAN (ENG) looked comfortable early on against Conor PURCELL (IRE) but let things slip. Purcell, who plays out of Portmarnock, the 2019 host course, drew level after Jordan bogeyed the 18th and then completed the coup de grâce with a 40 foot chip in on their first extra hole.
Scotland bowed out of the Championship later in the morning when their remaining player Sandy SCOTT lost 3&1 to Mexico’s Paul PEREDA.
Match 13 saw Robin DAWSON (IRE) take on Spain’s Victor PASTOR. Dawson struggled on the front nine but played the back nine superbly in 3-under to run out the winner by 2 holes.
In a very similar match Dawson’s compatriot John MURPHY played the back nine very well to overcome Lee WALKER (USA) 4&2 having earlier been 2-Down after 8 holes.
Jovan REBULA (1 Hole) and Luca FILIPPI (4&3) were the winners in the two all-South African matches beating Malcolm MITCHELL and Therion NEL respectively.
There were also wins for Adam BLOMMÉ (SWE), the ever impressive Australian David MICHELUZZI and giant killer Elis SVÄRD (SWE).
At the end of the morning our 14 GB&I players had been reduced to just 6.
Wilco NIENABER (RSA) started his Round 2 match against Niclas WEILAND at 9.15am. Showing no signs of faltering, as often happens with the medalist, he quickly despatched the Swede 5&4.
Malcolm MITCHELL (RSA), David MICHELUZZI (AUS), Paul PEREDA (MEX) and Victor HOVLAND (NOR) are amongst the other highly ranked overseas players who are through to Round 3. However, it was a surprise to see Lorenzo SCALISE (ITA) lose, albeit he took Adam BLOMMÉ (SWE) to the 21st in the longest match of the Championship so far.
GB&I contributed 26 players to the 64 that started Round 2. We finished the day down to 14.
The Irish party are doing well. Rowan LESTER will be pleased with his performance; he beat fellow St. Andrews Trophy squad member David HAGUE (ENG) 6&5. James SUGRUE beat Australian Kyle MICHEL on the 19th hole whilst Conor PURCELL overcame Pablo RODRIGUEZ-TABERNERO TORRES (ESP) 2&1 to progress. Robin DAWSON took control of his match against David RAVETTO (FRA) from the start and ran out a comfortable 4&2 winner. Finally, John MURPHY made it 5 for the ‘Green Army’ coming from being behind early on to beat Oliver FARRELL (ENG) 4&2.
Scotland have three representatives in Round 3. Jeff WRIGHT showed great determination to take out compatriot Euan MCINTOSH on their first extra hole; Euan having qualified strongly and played well for most of this match too. Stuart EASTON beat Australian Will HEFFERNAN by 1 hole before Sandy SCOTT took care of Claudio CONSOL (GER) 3&2.
Of the 13 Round 1 winners just four could do the business again. One of these was Thomas FORSTER who surprised Daniel HILLIER (NZE) 2&1. The Englishman was joined by Tom SLOMAN, who beat Jediah MORGAN (AUS) by 1 hole, and Mitch WAITE, who enjoyed the biggest win of the afternoon, 6&4 against German Alexander HERRMANN. Wins for Ben HUTCHINSON, Ben JONES and Matthew JORDAN took the English qualifiers up to 6. Hutchinson beat Jamie LI (ENG) 5&3, Jones recorded a good 2 holes win against Matt SAULEZ (RSA) whilst Jordan ended up having to go to the 20th to finally despatch Finland’s battling Matias HONKALA.
The Amateur Championship Trophy (Photo: Dominik Holyer)
Round 1
Game 1 of the Match Play Stage between Eetu ISOMETSÄ (FIN) and Robin WILLIAMS (ENG) teed off at Royal Aberdeen G.C. at 7.00am. It was raining, with a north westerly wind appearing for the first time.
It was a game that Williams would disappointingly go on to lose 3&2.
Of the 30 qualifying GB&I players 8 were required to play in this preliminary Round 1 which consisted of 13 matches.
John PATERSON (SCO), Jack COPE (ENG), Oliver FARRELL (ENG) and Thomas FORSTER (ENG) were successful with the last three all requiring extra holes to overcome stubborn opponents. Cope ended up beating compatriot Max O’HAGAN, who had led for much of their match, on the 20th hole.
Callan BARROW (ENG) lost 4&3 to Top 100 SPWAR ranked Mexican Paul PEREDA.
Australia-based Scot Robbie MORRISON lost by 1 hole to experienced German Claudio CONSUL.
The 13 winners of these Round 1 matches fed into the bottom of the Round 2 draw and would therefore be required to play again in the afternoon.
The rest of the field will certainly have been pleased to see Takumi KANAYA (JAP), Alvaro ORTIZ (MEX) and Matias SANCHEZ (AUS) all surprisingly fall at this first step.
18 year old Wilco NIENABER (RSA) shot a 67 (-4) at Royal Aberdeen G.C. today to secure medalist honours at the 2018 Amateur Championship. His impressive 133 (-8) total included 11 birdies and just three bogeys.
Wilco Nienaber’s Stroke Play Scores (Photo: R&A / Golfbox)
In an interview quoted on The R&A website Wilco said: “When I heard I was going to play The Amateur Championship this year I was really excited. To finish at the top after the qualifying is great. I made good decisions from the tee, stuck to my game plan and hit the greens. When I missed a green I got up and down – I kept the momentum going and didn’t really make a lot of bogeys. The match play stage is a different game but winning this or finishing at the top makes me feel like I can beat the other guys, which is really nice. So we will see what happens this week.”
Watch Wilco’s interview with GolfWeek’s Alistair Tait after the stroke play qualifying prize presentation: –
Listen to South Africa's number one ranked Wilco Nienaber chat to the Scottish press after going wire-to-wire to win the stroke play qualifier for the 123rd Amateur Championship.https://t.co/1c5WcqEKWZ
Two shots further back was Victor HOVLAND (NOR) who finished second in the stroke play qualifying on 135 (-6). Hovland shot a 65 (-5) at Murcar Links today, the best score on this course over the two days.
Sam MEEK (CAN), who recorded rounds of 69 and 69 for a 138 (-3) total, finished third to claim the final stroke play qualifying prize.
MATT SAULEZ (RSA) and Blake WINDRED (AUS) joined Wilco in shooting 67 at Royal Aberdeen today. This was the best score at the lead host course during the stroke play stage.
Harry HALL (ENG) recorded a second successive 70 today to finish on 140 (-1). His tied 5th result was the best of all of the GB&I players in the field.
Ben HUTCHINSON (ENG) Ev and Mitch WAITE (ENG) +1 finished 8th and tied 9th respectively.
At the end of play the top 64 and ties match play cut fell at +6 with 77 players progressing.
There were 30 GB&I qualifiers in total including 2018 winners John MURPHY (IRE) +2, Matthew JORDAN (ENG) +3, Robin DAWSON (IRE) +3 and Billy MCKENZIE (ENG) +4.
With the wind dropping on Day 2 and the sun shining for the most part the scores were much improved. Murcar Links (par 70) saw it’s average score drop to 73.94 from yesterday’s 77.30 (-3.36) whilst Royal Aberdeen’s (par 71) fell from 76.86 to 73.98 (-2.88). Clearly those that played at the tougher Murcar Links yesterday had a slight disadvantage over the two days of qualifying.
Amongst the leading players to miss out were Joe PAGDIN (ENG) +7, Dylan PERRY (AUS) +7, Andrew WILSON (ENG) +7, Calum FYFE (SCO) +8, Euan WALKER (SCO) +8, John AXELSON (DEN) +8, Angel HIDALGO (ESP) +8, Christo LAMPRECHT (RSA) +8, Clayton MANSFIELD (RSA) +9, Gian-Marco PETROZZI (ENG) +9, Sam LOCKE (SCO) +9, Nick POPPLETON (ENG) +9, Alex GLEESON (IRE) +10, Alex FITZPATRICK (ENG) +10, Jake BURNAGE (ENG) +11, Caolan RAFFERTY (IRE) +13, Bailey GILL (ENG) +14, Jamie STEWART (SCO) +16, Garrick HIGGO (RSA) +17, Todd CLEMENTS (ENG) +17 and John PAK (USA) +18.
ME.
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Monday 18th June 2018
Wilco NIENABER (RSA) shot a 66 (-4) at Murcar Links to lead the 36 hole Stroke Play Qualifying after Round 1 of the 123rd Amateur Championship.
David MICHELUZZI (AUS) and Sam MEEK (CAN) are second having both posted 69’s (-2), the best round of the day, at Royal Aberdeen G.C.
Laird SHEPHERD (ENG) was the only GB&I player to post an under par score; his 69 (-1) at Murcar Links leaving him in tied 4th place.
Euan MCINTOSH (SCO), who hit the first tee shot at Royal Aberdeen at 7.00am this morning, shot 71 (Ev) and finished the day tied 7th alongside Harry HALL (ENG) whose 70 (Ev) at Murcar Links looked like being much better for most of his round.
On a windy but sunny day in Scotland the average score was higher at Murcar Links (77.30 / +7.30 in relation to par) than at Royal Aberdeen (76.86 / +5.86).
After 18 holes there are 60 players on +3 or better, with a further 31 on +4, implying that the top 64 and ties cut will be around +7.
The final stroke play round will start at 7.00am tomorrow morning with each competitor playing on the other host course.
ME.
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17th June 2018
Unsurprisingly Chun An YU (CTP), who played the first two rounds of the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, has withdrawn from this year’s Amateur Championship.
Other late withdrawals include William BUHL (USA), Falko HANISCH (GER) – winner of the 2016 Boys’ Amateur Championship at Muirfield -, Noah COMBS (USA), Yuxin LIN (CHN), Zach MURRAY (AUS) and Raphael GEISSLER (GER).
The 123rd Amateur Championship starts on Monday 18th June at Royal Aberdeen G.C. and Murcar Links G.C. in north east Scotland.
The Amateur is the most prestigious amateur golf event played outside of the United States and without question the highlight of the Great British and Irish (GB&I) amateur season.
Royal Aberdeen Golf Club (Photo: Royal Aberdeen G.C.)
Format
288 players will play two stroke play qualifying rounds, one round on each course, on Monday 18th and Tuesday 19th June.
As in previous years tee times will commence at 7.00am and end at 3.52pm on both days.
The 64 players with the lowest 36 hole scores, and ties for 64th place, will advance to the match play stage and be seeded in line with their qualifying finishes.
The match play games will be played solely at Royal Aberdeen between Wednesday 20th and Saturday 23rd June.
