W. Lawson Little Jr

31st October 2019

William Lawson Little Jr. was born on 23rd June 1910 in Newport, Rhode Island, USA.

He is best known for his “Little Slam”, winning both the U.S. Amateur and Amateur Championships in 1934 and 1935. In these two years the Championships were both contested solely via match play.

He is the only player in history to have twice won both of these titles in the same year. Just three other players have achieved the ‘double’ in the same year – Harold Hilton (ENG) in 1911, Bobby Jones (USA) in 1930 and most recently Bob Dickson (USA) in 1967.

In achieving this feat he won an impressive 33 consecutive match play singles games in the two Amateur Championships and the Walker Cup¹.

He started playing golf when he was 8 and was a student of English golf instructor Ernest Jones who emigrated to the New York area in the early 1920’s.

Little moved to San Francisco when his father, a colonel in the Army Medical Corps, was posted to California. He represented the Presidio G.C. in his adopted City throughout his career.

He first came to national prominence as a teenager in the late 1920’s. His 1928 and 1930 wins at the Northern Californian Amateur Championship helped but it was his part in the 1929 U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach that really did the trick. After Johnny Goodman beat Bobby Jones in Round 1 in one of the greatest golfing upsets of all time it was Little who knocked the Omaha man off his pedestal in their afternoon Round 2 match.

Little graduated from Stanford University in Autumn 1935 having majored in Economics and was subsequently inducted into their Athletic Hall of Fame.

Lawson Little With The U.S. Amateur Championship Trophy in 1934 (Photo: Leslie Jones)

Little played in one Walker Cup match in May 1934 at The Old Course in St. Andrews. He won his foursomes with Johnny Goodman 8&6 against Roger Wethered and Cyril Tolley on Day 1 and then thrashed Tolley again 6&5 in the Saturday singles.

He was awarded the Amateur Athletic Union’s James E. Sullivan Award for the most outstanding amateur athlete in the United States in 1935. This award, which is still handed out annually today, has only been given to a golfer twice, Bobby Jones also collecting it in its inaugural year of 1930. The Little family donated the trophy to the USGA Museum in Far Hills, New Jersey in 2008.

Little was well known for carrying as many as 26 clubs, including seven wedges, in his bag and as such was a major influence in the USGA introducing the 14-club limit in 1938.

He was nicknamed ‘cannonball’ reflecting the huge power he was able to generate from his modest 200lb, 5ft 9” frame. However, it was not just length that made him a leading player in the 1930’s and ’40s; he also had a superb short game, was a sound putter and was an intense competitor with a strong mind. He famously once said “It is impossible to outplay an opponent you cannot out think.”

Little turned professional in April 1936. At the time the U.S. PGA had a rule which meant that new pros had to serve a 5 year apprenticeship at a golf club before they could take up full membership so his playing opportunities, when he was 25-30 and in his prime, were limited.

Thankfully his stellar amateur career meant he was one of the first pros to receive significant commercial endorsements. The PGA’s rules also meant he could take up an invitation to join the Spalding “Keystones of Golf” exhibition tour alongside Bobby Jones, Horton Smith and Jimmy Thompson. In 1936-39 Little calculated that he travelled over 300,000 miles and played around 725 rounds of exhibition golf.

Lawson Little Wine Advertisment

The highlight of his pro career was his 1940 victory at the U.S. Open Championship when he overcame Gene Sarazen in an 18 hole play-off after both players had finished on 287 (-1).

He won a total of eight PGA Tour titles, including the Canadian Open (1936) and the Los Angeles Open (1940). Perhaps unfairly his professional career is considered a disappointment largely because of the high expectations that most people held for him at the time.

Between 1935 and 1957 Little played in 18 U.S. Masters finishing in the top 10 seven times. His best finish was a tied 3rd in 1939. He was the low amateur in 1935 when he finished 6th.

Little played in The Open in 1935, 1939, 1946 and 1948. On the back of his 1935 Amateur win he finished tied 4th, the low amateur, at Muirfield. His next best finish was 10th at St. Andrews in 1946.

Lawson and Dorothy Little With The U.S. Open Trophy in 1940 (Photo: The Golf Auction)

The onset of World War II, where Little served in the U.S. Navy and played numerous Red Cross exhibition games, obviously impacted his pro career. With many major championships cancelled it is said his interest in golf waned with investments in stocks and shares increasingly taking up more of his time.

With The Ryder Cup missing four matches between 1937 and 1947 one of the best match players of all time sadly never had an opportunity to make his mark in this contest.

Little married Dorothy Hurd in 1936 and the couple had four children, Linda, Sandra, Sonya and William Lawson III. Lawson Little III briefly played on the PGA Tour before becoming the club professional and then president of Quail Lodge & Golf Club in Carmel Valley for over 35 years. Like his father he died prematurely in June 2015, aged 67.

Lawson Little Jr was just 57 when he died of a heart attack on 1st February 1968 at his home alongside the first hole at Pebble Beach in California. He had started to drink heavily in the early 1950’s and this inevitably took it’s toll on his health in middle age.

He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1980 but despite this remains one of the least known and most under-appreciated golfers in the history of the game.