Matches will be played over 18 holes except for Saturday’s Final which will be over 36 holes.
5th hole, Murcar Links Golf Club (Photo: Albrecht Golf Guide)
Players
The 288 players are drawn firstly from a number of exempt categories covering R&A and U.S.G.A. Championship performances and representative teams. Thereafter places are allocated to those players ranked 1st – 2,000th in the WAGR as at 16th May 2018 and, if required, by reference to exact handicaps.
Players from 38 different countries will contest the 2018 Amateur Championship.
Outside of the home nations the best represented countries are France (31 players), U.S.A. (23), Australia (20), Germany (14), Spain (13), Sweden (13), South Africa (10), The Netherlands (9) and Italy (8).
Whilst there are a large number of Americans playing it sadly remains the case that the vast majority of their leading players continue to skip the Championship. It is a sad state of affairs that most of them prefer to play in the Northeast Amateur Invitational at Wannamoisett C.C. in Providence, Rhode island – an event that starts on Wednesday 20th June. Without their participation The Amateur will always lack a little something despite the Major exemptions on offer. The best American this year is John PAK (SPWAR 52).
Harry ELLIS, the defending champion, has not entered the Championship. He has been playing in the U.S. Open Championship at Shinnecock Hills this week and is expected to turn pro immediately afterwards. Last year’s runner up Dylan PERRY (AUS) is back for another go at claiming the title that eluded him last year.
KristofferREITAN (NOR) 40 and Ryan LUMSDEN (SCO) 51 had both entered the Championship but both withdrew when they qualified for the U.S. Open. Chun An YU (CTP) 28 is also currently playing in New York but remains entered. It will be interesting to see if he is at Murcar Links on Monday for his 1.02pm tee time. Good on him if he is.
Looking at the the current SPWAR top 50 the leading players, in addition to Yu, competing are Viktor HOVLAND (NOR) 9, Matthew JORDAN (ENG) 12, Christo LAMPRECHT (RSA) 17, Garrick HIGGO (RSA) 24, Wilco NIENABER (RSA) 26, Todd CLEMENTS (ENG) 27, Matt SAULEZ (RSA) 29, Lorenzo SCALISE (ITA) 31, David MICHELUZZI (AUS) 33, Joey SAVOIE (CAN) 37, Malcom MITCHELL (RSA) 42 and Alvaro ORTIZ (MEX) 45.
From a GB&I perspective Robin DAWSON (IRE) 57, Jake BURNAGE (ENG) 67, Harry HALL (ENG) 68, Gian-Marco PETROZZI (ENG) 73, David HAGUE (ENG) T74, Alex GLEESON (IRE) T74, Caolan RAFFERTY (IRE) 91, Laird SHEPHERD (ENG) 95, Sandy SCOTT (SCO) 115, Ben JONES (ENG) 124, Andrew WILSON (ENG) 128, John MURPHY (IRE) 145, Bailey GILL (ENG) 177, Tom SLOMAN (ENG) 189 and Nick POPPLETON (ENG) 194 will all arrive with high hopes given their current good form.
With the nine-man GB&I St. Andrews Trophy team due to be announced in mid-July a good Amateur Championship by any of the home players will undoubtedly resonate with the selectors.
Finally, Spain’s Alejandro LARRAZABEL is an interesting entry. Alejandro won The Amateur in 2002 at Royal Porthcawl G.C. and has recently been reinstated to the amateur game. He will be the only past winner in the field.
Host Courses
For the first time in it’s history the Amateur Championship is being staged at Royal Aberdeen and Murcar Links in Scotland.
Royal Aberdeen was founded in 1780 and is the 6th oldest golf club in the world. Originally known as The Society of Golfers at Aberdeen the club’s name was changed in 1815 to Aberdeen Golf Club. In 1903 the ‘Royal’ title was conferred on the club by His Majesty King Edward VII.
The club has hosted many prestigious championships, including seven Scottish Amateurs, two Boys’ Amateur Championships, the Boys’ Jacques Léglise Trophy and perhaps most memorably the 2011 Walker Cup, when GB&I defeated the United States by a single point.
In 2005, it hosted the Senior Open which was won by five-time Open champion Tom Watson. In 2014, the Scottish Open was held there for the first time with Justin Rose coming out on top.
Royal Aberdeen – Balgownie Links Indicative Scorecard (Photo: mygolfdays.com)
The Balgownie Links at Royal Aberdeen is a classic links with the outgoing holes played through the undulating dunes on the coast before the return on an inland plateau with numerous blind shots and hidden ditches coming into play.
Neighbouring Murcar Link’s was established in 1909 and lies to the north of the Royal Aberdeen course.
Murcar hosted the inaugural Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play competition on the European Tour in 2016. Previously it had staged the European Girls Team Championship (2009), the Scottish Amateur Stroke Play (2009) and the European Boys Team Championship (2013).
Players will tee off throughout the day on Monday and Tuesday so changes in the weather and wind speed early in the week may impact the stroke play qualifying scoring.
Prizes / Exemptions
A momento is presented by The R&A to the players finishing 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the stroke play qualifying competition, with any ties determined by a second round count back.
The winner of the match play stage will become the Champion Amateur Golfer for the year and is awarded the Championship Trophy and a Gold Medal. The runner-up receives a Silver Medal and each losing semi-finalist a Bronze Medal.
The winner of The Amateur Championship will be exempt into next month’s 147th Open Championship down the coast at Carnoustie Golf Links.
Traditionally, the champion is also invited to compete in the following year’s Masters Tournament at Augusta National G.C.
Finally, they will also be exempt into the 2019 U.S. Open Championship which is being held at Pebble Beach Golf Links in California.
2017 Amateur Championship
England’s Harry ELLIS won the 2017 Amateur Championship on the 38th hole at Royal St. George’s G.C.
4 Down with five holes to play the odds were well and truly against the then 21 year old Hampshire player. However, his opponent Dylan PERRY (AUS) bogeyed four of the last five holes to let Ellis back in.
On the second extra hole Perry got into trouble and Ellis was able to secure the famous trophy with another par, his seventh in a row.
Harry Ellis (Photo: @RandA / Getty Images)
This was Ellis’ second major amateur victory. In 2012, aged just 16, he became the youngest player to win the English Amateur Championship.
Following in the footsteps of fellow Hampshire player Scott Gregory, Ellis said in his post round press conference: “I can’t believe what I have just done but you should never give up and never give in. I just kept giving myself chances down the stretch and luckily played much better than I had all day. It has always been a dream to play in Majors and I get to play in three now. My game is in a good place so hopefully I can do something .”
Here is the Golfing World / R&A highlights film of the 2017 Amateur Championship: –
A Short History of The Amateur
The Amateur Championship was first played in April 1885 at Royal Liverpool G.C. Allan Macfie (SCO) was the first champion beating Horace Hutchinson (ENG) 7&6 in the Final.
Up until the Second World War it was a hugely prestigious event and in many of these early years was afforded a much higher standing in the game than The Open. Players like Johnny Ball (ENG), Harold Hilton (ENG) and Freddie Tait (SCO) were all amateurs and as good if not better than most of the professionals of the day.
With only modest rewards available in the professional game many of the better players simply stayed amateur. The great American Bobby Jones, who won The Amateur in 1930 on the way to his Grand Slam, remains the most well known career amateur.
Even after the war players remained amateur for much longer and famous names like Frank Stranahan (USA), Joe Carr (IRE), Sir Michael Bonallack (ENG) and Peter McEvoy (ENG) all built their reputations on Amateur Championship wins.
With the growth and transformation of the professional game from the early 1980s onwards both the better players and the media increasingly started to turn their backs on the amateur game.
Save for exceptional cases like Gary Wolstenholme (ENG) all continuity has been lost over the last 30 years and most of the young golfing stars of today rarely play any more than 2 or 3 Amateurs before being lured into the pro ranks by the huge rewards on offer.
Past Winners
The greatest player in the history of The Amateur is Johnny Ball. The Hoylake man won the Championship a record 8 times between 1888 and 1912.
Only three other players have won the competition more than twice; Sir Michael Bonallack (5), Harold Hilton (4) and Joe Carr (3). Bonallack amazingly won it three years in a row between 1968-1970. The last person to retain The Amateur was Peter McEvoy in 1977 and ’78.
Prior to Ellis’ win in 2017 the last 10 winners of The Amateur Championship have been: –
2016 Scott Gregory (ENG) – Royal Porthcawl GC
2015 Romain Langasque (FRA) – Carnoustie GL
2014 Bradley Neil (SCO) – Royal Portrush GC
2013 Garrick Porteous (ENG) – Royal Cinque Ports GC
2012 Alan Dunbar (IRE) – Royal Troon GC
2011 Bryden Macpherson (AUS) – Hillside GC
2010 Jin Jeong (KOR) – Muirfield
2009 Matteo Manassero (ITA) – Formby GC
2008 Reinier Sexton (NED) – Trump Tunberry
2007 Drew Weaver (USA) – Royal Lytham & St. Annes GC
A great achievement and honour for all of the players listed above. However, it’s also another reminder of how incredibly tough golf is and that wins in the biggest events are no guarantee of success in the professional game.
John MURPHY (IRE) beat Jannik DE BRUYN (GER) on the first play-off hole to win the 2018 St. Andrews Links Trophy.
John becomes the third Irish golfer to win the title following in the footsteps of Alan Dunbar (2009) and Conor O’Rourke (2016).
John Murphy (Photo: St. Andrews Links Trust / Kenny Smith Photography)
Murphy looked second favourite after his approach to the 1st hole on the Old Course ended up 25 feet away after De Bruyn had left himself just 6 feet. However, the Irishman sank his birdie putt and perhaps unsurprisingly in the circumstances the German was unable to match him.
The St. Andrews Links Trust tweeted a video of the winning putt with a short interview with their winner.
John Murphy won a dramatic sudden death play off in style to be Links Trophy Champion 2018. He also tried to tell us all about it, despite the local pipe band trying to drown him out to the side of the Swilcan Bridge!#LinksTrophy@John_murphy5pic.twitter.com/JSJNyfgg5n
This was a great win for the man from Kinsale who has just completed his sophomore year at University of Louisville in the United States. He rose to 143rd in the SPWAR, jumping 616 places, as reward for the biggest win of his career.
Round 4 started at 12 noon with the leaders setting off at 2.56pm.
Jannik DE BRUYN (GER) shot the best final round, his second 68 of the day. Whilst his morning round had included two bogeys this afternoon he produced a clean card with four birdies. He posted 278 (-9) and waited patiently in the clubhouse to see if it would hold up.
Jannik De Bruyn Round 4 Scorecard (Photo: St. Andrews Links Trust / Intelligent Golf)
John MURPHY (IRE) also recorded the same score as he did in the morning. His 71 meant he was the only player to catch De Bruyn on -9 and that a play-off would be required to decide the winner.
Jake BURNAGE (ENG) shot final day rounds of 70 and 69 to finish tied 3rd with Haydn BARRON (AUS) on 279 (-8), just one shot back.
Englishman Burnage was bogey free in the afternoon but his morning 70 was something of a rollercoaster. Without wishing to be dismissive of his seven birdies it included, with the benefit of hindsight, a painful double bogey 6 on 12 and bogeys on 15 and 16. Nevertheless this represented another very good result for the Devonian No. 1 and a welcome return to form. He was the leading GB&I player in one of the world’s best amateur events.
Compatriot Laird SHEPHERD finished well with a 70 to secure a tied 5th place result on 280 (-7). Gian-Marco PETROZZI (ENG) was next best for GB&I. His 281 (-6) score was good enough to secure tied 8th.
Round 3
Round 3 started at 7.00am with Kieran CANTLEY (SCO) going out alone. The two leading players, Laird SHEPHERD (ENG) -8 and John MURPHY (IRE) -7, teed off at 9.56am.
36 holes on the Old Course lay ahead as the 45 qualifying players set out to determine the winner of the 2018 St. Andrews Links Trophy.
Joey SAVOIE (CAN) 67 and John MURPHY (IRE) 71 shared the 54 hole lead on -8.
Overnight leader Laird SHEPHERD (ENG) shot 75, faltering late on with a double bogey on the 15th and a bogey on 17.
Sandy SCOTT (SCO) shot the best third round score. His blemish free 66 included an eagle on the par 5 5th and birdies on 9, 12, 13 and 14.
Daniel O’LOUGHLIN (ENG) also shot 67, with defending champion Matthew JORDAN (ENG) and fellow Englishman Gian-Marco PETROZZI (ENG) 68 delivering the next best GB&I scores.
Jannik DE BRUYN (GER) moved up to -6 after a 68 in Round 3.
The star of Day 2 was Laird SHEPHERD (ENG). The Stirling University student knows St. Andrews well and demonstrated it around the Old Course today. With a supportive wind on the way out he completed his front 9 in just 30 shots and held it together nicely on the way home. His 65 (-7) helped him move to the top of the 36 hole leaderboard on 135 (-8).
There were a number of great rounds today reflecting the generally benign conditions in Fife. John MURPHY (IRE) shot 66, Christo LAMPRECHT (RSA) – winner of the East of Ireland Amateur earlier this week – 67, David HAGUE (ENG) 67, Joey SAVOIE (CAN) 67 and Jamie LI (ENG) 68, all moving into the top 10 as a result.
Stuart EASTON (SCO) 67, Gian-Marco PETROZZI (ENG) 68, Therion NEL (RSA) 68 and Daniel O’LOUGHLIN (ENG) 68 all knew they needed good rounds to make the cut and impressively delivered.
However, the bounceback prize has to go to Joao GIRAO (POR). After a disappointing 80 on the New Course yesterday, from which there was never going to be a way back, he at least went down fighting delivering a 66 which included 7 birdies.
First round leader Olly HUGGINS (ENG) found the going harder today – his 75, and 142 (-1) total, was at least good enough to ensure he made the cut.
The top 40 and ties 36 hole cut eventually fell at even par with 45 players making it through to the final day.
144 golfers from 26 different countries will tee off on Friday 8th June in the 30th St. Andrews Links Trophy.
This event has become one of the ‘Majors’ in men’s amateur golf helped by venue and timing.
Competition Format
The Links Trophy is a 72 hole scratch stroke play competition played over the St. Andrews Links in early June.
After various National Golf Union and St. Andrews Links Trust nominations the field is determined by World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) as at 3rd May 2018 rather than handicap as is normally the case.
This year Round 1 will be played on the New Course – the Jubilee Course was used last year – with Round 2 on the Old Course.
Following a top 40 and ties cut on Saturday the leading players will play a final 36 holes on the Old Course on Sunday.
The New Course plays 6,625 yards to a par of 71. The front nine is 3,270 yards long with a par of 36 whilst the tougher back nine is 85 yards longer but with a par of 35.
New Course Scorecard (Photo: St. Andrews Links Trust)
The Old Course is 6,721 yards off the white tees and has a par of 72. Both nines have a par of 36 and have similar yardages – the front is 3,336 yards long whilst the back is a little longer at 3,385 yards.
Old Course Scorecard (Photo: St. Andrews Links Trust)
The winner will be the player who returns the lowest 72 hole score. In the event of a tie a sudden death play-off will be held over holes 1 and 18.
Ties for other places are decided by the lowest score for the last 18 holes or the last 9 or 6 or 3 or 2 or 1 hole if necessary.
The Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking (SPWAR) placed the Links Trophy 8th in its 2017 Amateur Tournament Ranking based on the strength of it’s field. It was 6th in the same ranking in 2016.
18 of the 20 members of the 2018 GB&I St. Andrews Trophy squad will be competing at St. Andrews this week. Harry HALL (ENG) and Ryan LUMSDEN (SCO) are the exceptions; both were competing in U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying today in the United States. Many of the Squad have been drawn together in the opening rounds to help the selectors follow their play closely.
The attraction of St. Andrews always ensures a strong overseas entry. Australia, Canada and South Africa are particularly well represented in 2018 with Hugo BERNARD (CAN), Christo LAMPRECHT (RSA), David MICHELUZZI (AUS), Wilco NIENABER (RSA), Dylan PERRY (AUS) and Matt SAULEZ (RSA) all strong challengers.
Weather Forecast (updated on Wednesday 6th June)
The current weather forecast appears perfect for golf – dry with minimal chance of rain.
Friday 8th June – Cloudy. Wind 13 mph E. Temp. Max. 15°C / Min 9°C.
Saturday 9th June – Cloudy. Wind 11 mph E. Temp. Max. 15°C / Min 10°C.
Sunday 10th June – Cloudy. Wind 11 mph E. Temp. Max. 16°C / Min 9°C.
Tee times in Rounds 1 and 2 start at 7.00am and end at 3.10pm so as with any links course the draw could play a big part in proceedings.
Prizes
The winner receives The St Andrews Links Trophy and a cheque for £500.
The runner-up and third place finisher also receive commemorative medals.
Reducing cash prizes are awarded to the top 10 finishers in all.
In addition to the main prizes The Ian Forbes Memorial Cup is awarded for the best aggregate score on the first two days of the event.
2017 Event
Royal Liverpool’s Matthew JORDAN won the 2017 St. Andrews Links Trophy. Following an outstanding run of form the victory almost certainly secured his place in last year’s Great Britain and Ireland (GB&I) Walker Cup team.
Matthew Jordan (Photo: Kenny Smith)
Rounds of 70, 68, 69 and 70 took Matthew to a finishing total of 277 (-11).
J.R. GALBRAITH (IRE) shot 66, 71, 70 and 71 (-10) to secure second place with Ben FERGUSON (AUS) finishing 3rd on -9.
Other GB&I players to finish in the top 10 included Laird SHEPHERD (-8) 4th, David BOOTE (-8) 6th, Liam JOHNSTON (-6) 7th , Gian-Marco PETROZZI (-5) 8th and Jack DAVIDSON (-5) 9th.
Only Craig WATSON (1992 and 1998), the current Great Britain & Ireland (GB&I) Walker Cup captain, and Barclay HOWARD (1994 and 1996) have won the title twice.
The most famous winner is Justin ROSE who won in 1997.
Interestingly given the normally cosmopolitan nature of the fields the Links Trophy has only been won by players from outside GB&I on three occasions – Australia’s Stuart BOVIER (1990), Daan HUIZING from The Netherlands (2012) and FedericoZUCCHETTI from Italy (2015).
Huizing, who had won the 2012 Lytham Trophy by 11 shots just a few weeks earlier, set a scoring record of -23 in 2012 (65 New, 64, 68 and 67 all Old) and won by an astonishing 14 shots.
Nick POPPLETON (ENG) today won the 2018 Brabazon Trophy after a sudden death play-off with Wilco NIENABER (RSA).
Both players had started the day on 6-under, 3 shots back of overnight leader Jeong Weon KO (FRA).
Nick shot two rounds of 67 on the final day recording just two bogeys while Wilco posted a 65 and 69. Both players posting an impressive aggregate score of -10 for their final two rounds, played in glorious sunshine on Frilford Heath’s Red Course.
Nick Poppleton (Photo: Golf Bible)
Play-Off
The play-off took place on the 9th hole of Frilford’s Red Course. The 9th is a 180 yard par 3 played over a valley to an elevated green that slopes from back to front and is protected by two short bunkers. The flag was in the front right portion of the green.
Nick teed off first and finished short right in front of the bunker. Wilco followed him and finished in roughly the same area, a little closer to the bunker. Nick chipped up and watched in anguish as his well judged shot hit the flag and stayed out. Wilco followed and saw his chip finish an inch to the right of the hole. Both tapped-in quickly and returned to the tee to try again.
Despite now playing the hole for the fourth time on the day both players again missed the green short right. Nick was further away, perhaps as much as 30 feet. This time his chip ran up perfectly and dropped into the hole beside the flag. A magnificent shot played under the most extreme pressure. Wilco then chipped up from just in front of the green and amazingly lipped out, the ball finishing stone dead. The gallery had seen four difficult chips to a raised green and from reasonable distance in the play-off; three hit the hole and one stayed on the lip. It was some exhibition of the skills these elite amateurs have.
Nick had won the 2018 Brabazon Trophy in some style on the second extra hole. It was a great win for the likeable Yorkshireman.
Wilco should be disappointed he lost. This was my first viewing of him and he certainly looked the part, a professional in all but name. He hits the ball miles, has a beautiful short game and his temperament was first class. He clearly has a big future in the game, a prediction I wouldn’t normally make but feel confident of doing so with him. I am sure he will learn from this loss.
I set off with the Wilco NIENABER and Jack COPE pairing this afternoon, keeping a close eye on Nick POPPLETON who was playing ahead of them with David LANGLEY.
Not for the first time this season I would end up watching a relatively comfortable leader grasp defeat from the jaws of victory.
Wilco seemed very relaxed and despite leaking most of his tee shots to the right took advantage of his power and beautiful short game. He seemed to escape with pars or earn birdies on most of the holes on the front nine. The exception being the downhill 500 yard 6th where he eagled after a long drive and iron shot to 10 feet. When he followed it with a birdie on the 7th he was 5-under for his final round and -18 for the Championship, leading Nick by 4 shots.