Lawson Little Mac Cartoon Celebrating His Amateur Championship Wins (Photo: Pure Golf Auctions)

Note ¹ – 1934 and 1935 Match Play Championship Results

1934 Walker Cup Match – St. Andrews (2 games)
Foursomes W (with Johnny Goodman) 8&6 v. Roger Wethered & Cyril Tolley
Singles W  6&5 v. Cyril Tolley 

1934 Amateur Championship – Prestwick GC (8 games)
Rd1 W 3&1 v. RW Ripley (Banstead Downs) 
Rd2 W 5&3 v. FL Rankin (Sunningdale)
Rd3 W 3&2 v. EA McRuvie (Innerleven)
Rd4 W 3&2 v. LOM Munn (Royal Cinque Ports)
Rd5 W 4&3 v. GB Peters (Fereneze)
QF W 4&2 v. TA Bourn (Sunningdale)
SF W 20th Hole v. LG Garnett (Addington)
Final W 14&13 v. J Wallace (Troon Portland)

The American Walker Cup team were scheduled to sail home from Liverpool on the evening of the 1934 Amateur final. Thankfully The R&A arranged for the Final to start earlier and for the ship to sail at midnight so Lawson could compete and then travel south. As it happened Lawson’s play was so good – he made twelve 3’s in the 23 holes played – that they probably needn’t have worried.

1934 U.S. Amateur – The Country Club, Brookline (8 games)
Final W 8&7 v. David Goldman

1935 Amateur Championship – Royal Lytham & St. Anne’s (8 games)
Rd1 W 1 Hole v. TH Parker (Fairhaven)
Rd2 W 5&3 v. EM Smith (Royal St. George’s)
Rd3 W 4&3 v. JP Zacharias (Formby)
Rd4 W 2&1 v. HG McCallum (Troon)
Rd5 W 2 Holes v. JL Black (Rhos on Sea) 
QF W 6&4 v. GLQ Henriques (Cavendish) 
SF W 3&2 v. R Sweeny Jr (Prince’s)
Final W 1 Hole v. Dr. W Tweddell (Stourbridge) 

Lawson played poorly during most of this Championship but enjoyed good fortune with a friendly draw and timely poor play from his opponents. In Rd 1 he shot 80 so was lucky to progress against a local player who knew Lytham well. McCallum three putted two late holes to hand Little a win in Rd 4. In Rd 5 the American recorded an air shot in a bunker on the 16th and in his Semi-Final he shot 40 on the front nine. Little led the Final 3Up at lunch but having returned to his hotel in the break returned late and preceded to lose the first two holes of the afternoon 18. Tweddell achieved parity by the 12th but a win with par on the 15th proved enough for the American to hold on as both players parred in.  

1935 U.S. Amateur – The Country Club, Cleveland (8 games)
Final W 4&2 v. Walter Emery

Mark Eley.

Copyright © 2014-2025, Mark Eley. All rights reserved.

European Tour Q-School – 2019 Second Stage Preview & Results

30th October 2019 (Updated – 11th November 2019)

The focus of this article is SECOND STAGE QUALIFYING which started on Thursday 7th November at Alenda Golf, Club de Golf Bonmont, Desert Springs GC and Las Colinas G&CC, all in Spain.

My interest primarily lies with all of the amateurs, Great British and Irish (GB&I) professionals, First Stage Qualifying medalists and a few other overseas ‘players of interest’.

The four competitions were played concurrently over 72 holes with no cut. The Alenda and Bonmont events required an extra day to complete due to high winds.

325 players started Second Stage with 93 (28.6%) of these hailing from Great Britain and Ireland (GB&I). 18 players competed as amateurs.

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A total of 79 qualifying spots were allocated to Second Stage by the European Tour this year. 

3 alternates were also determined from each site to deal with any subsequent withdrawals from Final Stage.

23 GB&I players out of the 93 competing progressed to Final Stage which starts later this week.

Bjarki PETURSSON (ISL) was the only amateur to progress from Second Stage. Having come through the First Stage qualifier at Fleesensee in Germany he finished tied 8th at Golf Bonmont to earn his shot at the big time.

Interestingly 95 qualifying places were made available for Second Stage in 2018. This was because only 61 players were exempt into Final Stage last year whereas the number in 2019 was originally estimated at 77.

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Here are the results from the four European Tour Second Stage Q-School events with my selected players listed with their previous 2019 Q-School performances also shown in italics: –

1. ALENDA GOLF, ALICANTE – 6,843 yards, Par 72

Click here for the full Alenda – RESULTS

Qualifiers – 20 spots
Alternates – 3 (3rd, 7th and 11th) 

Entries – 81 players (+ 2 WD’s before play started) with 4 amateurs

Qualified
Jarand Ekelund ARNOY (NOR) -11 WINNER – 1st Stage Stoke by Nayland, England
Tom GANDY (IoM) -6 3rd – 1st Stage Hardelot, France
David DIXON (ENG) -4 T4
Jordan WRISDALE (ENG) -4 T4
Ben HUTCHINSON (ENG) TURNED PRO 9/19 -3 T7 – 1st Stage Frilford Heath, England
Niall KEARNEY (IRE) -1 T15
Toby TREE (ENG) -1 T15
Daniel GAVINS (ENG) -1 T15

Not-Qualified
Matt FORD (ENG) +1 T23
Max ORRIN (ENG) +2 T26
Jordan GIBB (ENG) +3 T29
Rhys DAVIES (WAL) +5 T37
Paul MADDY (ENG) +5 T37
David LANGLEY (ENG) TURNED PRO 9/19 +6 T40 – 1st Stage Frilford Heath, England
Harrison ENDYCOTT (AUS) +6 T40
Harry ELLIS (ENG) +6 T40 – 1st Stage Ebreichsdorf, Austria
Jamie MOUL (ENG) +8 T47
Luke DONNELLY (IRE) +12 56th
Ronan MULLARNEY (IRE) AM +13 T57 – 1st Stage Bom Sucesso, Portugal
Joe MACILWRAITH (ENG) AM +16 T59 – 1st Stage Frilford Heath, England
Brandon DIETZEL (GER) AM +22 61st – 1st Stage Ebreichsdorf, Austria
Samuel ROBERTSHAWE (ENG) – WD after Rd 3 (+5)
Richard MANSELL (ENG) WD after Rd 3 (+6)
Bradley NEIL (SCO) WD after Rd 3 (+6)
Daniel BRENNAN (IRE) WD after Rd 3 (+9)
Kris NICOL (SCO) WD after Rd 3 (+10)
Chris LLOYD (ENG) WD after Rd 2 (+4)
Hugo BERNARD (CAN) WD after Rd 2 (+11) – 1st Stage Hardelot, France
Scott HENRY (SCO) WD after Rd 2 (+11)
Sam BROADHURST (ENG) AM WD after Rd 2 (+13) – 1st Stage The Players Club, England
Chris DOAK (SCO) WD after Rd 2 (+14)
Nick MCCARTHY (ENG) WD before Rd 1