Jack was playing very well but simply couldn’t get anything to drop on the greens on the front nine. Up ahead Nick was continuing his good form and was 3-under on the front nine for his own round.
Wilco was a bit lose around the turn dropping shots on 8 and 11 but doing well to get one back on the 12th where his towering approach from the deepish rough was judged perfectly.
After a solid par on the strategic right-to-left dogleg 13th, where he hit an iron off the tee and a nice approach to the difficult back pin position, the South African Number 1 was -4 for the round and -17 for the event. He was leading Nick by 3 shots.
As the small gallery walked up the 354 yard par 4 – what appeared to be the tightest, most penal hole on the course – we discussed how Wilco would surely play an iron. Jack, who had birdied the 12th and was therefore playing first, did just that and found the centre of the fairway, leaving himself a wedge in.
This was the point at which the Championship was undoubtedly lost.
Wilco, who was confidently being advised and caddied for throughout by a Golf RSA coach / manager, proceeded to smash his drive well into the gorse, again long right. This was not a surprise; he had done the same thing on most of the proceeding holes, the difference being they had all been much wider, allowing short ‘recovery’ shots to be played to the green. Aggressive play is great and clearly Wilco’s preferred approach but certain situations – e.g. when you have a 3 shot lead with 5 holes to play and are facing a hole bordered by gorse on both sides – require a bit more subtlety and the removal of big numbers from the potential equation.
If I had been caddying for him neither his woods, or for that matter his long irons, would have gone within 100 yards of the tee box. After all this is a lad that probably hits his 7-iron 200 yards. Surprisingly he hit his provisional with his driver too. To be fair this time he came up 20 yards short of the green. His chip was poor by the high standards of earlier in his round and before he knew it he was writing down 6 on his scorecard. He may not of known it at the time but his lead was now just 1 shot.
On the 421 yard 15th Wilco smashed his ball to within 30 yards of the green. Even allowing for the perfect playing conditions this was a massive hit. However, he couldn’t get up and down for birdie. Playing from the semi-rough he misjudged the lack of spin he would be able to generate and ran well past the hole.
As he putted out Nick was waiting on the nearby 16th with his caddie, friend and professional Alex Stubbs.
This was the point where the Championship was won.
England Golf had pushed the tee up for the final round and as such the hole was playing as a drivable 295 yard par 4. Nick hit a superb drive that found a path up the narrow right side of the green to a pin perched on the right ledge. When he holed the 15 foot putt for eagle he led by 1 shot.
With the green clear Jack found the putting surface whilst Wilco bounced into the left hand bunker. Jack proceeded to three putt for par whilst Wilco played a superb long bunker shot to a few feet but to everyone’s surprise missed his short birdie putt.
I quickly scampered after the Yorkshireman who by this time was finishing off on the 17th. Nick held his nerve to par in. He did give himself a 20 footer on the last for the outright win but the putt lipped out.
Wilco missed a relatively short downhill putt on 17 to draw back level. Hitting driver – perfectly justifiable given he was now chasing – on the 324 yard par 4 18th he flirted with the members car park before coming up just short of pin high on the left hand side. His chip was well played but ran out four feet passed the hole which was on the right edge of the green. To his credit he bravely slotted the downhill right to lefter for birdie, thus gaining a chance for redemption in a play-off.
With four groups still to come in it took almost an hour before the play-off could commence.
The Leading Brabazon Trophy Scorecard (Photo: England Golf / GolfBox)
As can be seen from the above screenshot England’s Bailey GILL and Jack COPE (-13 / tied 3rd), Andrew WILSON (-11 / tied 6th), Mitch WAITE (-11 / tied 6th), Arun SINGH BRAR (-9 / 8th), Max MARTIN, David LANGLEY and Ben JONES (-8 / all tied 9th) all enjoyed Top 10 finishes.
Jack COPE (ENG) seemed to gain confidence from Wilco’s back nine difficulties coming home in 33 with four birdies and one bogey. His -13 total and tied 3rd finish helped him win The George Henriques Salver, a prize awarded to the leading GB&I player in the Championship under the age of 20. Arun SINGH BRAR (-9) finished second in these supplementary standings.
Jack Cope (Photo: GolfBible)
Round 3
Play commenced at 7.30am with the leaders, Messrs. Ko and Waite, heading off at 9.09am. Unfortunately they recorded a 73 and 72 respectively from which they were unable to recover in the afternoon despite posting much improved rounds of 68 and 69.
However, the two main stories from Round 3 concerned South African protege Wilco NIENABER (RSA) and Darlington’s Andrew WILSON.
Wilco started on the 10th being one of the leading players. His halves of 33 and 32 included six birdies and one eagle. His -13 total after 54 holes gave him a 2 shot lead over Nick POPPLETON who had also impressed with his own 6 birdie 67 to move into second on -11.
Andrew started on the 1st at 8.15am and shot a sparkling best of the tournament course record 63 which he told me could have been better; a bogey on three and with four birdie opportunities all passed up over the closing holes. He was now right in the mix but would need to go low again in the afternoon.
Andrew Wilson’s 3rd Round Scorecard (Photo: England Golf / GolfBox)
ME.
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Saturday 2nd June 2018
Round 2
Jeong Weon KO (FRA) leads Mitch WAITE (ENG) by 1 shot at the end of Round 2. Ko shot a 69 to move onto -9 whilst Waite posted a joint best of the day 67 (-5), including 7 birdies, to move on to -8.
Jeong Weon Ko (Photo: Leaderboard Photography / England Golf)
Charlie STRICKLAND (ENG), whose season has been interrupted with health issues, is pleasingly in a three way tie for third on -7; he’s joined by Stuart EASTON (SCO) and Ferdinand MUELLER (GER).
Thomas BEASLEY (ENG) was the other player to shoot 67 on Day 2. His bogey free round included 4 birdies in his last 6 holes. Thomas will start the final day on -2 and in tied 28th place.
The cut fell at -1 with 46 players progressing.
With 21 players within 5 shots of the lead Sunday’s 36 holes should provide an exciting race to the title.
ME.
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Friday 1st June 2018
Round 1
Round 1 was concluded by early afternoon with the scoring bar lowered even further.
Jeong Weon KO (FRA), Nick POPPLETON (ENG) and Jay BEISSER (ENG) all posted 66’s (-6) on Day 2 to tie the Round 1 lead.
Beisser birdied every par 3 and par 5 to hand in an unusual card made up solely of 2’s and 4’s.
The Leading Round 1 Scorecards (Photo: England Golf / GolfBox)
Frederic LACROIX (FRA) joined Wilco NIENABER (RSA), Jack COPE (ENG) and Ferdinand MUELLER (GER), yesterday’s clubhouse leaders, by recording a 67 (-5). The four of them are all tied for fourth at this early stage.
Round 1 scoring has been good with 42 players under par from the 155 who started the event.
England Golf have announced that the 36 hole cut will now be set at the top 45 and ties, rather than the normal top 60 and ties; the higher level having also been reaffirmed yesterday after the suspension in play.
With 59 players tied 45th or better and 78 players at tied 60th or better after Round 1, and with only another 18 holes to be played before the cut is made, I assume a fear of having too big a field for the final 36 holes on Sunday has driven this decision.
After disappointing first rounds Matt SAULEZ (RSA) 74 +2, Chris WOOLLAM (RSA) 74 +2, Sam LOCKE 75 (SCO) +3, Andrew WILSON (ENG) 75 +3, Lewis GEORGE (ENG) 76 +4 and Robin WILLIAMS (ENG) 77 +5 are amongst the more notable players that will require a strong bounce back tomorrow to make the final day.
ME.
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Thursday 31st May 2018
Round 1
Play started at 8.00am but was brought to a premature close around 3.00pm by thunderstorms which left the Frilford Heath course flooded.
The Practice Putting Green (Photo: Frilford Heath G.C.)
74 players managed to complete their first rounds before play was abandoned. The leaders in the clubhouse being Wilco NIENABER (RSA), Jack COPE (ENG) and Ferdinand MUELLER (GER) who all shot 67’s (-5).
Sadly Todd CLEMENTS (ENG), one of the highest ranked competitors, had to withdraw before his 9.05am tee time with a back injury. In an event already lacking some of the field depth seen in previous years this was a blow from a ranking perspective.
England Golf have now decided to complete Round 1 tomorrow before playing Round 2 on Saturday.
The Top 60 and Ties cut will still take place after 36 holes meaning the leading players will now have to play 36 holes on Sunday.
ME.
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28th May 2018
The English Men’s Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship for the Brabazon Trophy will be played at Frilford Heath Golf Club this week.
The 72nd playing of this event takes place between Thursday 31st and Sunday 3rd June on the Oxfordshire Club’s Red Course.
Frilford Heath Golf Club (Photo: Frilford Heath G.C.)
Format
The competition consists of 72 holes of stroke play golf with 18 holes being played each day.
A 36 hole cut will take place with only the leading 60 competitors and ties progressing to the two weekend rounds.
In the event of a tie for the Championship on Sunday, there will be a sudden death play off.
Field
156 competitors will start the 2018 Championship. Whilst England dominates the entries players from 12 other countries are also represented.
78 players were exempted into the field based on their previous accomplishments with 78 coming through a qualifying process.
Callan BARROW (-2) of Royal Lytham & St. Annes G.C. was the medalist at neighbouring Fairhaven in the North Qualifier, pipping Lincolnshire’s Sam DONE on count back. Click here to view the full North Qualifier Results
Cameron PHILLIPS (-6) from Hindhead G.C. led the qualifiers at Camberley Heath G.C. in the South Qualifier. Click here to view the full South Qualifier Results
13 of the 20 recently announced Great Britain & Ireland (GB&I) St. Andrews Trophy Squad will be competing at the Brabazon. These are Todd CLEMENTS (ENG), Alex FITZPATRICK (ENG), Calum FYFE (SCO), David HAGUE (ENG), Ben JONES (ENG), Matthew JORDAN (ENG), Sam LOCKE (SCO), Billy MCKENZIE (ENG), Gian-Marco PETROZZI (ENG), Jamie STEWART (SCO), Euan WALKER (SCO), Robin WILLIAMS (ENG) and Andrew WILSON (ENG).
Of those missing the event Harry HALL (ENG), Ryan LUMSDEN (SCO) and Sandy SCOTT (SCO) were unable to enter due to the conflicting NCAA Division I National Championships which is currently being played in Oklahoma.
Rowan LESTER (IRE) and Caolan RAFFERTY (IRE) are playing in the East of Ireland Amateur Championship. The two leading Irish players Robin DAWSON (IRE) and Alex GLEESON (IRE) appear to be taking the week off.
To put the event in context the 2017 Brabazon was ranked the 17th most important amateur competition in the world last year based on the strength of it’s field by the Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking (SPWAR). Unfortunately a scheduling clash with the East of Ireland Championship means a much lower event ranking can be expected in 2018.
Prizes
The Winner receives the magnificent gold Brabazon Trophy shown in the photo below.
The Champion’s Prize and Brabazon Trophy (Photo: GolfBible)
Prize vouchers will be awarded to those players finishing in the top six.
Two other prizes are connected to the Brabazon Trophy competition. The George Henriques Salver is awarded to the leading GB&I player in the Championship under the age of 20. The Philip Scruton Jug is awarded later in the year to the player returning the best aggregate scores in The Brabazon Trophy and The Berkshire Trophy (which will be played on 23rd and 24th June).
Frilford Heath Golf Club
Frilford’s first course, the Red, was designed by J.H. Taylor, the five times Open Champion, in 1908 and opened in the following year. Club professional J.H. Turner undertook some later tweaks but it largely remains as originally planned.
This predominantly heathland course measures around 7,000 yards depending on which tees are selected. A par of 72 is split 36-36, albeit as you can see from the scorecard below the hole configurations are different on the two nines.
Red Course Scorecard (Photo: Frilford Heath G.C.)
Weather Forecast
The weather forecast (as at Wednesday 30th May) is broadly positive for all four competition days, albeit the modest winds are expected to move around from day to day.
Thu 25th May – Thundery Showers / Wind 8 mph E / Temp. Min. 15°C, Max. 21°C. Fri 26th May – Light Rain / Wind 11 mph SW / Temp. Min. 13°C, Max. 21°C. Sat 27th May – Sunny / Wind 9 mph W / Temp. Min. 10°C / Min 21°C. Sun 28th May – Cloudy / Wind 8 mph NE / Temp. Min. 13°C / Max. 23°C.
It is worth remembering that Rounds 1 and 2 will see players tee off the 1st from 8.00am right through until 2.35pm.
The 2017 Brabazon Trophy
South Africa’s Kyle MCCLATCHIE celebrated his 20th birthday by winning the 2017 English Men’s Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship at Woodhall Spa Golf Club.
Kyle shot rounds of 70, 66, 75 and 71 for a 282 (-10) total and a 1-shot victory. He was the fifth South African to win the Brabazon Trophy, following in the footsteps of Neville Sundelson (1974), Richard Kaplan (1986), Craig Rivett (1989T) and Charl Schwartzel (2002).
Kyle McClatchie (Photo: Ernest Blignault)
Jamie STEWART (SCO), Jake BURNAGE (ENG) and Jack SINGH BRAR (ENG) all finished on -9 to tie for second place.
Jamie Stewart had a superb weekend shooting the lowest two scores on both days. He followed a 67 (-6) with a 68 (-5) in the final round.
Matthew JORDAN (ENG) (-7) finished 5th, Dan BROWN (ENG) (-5) 6th and David BOOTE (WAL) (-4) 7th.
The first player to successfully defend the title was Ronnie WHITE who won at Birkdale in 1950 and nearby Formby in 1951.
Shortly afterwards Philip SCRUTTON won the Brabazon three times in four years (1952, ‘54 & ‘55).
Sir Michael BONALLACK has four wins to his name. The first came at Royal Cinque Ports in 1964 and the last at Hillside in 1971. At Moortown in 1969, with play-offs having been discarded at this time, he shared the title with Rodney FOSTER.
Other well known British winners of the Brabazon include Gordon Brand Jnr, Sandy Lyle (2), Peter MCEVOY, Ronan Rafferty and Ronnie SHADE(3).
Other notable European winners include well known pros Ignacio GARRIDO (1992) and Peter HANSON (1998).
As there was only limited GB&I interest in the National Championships I couldn’t justify a separate article. However, I thought I would add some comments on this event to my Regional Championships article. The original Regionals article follows immediately beneath these.
No. 1 seed Oklahoma State won the NCAA Championship for the 11th time beating Alabama 5-0 in the match-play final which fortunately for them was being staged on their home course, Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Broc Everett and Oklahoma (Photos: Oklahoma University Men’s Golf)
In the stroke-play stage of the event Broc Everett from Augusta University defeated Auburn’s Brandon Mancheno in a playoff to win the individual national championship. Playing as an individual after his team missed the 54-hole cut, the 23-year-old claimed his first college victory at just the right time.
Broc Everett (Photo: Augusta University Men’s Golf)
It proved to be a disappointing event for the handful of GB&I representatives who made it this far.
Sandy Scott (SCO) was our only player to play all four rounds in the stroke play stage. He shot rounds of 77, 73, 76 and 85 (+23) to finish T79 in the individual standings. Just one of his four rounds counted to his team’s total as Texas Tech qualified in 3rd place. Texas Tech then lost 3-2 in Round 1 of the match play to eventual runners-up Alabama. Sandy lost his match 2&1 to Davis Shore.
Daniel Sutton (ENG) shot rounds of 71, 73 and 75 (+3) but his Kansas team missed the 54 hole stroke play cut.
Ryan Lumsden (SCO) started well with a 67 but fell away with subsequent rounds of 76 and 80 (+7). As I feared in my NCAA Regional Results article Ryan’s teammate Eric McIntosh (SCO) was dropped for the Finals. However, he was subbed in for the 3rd round where he shot a creditable even par 72. Nevertheless Northwestern fell just short of the first cut mark.
Harry Ellis (ENG) recorded scores of 75, 73 and 80 as UNLV crashed out on Day 3 too.
Over the last three days 81 teams and 45 individuals not on those teams have competed in six 54 hole NCAA Division I Regional Championship events.
The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams from each Regional have now advanced to the National Finals, which will be played on 25th – 30th May at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
This follow up article summarises the results of the 21 Great British and Irish (GB&I) players who competed in the 2018 Regional Championships.
The links for both the Team and Individual Player Results are provided in RED under each Regional heading for those seeking more detail.
Well done to Ryan Lumsden and Eric McIntosh (both Northwestern), Harry Hall (UNLV), Sandy Scott (Texas Tech) and Daniel Sutton (Kansas) who have all played this week and have seen their Teams qualify for the National Championships.
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Traditions Club – Bryan, Texas Hosted by Texas A&M University, College Station
From the 13 teams competing here Texas A&M Univesity (1), Clemson (3), Baylor (2), UCLA (5) and Kentucky (4) qualified. This was the only Regional where all of the top 5 seeds progressed.
2017 U.S. Walker Cup player Braden Thornberry (Ole Miss) finished 4th to claim the Individual qualifying spot.
San Francsico finished last on +40. I am not sure why Toby Briggs (ENG / FR) was not selected this week as he seems to have played for them throughout the College season.
Our only other representative in Texas was Lewis George (ENG / JR), the Central Arkansas man playing as an Individual. After a solid 73 in round 1 Lewis fell away with rounds of 77 and 75. He finished tied 50th out of a field of 75.
OSU Golf Club, Scarlet Course – Columbus, Ohio Hosted by The Ohio State University
From the 13 teams competing here Oklahoma State (1), Illinois (2), UNLV (4), Northwestern (6) and Texas Tech (3) qualified.
Kyle Mueller from Michigan, playing as an Individual, justified his selection by winning the event and qualifying as the low individual.
Ryan Lumsden (SCO / JR) recorded rounds of 75, 70 and 66 to finish tied 4th. Eric McIntosh (SCO / FR) finished tied 46th after rounds of 72, 78 and 77. Ryan and Eric were both in the Northwestern team who qualified for the Nationals. Eric, who was 5th in the line up, had one counting round and therefore may find his place under scrutiny next week.
Harry Hall (ENG / JR) shot rounds of 70, 70 and 75 to finish tied 13th. His team UNLV finished 3rd so he can look forward to playing in the National Championship.
Sandy Scott (SCO / SO) finished well with a 70 after earlier scores of 81 and 75. With two counting rounds and Texas Tech claiming the final qualifying team spot Sandy can also look forward to contesting the season finale.
Paul McBride (IRE / SR) finished tied 20th alongside two of his Wake Forest teammates. Paul shot three counting rounds of 76, 70 and 73 but will see his time in the U.S. come to an end without playing in the National finals, Wake Forest finishing a disappointing 8th.
Louisville finished 9th where they were seeded for the event and therefore failed to qualify. Devin Morley (IRE / SO) 75, 77 and 76 finished 51st whilst John Murphy (IRE / SO) 79, 78 and 73 was tied 57th in the individual rankings. Hugh O’Hare (IRE / FR) failed to make Louisville’s starting 5 for the Regionals.
Rhys Nevin-Wharton (ENG / SO) delivered a 76, 73 and 75 for Tennessee to finish tied 37th. Whilst all three of his rounds counted his team were well off the pace this week.
Elliott Fullalove (ENG / SR) was not selected by Jacksonville who went on to finish tied 10th. Their No. 5 player Aaeri Krishnan shot rounds of 82, 86 and 80 (+35) and finished last of those players completing all 54 holes.
Yale finished 12th out of the 13 competing teams with Eoin Leonard (IRE / JR) not finding the Ohio State University course to his liking (79,79, 80 / 67th).
Reunion Resort, Watson Course – Kissimmee, Florida Hosted by University of Central Florida
From the 14 teams competing here Oklahoma (1), Brigham Young (7), North Florida (5), Auborn (2) and Arkansas (3) qualified.
Joshua McCarthy from Pepperdine qualified as the low individual.
Florida State came into this Regional as the 4th seeds and finished 6th just one shot behind Arkansas. Jamie Li (ENG / SO) recovered from a first round 75 with rounds of 72 and 70 to end up tied 26th. Similarly Harry Ellis (ENG / RS SR) started poorly with a 79 before posting a 71 and 73. Nevertheless I am sure both he and the team would have been hoping for more than a tied 47th finish from their No. 1 player.
Jack Hermeston (ENG / SR) struggled at the Jimmie Austin OU G.C. this week. His rounds of 86, 76 and 76 and a tied 72nd finish didn’t really help his University of Missouri-Kansas City team, although two of them were counting.
Lonnie Poole Golf Course – Raleigh, North Carolina Hosted by North Carolina State University
From the 14 teams competing here Texas (3), Duke (5), North Carolina State (6), Augusta (12) and Arizona State (4) qualified.