2 players, Magnus ATLEVI (SWE) and Nick MCCARTHY (ENG), withdrew from the Alenda qualifier prior to play commencing on Day 1 and are therefore not included in the 325 number above.

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2. CLUB DE GOLF BONMONT, TARRAGONA – 6,976 yards, Par 72

Click here for the full Bonmont – RESULTS

Qualifiers – 19 spots
Alternates – 3 (1st, 5th and 9th)

Entries – 80 players with 5 amateurs

Qualified
Aron ZEMMER (ITA) -12 WINNER – 1st Stage Bogogno, Italy
Jonathan CALDWELL (NI) -9 3rd
David MICHELUZZI (AUS) TURNED PRO 10/19 -7 T5
Lauri RUUSKA (FIN) -7 T5 – 1st Stage Fleesensee, Germany WINNER
Bjarki PETURSSON (ISL) AM -5 T8 – 1st Stage Fleesensee, Germany
Chris CANNON (ENG) -4 T12
Dave COUPLAND (ENG) -4 T12
Robin DAWSON (IRE) -4 T12
Will ENEFER (ENG) -4 T12 – 1st Stage Fleesensee, Germany
Jonathan THOMSON (ENG) -4 T12

Not-Qualified
Jack DAVIDSON (WAL) -1 T22 – 1st Stage Stoke-by-Nayland, England WINNER
Matthew NIXON (ENG) -1 T22
Ryan LUMSDEN (SCO) TURNED PRO 9/19 -1 T22 – 1st Stage The Players Club, England
Justin HICKS (USA) Ev T29 – 1st Stage Bogogno, Italy CO–WINNER
Bradley MOORE (ENG) Ev T29
John PARRY (ENG) Ev T29
Stefano MAZZOLI (ITA) +1 36th – 1st Stage Bogogno, Italy
William HARROLD (ENG) +3 T39
Ben JONES (ENG) AM +4 41st – 1st Stage Frilford Heath, England
Sam LOCKE (SCO) +6 T44 – 1st Stage Hardelot, France WINNER
Blake COLLYER (AUS) TURNED PRO 9/19 +6 T44 – 1st Stage Frilford Heath, England
David HAGUE (ENG) AM +8 T50 – 1st Stage Stoke-by-Nayland, England
Jannik DE BRUYN (GER) AM +10 53rd – 1st Stage Fleesensee, Germany
Daniel HILLIER (NZL) TURNED PRO 9/19 +11 T54 – 1st Stage The Players Club, England WINNER
John HENRY (SCO) +11 T54
Tyler HOGARTY (IRE) +12 T58
Stuart MANLEY (WAL) WD after Rd 3 (Ev)
Chris GANE (ENG) WD after Rd 3 (+3)
Laurie OWEN (ENG) AM WD after Rd 3 (+6) – 1st Stage Frilford Heath, England
Michael BULLEN (ENG) WD after Rd 3 (+8)
Mitch WAITE (ENG) WD after Rd 3 (+15) – 1st Stage The Players Club, England
Chris HANSON (ENG) WD after Rd 2 (+2)
Ruaidhri MCGEE (IRE) WD after Rd 2 (+3)

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3. DESERT SPRINGS GOLF CLUB, ALMERÍA – 6,745 yards, Par 72

Click here for the full Desert Springs – RESULTS

Qualifiers – 20 spots
Alternates – 3 (4th, 8th and 12th)

Entries – 81 players with 4 amateurs

Qualified
Blake WINDRED (AUS) TURNED PRO 10/19 -10 WINNER
Daniel YOUNG (SCO) -2 T7
Ben BRISCOE (WAL) Ev T11 – 1st Stage Arlandastad, Sweden
Louis HIRST (ENG) Ev T11
Scott GREGORY (ENG) +1 16th
Garrick PORTEOUS (ENG) +2 T17 after 6 for 4 play-off

Not-Qualified
Lukas LIPOLD (AUT) TURNED PRO 9/19 +3 T23 – 1st Stage Ebreichsdorf, Austria
Jamie RUTHERFORD (ENG) +3 T23
Marc HAMMER (GER) AM +3 T23 – 1st Stage Bogogno, Italy
Joshua MCMAHON (ENG) TURNED PRO 9/19 +4 T28 – 1st Stage Stoke-by-Nayland, England
Thriston LAWRENCE (RSA) +7 T42 – 1st Stage Stoke-by-Nayland, England
Rodoldfo CAZAUBON JNR (MEX) +8 T46 – 1st Stage Bom Sucesso, Portugal WINNER
Jesper KENNEGARD (SWE) +8 T46 – 1st Stage Frilford Heath, England WINNER
Jeong Weon KO (FRA) AM +9 51st – 1st Stage Bogogno, Italy
Runar ARNORSSON (ISL) AM +10 T52 – 1st Stage Fleesensee, Germany
Jack HARRISON (ENG) +10 T52
Joe DEAN (ENG) +11 T55
David BOOTE (WAL) +11 T55
David CAREY (IRL) +11 T55 – 1st Stage Bogogno, Italy CO-WINNER
Paul FERRIER (SCO) +12 T58
Brett BEAZANT (ENG) +14 T63
Oliver CLARKE (ENG) +18 69th – 1st Stage Fleesensee, Germany
Alex HIETALA (FIN) AM +21 T71 – 1st Stage Ebreichsdorf, Austria
Alfie PLANT (ENG) WD after Rd 3 (+11)
Etienne BRAULT (CAN) TURNED PRO 9/19 WD after Rd 3 (+15) – 1st Stage Hardelot, France (+15)
Kenneth FERRIE (ENG) WD after Rd 1 (+2)

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4. LAS COLINAS GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB, ALICANTE – 6,974 yards, Par 71

Click here for the full Las Colinas – RESULTS

Qualifiers – 20 spots
Alternates – 3 (2nd, 6th and 10th)

Entries – 83 players with 5 amateurs

Qualified
Jimmy JONES (CAN) -8 WINNER
Wilco NIENABER (RSA) TURNED PRO 7/19 -7 2nd – 1st Stage Frilford Heath, England
Craig HOWIE (SCO) -5 3rd – 1st Stage Ebreichsdorf, Austria
Thomas ROSENMÜLLER (GER) TURNED PRO 10/19 -2 T6 – 1st Stage Ebreichsdorf, Austria
Gary KING (ENG) -2 T6
Marcus ARMITAGE (ENG) -1 T9
Björn HELLGREN (SWE) -1 T9 – 1st Stage Arlandastad, Sweden WINNER
Michael HOEY (N.I.) Ev T14
Euan WALKER (SCO) TURNED PRO 9/19 Ev T14

Not-Qualified
Andreas HILLERSBORG (DEN) AM +2 T24 – 1st Stage Fleesensee, Germany
James ALLAN (ENG) +2 T24 – 1st Stage Bogogno, Italy
Jamie DICK (ENG) +3 T28 – 1st Stage Stoke-by-Nayland, England
Jack AYRES (ENG) +3 T28
Conor O’ROURKE (IRL) +3 T28 – 1st Stage Bogogno, Italy
Todd CLEMENTS (ENG) +4 T32
Duncan STEWART (SCO) +4 T32
Nathan KIMSEY (ENG) +5 T34
Bailey GILL (ENG) TURNED PRO 9/19 +9 T48 – 1st Stage Frilford Heath, England
Jake BURNAGE (ENG) TURNED PRO 9/19 +9 T48 – 1st Stage Frilford Heath, England
Craig ROSS (SCO) +9 T48
Ryan EVANS (ENG) +10 T52
Yannik EMMERT (GER) AM +10 T52 – 1st Stage Fleesensee, Germany
Steve SURRY (ENG) +11 T55
Alex CHRISTIE (ENG) AM +12 T60 – 1st Stage Hardelot, France
Kyle MICHEL (AUS) TURNED PRO 11/19 +12 T60 – 1st Stage The Players Club, England
Marcus HELLIGKILDE (DEN) +14 63rd – 1st Stage Ebreichsdorf, Austria WINNER
JR GALBRAITH (NI) +15 64th – 1st Stage Frilford Heath, England
Ben TALBOT (ENG) +16 T65
Robin WILLIAMS (ENG) AM +18 T69 – 1st Stage Stoke-by-Nayland, England
Tom MURRAY (ENG) WD after Rd 3 (+9)
Jack SOUTH (ENG) WD after Rd 3 (+11)
Haider HUSSAIN (ENG) AM WD after Rd 3 (+18) – 1st Stage The Players Club, England
Marco PENGE (ENG) WD after Rd 2 (+9) – 1st Stage Hardelot, France
Andrew WILSON (ENG) WD after Rd 1 (+7)

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108 holes will now be played at Lumine GC between 15-20 November in Final Stage Qualifying with the Top 25 finishers securing a European Tour card for the 2019/20 season.

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THE 2019 EUROPEAN TOUR QUALIFYING SCHOOL SERIES

The European Tour Qualifying School was first played in 1976, four years after the European Tour was founded. What started out as a 72 hole sprint has grown into potentially a 252 hole marathon.

Nowadays there are three stages of stroke play qualifying, First, Second and Final.

The 2019 European Tour Q-School entrance fee is £1,800 or €2,030 (2018: €2,000).

Some entrants are exempted straight into Second Stage or Final Stage based on their past results and ranking.

First Stage

First Stage consisted of nine 72 hole stroke play qualifying events split into five Sections, A, B, C, D and E.

A total of 842 players contested First Stage Qualifying this year with 185 (22%) progressing to Second Stage. 83 of these were amateurs with a further 17 newly turned professionals. Of the First Stage qualifiers 22 started out as amateurs.

Around 20% of each field, between 15-30 players, progress from each event. The actual number of places are confirmed after all the players have teed off on Day 1.

A 54-hole cut, where players need to be within 7 shots of the final allocated qualifying place, reduces the field for the final round. Ties for the final qualifying place at the end of play proceed too.

For a recap on the nine First Stage competitions played between 3rd September and 12th October please read my earlier article – European Tour Q-School – 2019 First Stage Preview & Results

Second Stage

The Second Qualifying Stage consisted of four separate 72-hole events played at Alenda Golf, Club de Golf Bonmont, Desert Springs GC and Las Colinas G&CC, all in Spain, concurrently on 7th-10th November 2019. The Alenda and Bonmont events required a fifth day due to strong winds.

183 of the 185 First Stage qualifiers were joined at Second Stage by those players who were exempt from the preliminary round due to their performances on the 2019 European Tour, Challenge Tour and other feeder / satellite tours.