Campbell’s Pontus Nyholm won a three way -9 play-off to qualify as the low individual.
Harrison Taee (ENG / SO) was not selected by Duke who finished 2nd as a Team on -22.
Missouri pair Rory Franssen (SCO / SO) and Jamie Stewart (SCO / FR) both played consistently well finishing on -1 to tie 32nd. Rory shot rounds of 71, 72 and 69 whilst Jamie contributed a 68,72 and 72. Missouri finished tied 8th, missing out on 5th place by just 6 shots.
Oisin Devereux (IRE / SO) recorded rounds of 75, 77 and 76 to finish 70th as his Iona team found themselves out of their depth at this level.
Charlotte’s Conor Purcell (IRE / SO), playing as an Individual, couldn’t build on his 67 in round 2. His other rounds of 79 and 74 saw him finish on +7 and tied 61st, 16 shots away from the play-off and required qualifying mark.
In passing I should note this event was won by SPWAR World No. 1 Doug Ghim. Doug shot 64, 66 and 66 for a stunning 196 (-17) total and a 3-shot victory.
The Reserve at Spanos Park – Stockton, California Hosted by University of the Pacific
From the 13 teams competing here Kansas (8), Stanford (3), Iowa State (10), Alabama (2) and Oregon (5) qualified.
Charles Corner from Texas El Paso secured the Individual qualifying spot by finishing tied 3rd on -9.
Kansas were the surprise winners of the Stockton / Pacific Regional. Daniel Sutton (ENG / SR) went along way to delivering this shock. His opening round of 67 was followed up with a 73 and 71 which secured him a tied 9th result in the individual standings, the second best in the Kansas line up..
Thomas Mulligan (IRE / FR) was not selected for the successful Oregon team this week but will have his fingers crossed the coach has a change of heart before the Nationals.
Likewise Danny Daniels (ENG / FR) of Iowa State was not selected but his Team progressed.
Colorado just missed out finishing 6th. However, Daniel O’Loughlin (ENG / SO) continues to impress. Rounds of 73, 69 and 71 saw him finish a creditable tied 16th.
This event was won by 2017 USA Walker Cup player Norman Xiong with rounds of 68, 67 and 66 (-15).
Home favourite Robin Dawson today completed a memorable wire to wire victory in the Irish Amateur Open.
Robin Dawson (Photo: Cashman Photography)
However, the final day proved to be anything but the crowning procession many expected for the man from Tramore G.C. After a steady start a double bogey on 9, then a bogey on 14 and finally a triple bogey on 15 meant our leader put himself under some pressure and gave the chasing pack a little encouragement as the Championship came to a close. However, in the end he gathered himself and despite a further bogey on 17 was able to post a 77 for a winning 282 (-2) total.
Robin’s 6 shot buffer at the start of play, built up after an impressive first 54 holes, including a best of the week 65 on the opening day, certainly came in useful.
Robin Dawson’s Championship Scorecard (Photo: golfnet.ie / Golfbox Scoring)
John Gough (ENG) and Alex Gleeson (IRE), who both finished strongly with a 70 and 71 respectively, tied for 2nd on +2. Alex Fitzpatrick (ENG) was one shot further back on +3 after a final round 76.
Jack Cope (ENG) recorded the best round of the day with a 69 (-2) to move 36 places up the leaderboard for a creditable tied 7th result. Darren Howie (SCO) matched Gough’s 70 to finish tied 13th, a leap of 30 places.
Front running is hard and even more so at a course as difficult as Royal County Down, where potential disaster is around most corners. That’s what makes Robin Dawson’s (IRE) performance over the first three days so impressive. His 69 today leaves him with a 6 shot lead going into tomorrow’s final round.
Alex Fitzpatrick (ENG) also did well. There was no shame in his 73 (+2) and he will start the fourth round as Robin’s nearest challenger.
Both Todd Clements (ENG) and Laird Shepherd (ENG) shot 68’s (-3) today to make big jumps up the leaderboard, finishing in the top 5 and top 15 respectively.
James Sugrue (IRE) and Olly Huggins (ENG) also shot noteworthy 71’s and have the chance to record high finishes on Sunday.
The top 50 and ties cut eventually fell at +12 with 55 players qualifying for the final round. One of them was Mitch Waite (ENG) who was rewarded for a brave 71 by getting through on the mark.
Matthew Jordan (ENG) retired after 5 holes of his third round. He was +3 for the day and +4 for the Championship at the time.
The final round starts at 8.00am tomorrow morning with the leading threesome setting off at 11.29am.
ME.
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18th May 2018
Round 2
A 71 (Ev) on Friday for Robin Dawson saw the Irishman maintain the lead on 136 (-6) at Royal County Down G.C.
The only other player under par at the half way stage is Yorkshire’s Alex Fitzpatrick.His 70 (-1), including his second eagle of the Championship, this time on the opening par 5, moved him to -4 and reduced Robin’s lead to just 2 shots.
Alex Gleeson (74) and Andrew Wilson (73) are tied third on Even par, neither able to back up their under par rounds from Day 1.
Scoring proved to be much tougher than yesterday with Switzerland’s Robert Foley producing the round of the day with a very solid 69 (-2); three birdies offset by a single bogey on the 440 yard par 4 5th. His +2 36 hole total comfortably sees him in the top 20 heading into the weekend.
By way of reminder the top 50 and ties cut comes into affect after round 3 so all of the players are out on the links again tomorrow. There are currently 56 players on +6 or better so extrapolating this suggests the cut will fall on or around +9.
The more notable players already outside this target include Sam Locke SCO (+10), Tom Plumb ENG (+10), Wilco Nienaber RSA (+11), Gian-Marco Petrozzi ENG (+11) and Mitch Waite ENG (+12).
ME.
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17th May 2018
Round 1
Robin Dawson shot a superb 65 (-6) on Day 1 of the Irish Amateur Open to take a three shot lead. Seven birdies around Royal County Down G.C. is some achievement, particularly when they are paired with just one bogey.
Robin Dawson’s Round 1 Scorecard (Photo: golfnet.ie / Golfbox Scoring)
Fellow Irishman Alex Gleeson, who recorded six birdies in his round, is second alongside Alex Fitzpatrick (ENG) after both posted 68’s (-3). Fitzpatrick started his back nine with two birdies and an eagle to set up his score.
Matthew Jordan (ENG), the lowest ranked player in the field, is part of an eight-way tie for fourth on -2. The recent Lytham Trophy winner had five birdies offset primarily by a double bogey on 16.
Matt Saulez (RSA), David Hague (ENG) and Kristoffer Reitan (NOR) are also in this large group who shot 69.
Defending champion Peter O’Keeffe (IRE) is tied 16th on Even par. This represented a great recovery for the Douglas man who stood on the 10th tee on +4. Five birdies, including three in a row to finish his round, saved the day nicely.
There was disappointment for Gian-Marco Petrozzi (ENG) 78 / +7, Tom Plumb (ENG) 78 / +7 and Sam Locke (SCO) 76 / +5, who all arrived in good form but struggled in Round 1. There is of course still plenty of time for a recovery.
ME.
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16th May 2018
The 2018 Irish Amateur Open Championship, sponsored by Flogas, starts on Thursday 17th May at Royal County Down G.C.
Format and Tee Times
A field of 138 golfers from 12 diffrent countries will tee off in what will be the 80th playing of this famous competition.
The Irish Amateur Open is a 72-hole stroke play event organised by the Golfing Union of Ireland (GUI). 18 holes are played on the first three days before a top 50 and ties cut is made. A final 18 holes are then played by the leading competitors.
In the event of a tie for the Championship the players concerned will play 3 holes of stroke play. The player with the lowest aggregate total being the winner. If a winner still hasn’t been determined then the play-off moves to sudden death over the same holes.
The Irish Amateur Open Champion Golfer is awarded a magnificent silver trophy. Irish winners are allowed to take the trophy back to their Club for the year whereas overseas winners must return it to the GUI after the prize presentation.
Course
Royal County Down G.C. is one of the finest courses in the world and will once again provide a great test for the players.
Playing off the blue championship tees the course measures 7,186 yards and plays to a par of 71. The front nine is 3,579 yards (par 35) and the back nine 3,607 yards (par 36).
Players will tee off between 7.00am and 3.30pm on each of the first three days so changes in the weather and wind speeds can be expected to play a big part in scoring.
Players
Many of GB&I’s leading amateur golfers will be competing in Northern Ireland.
Here is a list of the leading players in the field based on recent form and the Scratch Players World Amateur Rankings (SPWAR / as at 16th May): –
Matthew JORDAN (ENG) – SPWAR 14th
Winner of the 2018 Lytham Trophy Matthew finished tied 4th here last year before embarking on a great run of form that led to his selection for the 2017 Walker Cup team.
Todd CLEMENTS (ENG) – SPWAR 21st
The 2017 English Amateur champion has recently finished 2nd in the Sunshine Tour Qualifying School and 1st in the European Nations Cup Individual.
Matt SAULEZ (RSA) – SPWAR 27th
Matt has been building an impressive resume over the last 3 years with numerous top 10 finishes back home.
Malcolm MITCHELL (RSA) – SPWAR 33rd
Arrives in the UK on the back of two very solid season’s in South Africa, including 5 wins in 2017.
Wilco NIENABER (RSA) – SPWAR 41st
A prolific winner of junior events in South Africa in recent years as well as winner of the Western Province Open Amateur in April.
Deon GERMISHUYS (RSA) – SPWAR 66th
A superb win at the 2018 South African Amateur followed up with another at the All Africa Junior Challenge has seen Deon arrive in the UK full of confidence.
David HAGUE (ENG) – SPWAR 90th
David has enjoyed a good last 12 months with wins at the 2017 Lagonda Trophy and North of England Open. He was unbeaten in last weekend’s France v. England match.
Gian-Marco PETROZZI (ENG) – SPWAR 91st
Now established as one of GB&I’s leading players Gian-Marco won the Welsh Open Amateur in 2017 and the New South Wales Amateur in Australia earlier this year. He tied 2nd in the European Nations Cup Individual at Sotogrande a few weeks ago.
Caolan RAFFERTY (IRE) – SPWAR 104th
The medalist at last year’s Amateur Championship has made a good start to this season, recently finishing tied 12th at the European Nations Cup and tied 14th at the Lytham Trophy.
Kristoffer REITAN (NOR) – SPWAR 109th
One of Europe’s better players in recent years Kristoffer started the year at the University of Texas before leaving after one semester. He seems destined to turn Pro later this year. He played in Europe’s 2018 Bonallack Trophy team in Qatar.