The two missing First Stage qualifiers were, James NICHOLAS (USA) AM (1st Stage Bom Sucesso, Portugal) and Jordan NIEBRUGGE (USA) (1st Stage, Stoke-by-Nayland, England), who withdrew from the European Tour Qualifying Series after also qualifying for the Second Stage of the Korn Ferry Qualifying Series. Their two US qualifiers were played on 5th-8th November so understandably they chose to play in these. One would have hoped the two Tours could have managed their diaries a little bit better to avoid such clashes.

Exemptions into Second Stage were also given to the leading five Q-School entrants as at 21st August 2019, up to a limit of 15th place, in the Men’s World Amateur Golf Ranking. As a result of this David MICHELUZZI (AUS) and Euan WALKER (SCO) were both exempted into Second Stage this year.

Around 25% of each field, normally 20-30 players, progress from each event. The actual number of places are confirmed after all the players have teed off on Day 1 of each event.

Final Stage

The Final Qualifying Stage consists of 108 holes on the Lakes and Hills Courses at Lumine GC in Tarragona, Spain. Lumine replaced PGA Catalunya Resort in 2017 and will be hosting Final Stage for the second consecutive year. This competition will be played on 15th-20th November 2019.

The leading 25 players (plus those tied for 25th place) in the Final Stage competition will earn Full Membership of The European and Challenge Tours for the 2019 season. On average over the last 5 years the medalist has received 29 European Tour starts whilst the 25th qualifier has garnered 19. Every finishing place matters.

Those who make the 72 hole cut but finish outside the Top 25 will also earn a membership category on the European Challenge Tour.

ME.

Copyright © 2014-2019, Mark Eley. All rights reserved.

E. Harvie Ward Jr.

18th October 2019

The story of Harvie Ward is something of a rollercoaster – great golfing achievements followed by public humiliation and self destruction before thankfully redemption and a happy ending.

Ward’s place in golfing history is founded upon him being a past winner of both the Amateur (1952) and U.S. Amateur (1955 & ’56) Championships. He is just one of 13 golfers to have achieved this feat.

Edward Harvie Ward Jr. was born on 8th December 1925 in Tarboro, North Carolina. He was a charismatic man with Hollywood good looks who lived life to the full.

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Harvie Ward at the 1948 North & South Championship (Photo: The Tufts Archive)

Ward was a successful junior and quickly became one of the U.S.’s leading amateur golfers. He was a natural who seemed to find the game relatively easy. He had a smooth three quarter length swing and an impeccable short game. He played aggressively but normally in a relaxed fashion, although when the mood took him he could also reveal a steely determination to win. This made him a popular figure amongst both his peers and the public. He also enjoyed the patronage of Bobby Jones, who saw him as his heir apparent, which only added to his appeal.

Herb Warren Wind, the American golf writer, called Ward “the most talented amateur of the decade”. In addition to his majors Ward also won the 1948 North and South Amateur, the 1949 NCAA Division I Individual Championship, representing the University of North Carolina where he earned a degree in Economics, and the 1954 Canadian Amateur.

His breakthrough win came in his first Amateur Championship in 1952 where he beat his American rival Frank Stranahan 6&5. He was runner-up in 1953 with Joe Carr getting the better of him in that year’s final.

879C74F4-3CD9-4ABC-83A3-6FF62C2CE510_1_201_a

Harvie Ward with the Amateur trophy in 1952 (Photo: Old Sports Auctions) 

He played on the USA’s Walker Cup teams of 1953, 1955 and 1959 and won all six of his 36 hole games. The highlights were a 9&8 foursomes win alongside Jack Westland against John Langley and Arthur Perowne in 1953, a 6&5 singles win against Ronnie White in 1955 and another 9&8 singles win in 1959 against Guy Wolstenholme.

Ward had entered eight U.S. Amateurs before finally winning the Championship in 1955. He beat Bill Hyndman by 9&8 at the Country Club of Virginia in Richmond. He then successfully defended the title in 1956 at Knollwood Club, near Chicago overcoming Charles Kocsis 5&4.

He was prevented from going for a hat trick of U.S. Amateur’s (and from playing in that year’s Walker Cup match) when his amateur status was revoked for 12 months by the USGA on 7th June 1957. Ward’s employer Eddie Lowery, coincidentally caddie for Francis Ouimet when he won the 1913 U.S. Open, became embroiled in a tax investigation which exposed the fact that he had paid the golfer expenses to support his participation in various amateur events. As Ward was the reigning U.S. Amateur champion and Lowery a current member of the USGA Executive Committee it was not a matter that could simply be ignored as many other amateur status cases seemed to be at that time.

The reinstated Ward won his first round match in the 1958 U.S. Amateur taking his total to 17 consecutive victories in the Championship. This broke W. Lawson Little’s previous record of 16 wins in 1934 and 1935 when he also won the Championship two years running. Tiger Woods hat trick of wins in 1994-95-96 set a new mark of 18 which is unlikely to ever be beaten.

Peaking in a very different era to the one we see today Ward opted for a flexible career in business that allowed him to continue playing amateur golf whenever he wished to. He was initially a stockbroker in Atlanta before moving to San Francisco where he was a car salesman.

In total Ward played in 11 Masters as an amateur from 1948-66, finishing in the top 24 four times. His best finish of 4th came in 1957. He was only one behind Sam Snead with 18 holes to play before Doug Ford shot a final round 66 to come through for a 3-shot win. Jones and Roberts were appalled at the treatment of Ward by the USGA and encouraged him to play in the 1958 Masters despite his ongoing ban from USGA events. Sadly his game wasn’t up to the challenge and he missed the cut. He wouldn’t play at Augusta again until his final Masters in 1966.