Alex GLEESON (IRE) – SPWAR 127th
After a good playing trip to South Africa Alex is finding form at the right time. He arrives having recently reached the final of the West of Ireland and having finished tied 2nd in the European Nations Cup Individual.
Robin DAWSON (IRE) – SPWAR 128th
Like Alex Robin played well in South Africa and, having just missed out on a Walker cup spot in 2017, will be looking for some big performances in the next two months to secure a place in GB&I’s St. Andrews Trophy Team.
Ben JONES (ENG) – SPWAR 151st
Winner of the U18 Duke of York at nearby Royal Liverpool GC last year and tied 2nd at the Portuguese International Amateur earlier in 2018. He was unbeaten in last weekend’s France v. England match with some big wins to his name.
Sam LOCKE (SCO) – SPWAR 205th
Sam won the Scottish Amateur last year and is moving quickly up the rankings. He has had 4 top 10’s this year including a tied 3rd at the Lytham Trophy.
Mitch WAITE (ENG) – SPWAR 243rd
Mitch recently won the Hampshire Hog and Hampshire Salver competitions. He was also runner-up at the recent Lytham Trophy. His tied 4th place at last year’s Irish Amateur Open, played at Royal County Down G.C., also bodes well for his chances this year.
Weather Forecast
The latest weather forecast (as at Wednesday 16th May) currently looks good for all four competition days – mainly sunny with relatively modest winds.
Thu 17th May – Sunny Intervals / Wind 9 mph SE / Temp. Min. 5°C / Max. 13°C.
Fri 18th May – Sunny Intervals / Wind 9 mph SSW / Temp. Min. 7°C / Max. 14°C.
Sat 19th May – Sunny Intervals / Wind 14 mph SSE / Temp. Min. 9°C / Min. 15°C.
Sun 20th May – Cloudy & Showers / Wind 12 mph SSE / Temp. Min. 10°C / Max. 14°C.
The 2017 Irish Amateur Open Championship
Peter O’Keeffe won the 2017 Irish Amateur Open at Royal County Down G.C.
Peter shot rounds of 70, 70, 73 and 73 for a 286 (+2) total and a 3 shot victory over Chris MacLean (SCO) and Tom Sloman (ENG), who both finished on 289 (+5).
Mitch Waite (ENG), Josh Hilleard (ENG) and Matthew Jordan (ENG) finished tied 4th on 290 (+6). Both Mitch and Matthew are playing again this year and will arrive as two of the most in-form players in GB&I.
John O’Keeffe, Peter O’Keeffe, John Boylan and Noel O’Keeffe
(Photo: Douglas G.C. / O’Keeffe Family)
Click this link to view the 2017 Irish Amateur Open – Final Results
History, Past Winners and Records
The Irish Amateur Open Championship was first played in 1892 with early winners including amateur greats John Ball and Harold Hilton.
Between 1894 and 1901 (6 years) the competition was played as part of the Irish Championship Meeting alongside a professional tournament.
The Championship was not played during both World Wars – 1914-18 and 1940-45.
It was also not played between 1960 and 1994, I assume, due to a lack of interest from overseas players amidst concerns over safety.
Prior to 1958 it was a match play event but since returning to the amateur calendar in 1995 has been stroke play.
England beat France 13 – 7 in the 2018 Men’s International Match.
The 2018 England Team (Photo: Federation of French Golf / @ffgolf)
With heavy rain forecast to start in the St. Tropez area around midday the decision was taken to cancel the Day 2 Foursomes series and to concentrate on completing the 8 Singles.
England enjoyed a great team performance winning the Day 2 Singles series 6.5 – 1.5. This took them to a 13 – 7 lead and therefore meant the decision to cancel the four foursomes was pleasingly irrelevant to the overall match result.
As you can see from the results below there were Singles wins for Matthew Jordan, Todd Clements, Andrew Wilson, Ben Jones, Bailey Gill and David Hague.
Well done to the England team and in particular Ben Jones and David Hague who were both unbeaten in all three of their matches.
Day 2 Scoreboard (Photo: Federation of French Golf)
England lead France 6.5 – 5.5 after the first day’s play at Vidauban G.C.
The morning foursomes were shared, two a piece. Matthew Jordan and Gian-Marco Petrozzi and Ben Jones and David Hague were the successful pairings for England.
The afternoon singles also proved tight with England narrowly edging them 4.5 – 3.5. Ben Jones enjoyed the most convincing win, 7&5 over Jeong-Weon Ko. Gian-Marco Petrozzi and David Hague (both 4&3) also did well against Antoine Auburn and Paul Margolis respectively. Todd Clements picked up England’s fourth win battling hard for a 2Up win against Victor Veyret.
Tomorrow will hopefully see a further four foursomes and eight singles so there is clearly still lots to play for. I say hopefully because forecast rain in the afternoon is expected to lead to some adjustments being made to the match format.
Day 1 Scoreboard (Photo: Federation of French Golf)
ME.
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11th May 2018
England take on France this coming weekend in the 35th Men’s International Match between the two countries.
This year’s match is being played at Vidauban Golf Club in South East France.
Format
8 man teams from each country play 4 foursomes and 8 single matches on the two competition days.
With a total of 24 points to play for the winning team needs to secure 12.5 points to win the match outright. As England won the 2016 match they will also retain the trophy in the event of a 12-12 tie.
France is 1 hour ahead of the UK so play on Day 1 will start at 7.30am our time.
Teams
Here are the two 8 man teams with their current Scratch Player World Amateur Rankings in brackets: –
England Todd Clements (21) Bailey Gill (301) David Hague (100) Ben Jones (174) Matthew Jordan (14) Billy McKenzie (200) Gian-Marco Petrozzi (93) Andrew Wilson (433)
France
Antoine Auboin (347)
Edgar Catherine (105)
Clément Charmasson (305)
Jeong-Weon Ko (789)
Frédéric Lacroix (126)
Aymeric Laussot (813)
Paul Margolis (742)
Victor Veyret (332)
England will clearly start the match as favourites as is normally the case. At this time of year, with a number of players still engaged in the US College Championship series, France simply don’t have the strength in depth.
Venue
Vidauban Golf Club is an ultra-private club that was opened in 1999 on the hilly land around 10 miles north of St. Tropez.
The site was originally acquired by the famous golf architect Robert Trent Jones Snr. in the late 1970s. Fraught with subsequent financial and planning issues a course was eventually designed on the land by his son Robert Trent Jones Jnr.
Following recent renovation work the course is now established as one of Continental Europe’s finest. It is an undulating parkland track often compared with Spain’s Valderrama both in design and standing.
This International Match was first played in 1934, originally starting with 6 players aside before moving to 8 in 1949.
It lapsed after the 1962 match at Ganton G.C. but was resurrected in 1982 at Chantilly with a new format which has been retained to this day. It has been played biennially ever since.
Frilford Heath G.C., hosts of the 1984 match, donated a silver salver which the winning team retains.
England v. France Match Salver (Photo: Cyprien Comoy / Vidauban G.C.)
To date England have won 29 of the matches with France winning just 5, the last one being in 2010 at Chantilly.
Previous Results
England beat France 14 -10 in the 2016 match played at Formby G.C – Full Results
The 2016 England Team (Photo: GolfBible)
The England team back then consisted of Jamie Bower, Scott Gregory, Josh Hilleard, Paul Kinnear, Bradley Moore, Alfie Plant, Ashton Turner and James Walker.
The overall match record is Played 34, England Won 29 and France Won 5.
Match
Year
Venue
England
France
Winner
35
2018
Vidauban
34
2016
Formby
14
10
England
33
2014
Fontainebleau
13
11
England
32
2012
Rochester & Cobham
15
9
England
31
2010
Chantilly
11
13
France
30
2008
Frilford Heath
14
10
England
29
2006
Golf du Medoc
16.5
7.5
England
28
2004
Royal St. George’s
11.5
12.5
France
27
2002
Chantilly
17.5
6.5
England
26
2000
Chart Hills
17.5
6.5
England
25
1998
Les Bordes
11.5
12.5
France
24
1996
Sunningdale
9
15
France
23
1994
Nimes
17
7
England
22
1992
Royal Lytham & St. Annes
18
6
England
21
1990
Morfontaine
16.5
7.5
England
20
1988
Berkshire
16
8
England
19
1986
Hossegor
14.5
9.5
England
18
1984
Frilford Heath
16
8
England
17
1982
Chantilly
13
11
England
1963-1981 No matches were played
16
1962
Ganton
7.5
4.5
England
15
1960
Chantilly
7.5
4.5
England
14
1959
West Hill
8.5
3.5
England
13
1956
Chantilly
10
2
England
12
1954
Berkshire
11
1
England
11
1952
Deal
8
4
England
10
1950
Morfontaine
8.5
3.5
England
9
1949
Deal
5
4
England
8
1948
St. Cloud
5.5
3.5
England
7
1947
Wentworth
8
1
England
1940-1946 No matches were played
6
1939
Morfontaine
5
4
France
5
1938
Sunningdale
8.5
0.5
England
4
1937
Chantilly
7
0
England
3
1936
Deal
5.5
3.5
England
2
1935
St. Germain-en-Laye
5.5
3.5
England
1
1934
Wentworth
5.5
3.5
England
N.B. Matches 1–8 had 6 players and matches 9-35 had 8 players
The NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Committee announced the teams and individuals they had selected to participate in the 2018 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships on 2nd May.
81 teams and 45 individuals not on those teams will compete in six 54 hole Regional Championships that will all be played on 14th – 16th May. All of the teams are seeded and spread across the various Regional events.
The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams from each Regional will then advance to the National Finals.
The 2018 National Team and Individual titles will be decided on 25th – 30th May at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Oklahoma with Oklahoma State University hosting this year’s Championship.
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The 2017 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf National Championships were held at Rich Harvest Farms in Illinois. Oklahoma won the team title last year, beating the defending champion Oregon 3-1-1 in the match play final. Braden Thornberry of Ole Miss claimed the individual title with a four-day stroke play total of 277 (-11).
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21 Great British and Irish (GB&I) players will be competing in the NCAA Regional Championships. Six other GB&I players have not been selected by their Colleges.
Most of our players are members of five man Teams. The two exceptions to this being Lewis George and Conor Purcell who were both selected as Individuals based on their own performances during the season. It is not easy to stand out in this way so well done to both of them.
Lewis earned his place by winning the Southland Conference Championship. He has been named to the All-Southland Conference Team and is the Conference’s Player of the Year. He led the UCA Bears in scoring average this season at 72.4 strokes, with a low round of 65. He has enjoyed two wins this season and finished runner-up twice.