Ward competed in eight U.S. Opens; his best finish being sixth in 1955.

Harvie Ward was one of the four participants in ‘The Greatest Match Ever Played’, contested on 11th January 1956 at Cypress Point G.C. The match was arranged between Lowery and fellow millionaire George Coleman at a pre Crosby Pro-Am Tournament cocktail party. “My two amateurs (Ken Venturi and Ward were both ‘employed’ at his Van Etta Motors car dealership business) can beat any two pros in the world. I’ll put ten thousand dollars on it.” bragged Lowery. Coleman’s response was “I’ll get Nelson and Hogan and we’ll play tomorrow.” The full story of ‘The Match’, was told in a book by Mark Frost (2007). The Pros won by 1-hole with Hogan reportedly shooting 63 (-9), Venturi 65, Ward 67 and the by then 10 year retired Nelson 67.

The 1957 ban over his amateur status had a profound impact on Ward’s life. His friendship with Lowery, who he had trusted with his finances, collapsed and he left his role at Van Etta shortly afterwards. He started to drink heavily and became something of a womaniser both of which led to the collapse of his three year old marriage to Suzanne, the couple having also adopted two children.

He successfully sought his reinstatement as an amateur via the USGA in May 1958 but much of his golfing spark had gone and he never really rediscovered his best from. With Arnold Palmer making waves in the professional game and a dominating Jack Nicklaus now emerging on the amateur side America’s golfing eyes had started to look elsewhere for their next hero. It took Ward nearly 20 years, including two more marriages, to get over how his life had changed from the heady days of the early 1950’s and he played little golf during this period of his life.  

Ward eventually turned professional in 1974 to try and earn a living and to simply get back on track. He was 48 by then and obviously was unable to compete with the youngsters on the mini-tours let alone the PGA Tour. Instead he returned to his native North Carolina to become head golf professional at Foxfire Country Club. As he helped ordinary golfers improve he gradually started to find his feet again. He went on to work at Grand Cypress Golf Club in Orlando at the invitation of the designer Jack Nicklaus.

Ward even started to play a few events on the PGA Senior Tour at this time. The highlight of this renaissance was his win at the 1980 Senior Open, the year before it became an official USGA Championship.

He subsequently worked at Interlachen Golf Club in Winter Park, Florida before moving back home to the Pinehurst area in 1989 where he further cemented his reputation as a teaching professional. He was named “Teacher of the Year” by the PGA in 1990 during a 15 year career at Pine Needles Lodge & Country Club in Southern Pines. Notably Payne Stewart turned to Ward after his own dad, and only coach up until that point, had died. 

Harvie Ward died at his home in Pinehurst, North Carolina on 4th September 2004, aged 78, having previously been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. He was survived by his fourth wife Joanne who he had met 20 years earlier during his time in Orlando.

Ward is rightly considered one of the best amateur golfers of all time but one can not help but think that is potential was ultimately not fulfilled.

ME.

Copyright © 2014-2025, Mark Eley. All rights reserved.

September 2019 Men’s Amateur Rankings

4th October 2019

Throughout the year I analyse the two main amateur golf rankings, the SPWAR and the WAGR, to help us assess the performances of Great Britain and Ireland’s leading players.

This information is maintained on the Rankings page of the GolfBible website and is updated quarterly.

The latest update covering the September 2019 Quarter period has now been added.

I also select a Player of the Quarter.

For Quarter 3 2019 I have chosen Scotland’s Sandy SCOTT. Sandy has enjoyed a strong summer excelling for Texas Tech University, Scotland and Great Britain & Ireland in the Walker Cup.

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Sandy Scott (Photo: The R&A / The Walker Cup / Getty Images)

Pease click this link to be redirected to my Rankings page – GolfBible Rankings

ME.

Copyright © 2014-2019, Mark Eley. All rights reserved.

Men’s Home Internationals – 2019 Preview, Reports & Results

13th September 2019.

England won the 2019 Men’s Home Internationals at Lahinch G.C. in Ireland, winning all three of their games.

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The England Team (Photo: Nigel Edwards)

On the final day England beat Scotland 9-6 to complete the clean sweep.

The two teams shared the morning Foursomes 2.5-2.5. Matt CLARK and Ryan LUMSDEN birdied the last three holes of their game against Ben JONES and Jake BURNAGE to overturn a 2 Down with three holes to play deficit.

Whilst for much of the afternoon the match and the title were up in the air ultimately England’s greater strength in depth came through. Singles wins for Tom SLOMAN, Ben JONES and then later on Matty LAMB, Ben SCHMIDT and Bailey GILL pushed the English team over the line.

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Matty LAMB was the star man for England winning five of his matches. The whole team contributed with Ben SCHMIDT and Ben JONES, who both won four games, next in line for praise.

Experienced Matt CLARK contributed the most for Scotland winning four games, including two Singles, and halving another.

Screenshot 2019-09-13 at 19.35.56

Ireland convincingly beat Wales 12-3 on the final day to secure 3rd place in the competition. The Irish gained the initiative in the morning by coming out on the right side of three tight foursomes games to win the series 4-1. It was a different story in the afternoon with Ireland trouncing their opponents 8-2.

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Here are the individual performance records for the Irish and Welsh players. Colm CAMPBELL was the star man for Ireland with Caolan RAFFERTY and Conor PURCELL also contributing strongly with four wins. Connor JONES played the best for Wales winning two Singles.

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Click here to view the – Men’s Home Internationals Results
(Click on the match score for the individual game scores)

The 2020 Home Internationals will be played at Royal Dornoch in Scotland where England will be aiming to complete a hat trick of wins.