Conor, an at-large selection by the NCAA panel, was named to the Conference USA’s all-conference first team. He led the Charlotte 49ers with a 71.77 stroke average this season, posting four top-10 finishes along with a top-five.
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Listed below are the teams and individuals selected to participate in the six Regional Championships.
Each Team is listed in seed order. Therefore the No. 1 team at each site can be considered the main favourites to win the National Championship. Oklahoma State, playing in Columbus, Ohio, go into the post season as the Team to beat.
After the College or University name you will also find the Team’s Golfweek / Sagarin national ranking and if they earned automatic qualification the Conference Championship they were victorious at.
I have included the names of all of the GB&I players on their rosters so we can easily see who our players are attached to and which of them will be competing this week.
Finally the links for both the Team and Individual Player Scores are provided in RED.
Traditions Club – Bryan, Texas Hosted by Texas A&M University, College Station
The Silver Medal is awarded to the leading amateur at The Open Championship, provided they make the cut and complete all 72 holes.
It was first awarded in 1949 and in the 76 Championships since has been won 55 times by 49 different players. Prior to World War II amateurs were often amongst the leading competitors so a separate prize was not considered necessary.
The Silver Medal used to bear the inscription ‘Golf Champion Trophy’, with the edition of the words ‘First Amateur’ but it now simply states “Open Golf Championship [Year]’ on one side and the winner’s name on the reverse.
Here is some background on the Silver Medal and a full list of the select group of past winners.
History
The Open Championship was first played on 17 October 1860 at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland.
It is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf and the only one played outside the United States.
The 152nd Open was played at Royal Portrush Golf Cub in Northern Ireland on 17-20 July 2025.
Amateurs In the Field
Nowadays the field is made up of 156 players, although in 2024 157 ended up competing. These are mainly professionals but there are always some amateurs too.
Exemptions are given by The R&A based on previous wins / performances and world rankings. The exemption categories provide direct access to the field for around 105 players.
There are eight amateur exemptions which are awarded to: –
– The United States Amateur Champion (previous year)
– The Mark H. McCormack Medal Winner – Men’s WAGR (previous year)
– The Asia-Pacific Amateur Champion (previous year)
– The Latin-America Amateur Champion (current year)
– The African Amateur Championship (current year)
– The Amateur Champion (current year)
– The European Amateur Champion (current year)
– The Open Amateur Series* winner (current year)
*Cumulative WAGR points earned at the St. Andrews Links Trophy, The Amateur Championship and The European Amateur Championship.
All of the above exemptions are only applicable if the players concerned remain amateur until the end of the Open Championship in question.
The remaining c.55 players qualify through The Open Qualifying Series (International professional events in 2025) or via Regional (15 GB&I events in 2025) and Final Qualifying (4 GB events in 2025). Additional amateur players often come through these latter events.
Best Amateur Performances
Bobby Jones (USA) was the last amateur to win The Open Championship in 1930, his famous Grand Slam year. Jones had previously won the event in 1926 and 1927.
Prior to that The Open had been won by just two other amateurs – Englishmen John Ball (1890) and Harold Hilton (1892 and 1897).
Frank Stranahan (USA) finished runner-up in 1947 and 1953, behind Fred Daly and Ben Hogan respectively.
R. Reid Jack (SCO) finished tied 5th in 1959 before more recently Justin Rose (ENG) tied 4th in 1998 and Chris Wood (ENG) tied 5th in 2008.
Paul Dunne’s (IRL) performance at St. Andrews in 2015 is also worthy of a mention. Dunne was tied for the 54 hole lead after rounds of 69, 69 and 66 before sadly a final round 78 saw him slip down the field for an undeserved tied 30th finish.
Scotland’s Calum SCOTTwas the last player to win the low amateur Silver Medal. His scores of 71, 75, 70 and 76 for a 292 total (+8) saw him finish in tied 43rd place at Royal Troon G.C. in 2024.
Calum Scott (Photo: Luke Walker / R&A / R&A via Getty Images)
The Silver Medal Winners
In the 76 Championships from 1949 to 2025 the Silver Medal has been won by 49 players on 55 occasions (all in bold in the table below).
The Medal has not been awarded on 21 occasions during this period due to the fact that no amateur was able to make the cut.
Frank Stranahan (USA) won it four times in its first five years. He was also the low amateur in 1947 before the medal came into existence.
Joe Carr (IRL), Michael Bonallack (ENG) and Peter McEvoy (ENG) are the only other multiple winners, having each won it twice.
Matteo Manassero (ITA) is the youngest winner of the Silver Medal. He was 16 years and 91 days old when he secured low amateur honours at Turnberry in 2009.
Since 1972 a Bronze Medal has also been awarded to any other amateurs who make the cut and complete all four rounds.
Here is the complete list of Silver Medal winners: –
Year
Venue
Winner
2025
Royal Portrush
Not awarded
2024
Royal Troon
Calum Scott (SCO)
2023
Royal Liverpool
Christo Lamprecht (RSA)
2022
St. Andrews
Filippo Celli (ITA)
2021
Royal St. George’s
Matthias Schmid (GER)
2020
Royal St. George’s
Cancelled – COVID19
2019
Royal Portrush
Not awarded
2018
Carnoustie
Sam Locke (SCO)
2017
Royal Birkdale
Alfie Plant (ENG)
2016
Royal Troon
Not awarded
2015
St Andrews
Jordan Niebrugge (USA)
2014
Royal Liverpool
Not awarded
2013
Muirfield
Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG)
2012
Royal Lytham & St Annes
Not awarded
2011
Royal St George’s
Tom Lewis (ENG)
2010
St Andrews
Jin Jeong (KOR)
2009
Turnberry
Matteo Manassero (ITA)
2008
Royal Birkdale
Chris Wood (ENG)
2007
Carnoustie
Rory McIlroy (IRL)
2006
Royal Liverpool
Marius Thorp (NOR)
2005
St Andrews
Lloyd Saltman (SCO)
2004
Royal Troon
Stuart Wilson (SCO)
2003
Royal St George’s
Not awarded
2002
Muirfield
Not awarded
2001
Royal Lytham & St Annes
David Dixon (ENG)
2000
St Andrews
Not awarded
1999
Carnoustie
Not awarded
1998
Royal Birkdale
Justin Rose (ENG)
1997
Royal Troon
Barclay Howard (SCO)
1996
Royal Lytham & St Annes
Tiger Woods (USA)
1995
St Andrews
Steve Webster (ENG)
1994
Turnberry
Warren Bennett (ENG)
1993
Royal St George’s
Iain Pyman (ENG)
1992
Muirfield
Daren Lee (ENG)
1991
Royal Birkdale
Jim Payne (ENG)
1990
St Andrews
Not awarded
1989
Royal Troon
Russell Claydon (ENG)
1988
Royal Lytham & St Annes
Paul Broadhurst (ENG)
1987
Muirfield
Paul Mayo (WAL)
1986
Turnberry
Not awarded
1985
Royal St George’s
José María Olazábal (ESP)
1984
St Andrews
Not awarded
1983
Royal Birkdale
Not awarded
1982
Royal Troon
Malcolm Lewis (ENG)
1981
Royal St George’s
Hal Sutton (USA)
1980
Muirfield
Jay Sigel (USA)
1979
Royal Lytham & St Annes
Peter McEvoy (ENG) – 2
1978
St Andrews
Peter McEvoy (ENG)
1977
Turnberry
Not awarded
1976
Royal Birkdale
Not awarded
1975
Carnoustie
Not awarded
1974
Royal Lytham & St Annes
Not awarded
1973
Troon
Danny Edwards (USA)
1972
Muirfield
Not awarded
1971
Royal Birkdale
Michael Bonallack -2
1970
St Andrews
Steve Melnyk (USA)
1969
Royal Lytham & St Annes
Peter Tupling (ENG)
1968
Carnoustie
Michael Bonallack (ENG)
1967
Royal Liverpool
Not awarded
1966
Muirfield
Ronnie Shade (SCO)
1965
Royal Birkdale
Michael Burgess (ENG)
1964
St Andrews
Not awarded
1963
Royal Lytham & St Annes
Not awarded
1962
Troon
Charlie Green (SCO)
1961
Royal Birkdale
Ronnie White (ENG)
1960
St Andrews
Guy Wolstenholme (ENG)
1959
Muirfield
R. Reid Jack (SCO)
1958
Royal Lytham & St Annes
Joe Carr (IRL) -2
1957
St Andrews
W. Dickson Smith (SCO)
1956
Royal Liverpool
Joe Carr (IRL)
1955
St Andrews
Joe Conrad (USA)
1954
Royal Birkdale
Peter Toogood (AUS)
1953
Carnoustie
Frank Stranahan (USA) – 4
1952
Royal Lytham & St Annes
Jackie Jones (ENG)
1951
Royal Portrush
Frank Stranahan (USA) -3
1950
Troon
Frank Stranahan (USA) – 2
1949
Royal St George’s
Frank Stranahan (USA)
15 players have won the Silver Medal at the Open Championship and The Amateur Championship: –
Frank Stranahan – SM 1949, 1950, 1951 / AC 1948, 1950 Joe Conrad – SM 1955 / AC 1955 Joe Carr – SM 1956, 1958 / AC 1953, 1958, 1960 Robert Reid Jack – SM 1959 / AC 1957 Michael Bonallack – SM 1968, 1971 / AC 1961, 1965, 1968, 1969, 1970 Steve Melnyk – SM 1970 / AC 1971 Peter McEvoy – SM 1978, 1979 / AC 1977, 1978 Jay Sigel – SM 1980 / AC 1970 Jose Maria Olazabel – SM 1985 / AC 1984 Paul Mayo – SM 1987 / AC 1987 Iain Pyman – SM 1993 / AC 1993 Stuart Wilson – SM 2004 / AC 2004 Matteo Manassero – SM 2009 / AC 2009 Jin Jeong – SM 2010 / AC 2010 Christo Lamprecht – SM 2023 / AC 2023
Winners of the Boys’ Amateur Championship earn an exemption into Final Qualifying for The Open. Matthew Fitzpatrick came through Final Qualifying in 2013, the year he won the Boys’, to also pick up the Silver Medal.
Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are the only Silver Medal winners to go on and become ‘The Champion Golfer of the Year’ too.
Hal Sutton (1983 P.G.A. Championship), José María Olazábal (1994 and 1999 Masters), Justin Rose (2013 U.S. Open) and Matthew Fitzpatrick (2022 U.S. Open) are other Silver Medal winners to have subsequently secured a major Championship.
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