ME.

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12th September 2019

England beat Ireland 10 – 5 on Day 2.

England built a firm foundation by winning four of the five foursomes games and then took the Singles 6 – 4 in the afternoon.

Ben SCHMIDT (W3 H1), Harry HALL (W2 H1) and Callum FARR (W1 H2) remain unbeaten for the defending champions.

Conor PURCELL and Caolan RAFFERTY got back to winning ways for the Irish in the Singles defeating their Walker Cup teammates Tom SLOMAN and Tom PLUMB.

Unfortunately James SUGRUE had to withdraw from the competition today with the back injury which was troubling him last week at the Walker Cup.

England v. Ireland Results (Photo: GUI / Golfbox)

Scotland beat Wales 9.5 – 5.5 in today’s second match.

The Scots won the Foursomes 3 – 2 before also taking the Singles 6.5 – 3.5.

Stuart EASTON (W2 H2) and Darren HOWIE (W2 H1) are unbeaten for Scotland.

In a tight match Ben CHAMBERLAIN and Lewys SANGES took the notable scalps of Ryan LUMSDEN and Connor MCKINNEY in the Singles for Wales.

Looking at the Day 2 table England only require a draw against Scotland tomorrow to retain the Raymond Trophy given their match points advantage over their final opponents.

ME.

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11th September 2019

England beat Wales 12 – 3 in the opening match of the competition.

The Welsh halved the Foursomes 2.5 – 2.5 but were over powered 9.5 – 0.5 in the afternoon Singles by what is an exceptionally strong English team.

Thomas PLUMB, Ben JONES and Jake BURNAGE all won twice for England.

Gaelen TREW secured Wales’ half point in the Singles in the final game against Callum FARR.

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England v. Wales Results (Photo: GUI / Golfbox)

Scotland surprised host’s Ireland with an 8.5 – 6.5 victory in the other Day 1 match.

The Foursomes were again shared before Scotland took the Singles 6 – 4. The damage was done at the top of the order with Ryan LUMSDEN, James WILSON and Kieran CANTLEY taking crucial points off Ireland’s big hitters Conor PURCELL, Caolan RAFFERTY and Ronan MULLARNEY respectively.

James WILSON and Connor MCKINNEY won both of their two matches today for Scotland.

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Ireland v. Scotland Results (Photo: GUI / Golfbox)

ME.

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3rd September 2019

The 2019 Men’s Home Internationals will be contested at Lahinch Golf Club in County Clare, Ireland between 11th and 13th September.

ENGLAND are the defending champions and they and IRELAND, who will have home advantage, are expected to once again battle it out for the Raymond Trophy.

Lahinch Golf Club (Photo: Jamie Gibson / lahinchgolf.com)

The Competition

11-man teams from ENGLAND, IRELAND, SCOTLAND and WALES play against each other annually, taking it in turns to the host the event.

The competition was first played in 1932.

Over three days all of the countries play each other once. There are five morning foursomes and ten afternoon singles match play games in each series.

The overall winner is the country with the highest number of match points. 1 point is awarded for a win, 0.5 for a half and 0 for a loss. Ties are resolved by considering the number of individual game points secured in the three matches played.

2019 Players

The four national golf unions have selected the following players to represent their countries this year.

I have also included the Team (total) and Individual Scratch Players World Amateur Rankings (SPWAR) below (as at 3rd September): –

ENGLAND – Team SPWAR = 717
Jack BURNAGE (29)
Callum FARR (137)
Bailey GILL (59)
Harry HALL (28)
Ben HUTCHINSON (53)
Ben JONES (19)
Matty LAMB (89)
Josh MCMAHON (115)
Tom PLUMB (43)
Ben SCHMIDT (119)
Tom SLOMAN (26)

Callum Farr, Harry Hall, Ben Hutchinson, Matty Lamb, Josh McMahon and Ben Schmidt are all new additions to the England team in 2019.

Conor GOUGH, England’s Walker Cup player, is competing in the Duke of York Young Champions event at Royal Portrush.

IRELAND – Team SPWAR = 3,411
Rob BRAZILL (251)
Colm CAMPBELL (406)
Keith EGAN (828)
Sean FLANAGAN (831)
Matthew MCCLEAN (503)
Tom MCKIBBIN (286)
Tiarnán MCLARNON (139)
Ronan MULLARNEY (58)
Conor PURCELL (21)
Caolan RAFFERTY (16)
James SUGRUE (72)

Rob Brazill, Colm Campbell, Keith Egan, Sean Flanagan, Matthew McClean and Tom McKibbin have been added to the Irish line up this year.

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The Raymond Trophy (Photo: Ayrshire Golf Blog)

SCOTLAND – Team SPWAR = 3,852
George BURNS (809)
Kieran CANTLEY (271)
Matthew CLARK (209)
Stuart EASTON (253)
Darren HOWIE (422)
Lewis IRVINE (711)
Ryan LUMSDEN (167)
Eric MCINTOSH (561)
Euan MCINTOSH (189)
Connor MCKINNEY (129)
James WILSON (131)

George Burns, Darren Howie, Lewis Irvine, Connor Mckinney and Eric Mcintosh debut for Scotland.

WALES – Team SPWAR = 9,070
George BRYANT (1,369)
Ben CHAMBERLAIN (298)
Jacob DAVIES (415)
Rhys EVANS (1,302)
Tom FROOM (756)
Jake HAPGOOD (255)
Kieron HARMAN (1,369)
Connor JONES (1,586)
Matt ROBERTS (945)
Lewys SANGES (498)
Gaelan TREW (277)

Wales have the highest number of returning players with just George Bryant, Rhys Evans, Tom Froom and Connor Jones added to their line up this year.

23 of the 44 players competed last year at Conwy, compared with just 14 returnees in 2018. England have 6 new players in their 2019 line up, Ireland 6, Scotland 5 and Wales 4.

Venue – Lahinch Golf Club

Lahinch Golf Club was established in April 1892. Old Tom Morris (1894), Dr. Alister MacKenzie (1926) and Dr. Martin Hawtree (1999) have all had a hand in the development of the championship Old Course over the years.

The course measures 6,950 yards and has a traditional par 72 make-up. The front nine measures 3,391 yards with the back coming in at 3,559 yards.

Lahinch is the permanent home of the South of Ireland Amateur Championship and in addition to the Home Internationals has already hosted the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open this year.

It will host the Arnold Palmer Cup match between International and USA mixed teams in July 2020.

Lahinch Golf Club Logo (Photos: Lahinch Golf Club)

2019 Weather Forecast (as at 5.00pm Tuesday 10th September)
Wed. 11th Sept. – Sunny / Temp. Min 14º / Max 16º / Wind 15mph SW
Thurs. 12th Sept. – AM Light Rain / Temp. Min 6º / Max 17º / Wind 15mph NW
Fri 13th Sept. – Sunny / Temp. Min 5º / Max 17º / Wind 10mph W

2018 Men’s Home Internationals

ENGLAND won the 2018 Men’s Home Internationals played at Conwy G.C., Wales in September 2018. The win broke a run of four consecutive Championships for the Irish team dating back to 2014.

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England celebrate with the Raymond Trophy (Photo: Wales Golf)

Here is a summary of the final results from the 2018 competition: –

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Final Results – 2018 Men’s Home Internationals (Photo: Wales Golf / Golfbox)

David HAGUE (ENG) and Tiarnán MCLARNON (IRE) both finished the tournament with 100% records, winning all 6 of their games. Tom PLUMB (ENG) was also unbeaten, winning four of his games and halving two of his foursomes.

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Euan WALKER was outstanding for Scotland winning five of his six games.

Likewise Paddy MULLINS did well for Wales, particularly securing two singles wins.

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Click here to view the full – 2018 Men’s Home Internationals Results
– click the match score to see the individual games and the game score to view the hole by hole scores.

Historic Results

Click here to view the – Men’s Home Internationals Historic Results

ME.

Copyright © 2014-2019, Mark Eley. All rights reserved.

European Tour Q-School – 2019 First Stage Preview & Results

Last Updated – 12th October 2019

I am following all of the amateur players and some selected Great British & Irish professionals through the 2019 European Tour Qualifying School series.

This article covers FIRST STAGE QUALIFYING which started on 3rd September and ended on 12th October 2019.

First Stage consisted of nine 72 hole stroke play qualifying events split into five Sections, A, B, C, D and E.

A total of 842 players contested 2019 First Stage Qualifying. 83 of these were amateurs with a further 17 newly turned professionals.

185 players progressed to Stage 2. Of these 22 played as amateurs in Stage 1.

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Links to the results of all of the Section A, B, C, D and E events are shown in reverse chronological order below with the outcomes for the selected players I am following highlighted.

9th – 12th October 2018

SECTION E – BOM SUCESSO RESORT, PORTUGAL

Entries – 105 players started (inc. 9 amateurs) with 22 qualifying (inc. 2 amateurs)

Qualified
Rodoldfo CAZAUBON JNR (MEX) -11 WINNER
Ronan MULLARNEY (IRL) AM -2 T9
James NICHOLAS (USA) AM +1 T20

Did Not Qualify
Billy MCKENZIE (ENG) +3 T26
Dimitri MARY (FRA) TURNED PRO 9/19 +9 T48
Pablo RODRIGUEZ-TABERNERO (POR) AM +12 T53
Keagan THOMAS (RSA) AM MC
Adrian QUINTELA (POR) AM MC
João Maria PONTES (POR) AM MC
Ben BREWSTER (ENG) MC
Adrian MATA (ESP) AM MC
Simon JUNK (GER) AM MC
Adrian MARTINEZ (ESP) AM MC

Click here for the full – Bom Sucesso Q-School Results

9th – 12th October 2019

SECTION E – GOLF D’HARDELOT, FRANCE

Entries – 118 players started (inc. 9 amateurs) with 24 qualifying (inc. 1 amateur).

Qualified
Sam LOCKE (SCO) -12 WINNER
Tom GANDY (IMN) -9 T3
Hugo BERNARD (CAN) -6 T7
Etienne BRAULT (CAN) TURNED PRO 9/19 -6 T7
Marco PENGE (ENG) -5 T11
Alex CHRISTIE (ENG) AM -4 T17

Did Not Qualify
Sean TOWNDROW (ENG) -2 T29
Sean LAWRIE (SCO) Ev T39
Jack MCDONALD (SCO) +2 T45
Augustin HOLE (USA) AM +3 T48
James ADAMS (ENG) +4 52nd
Gaelen TREW (WAL) AM MC
Eoin LEONARD (IRL) AM MC
Victor PASTOR (ESP) AM MC
Liam PHIPPS (ENG) AM MC
Chris MACLEAN (SCO) MC
Harvey BYERS (ENG) AM MC
Ernst Nathanael WINTER (GER) AM MC
Mathieu ECHELARD (FRA) AM MC

Click here for the full – Hardelot Q-School Results

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1st – 4th October 2019

SECTION D – FRILFORD HEATH GC, ENGLAND

Entries – 99 players (inc. 12 amateurs) started with 21 qualifying (inc. 3 amateurs).

Qualified
Jesper KENNEGARD (SWE) -15 WINNER
David LANGLEY (ENG) TURNED PRO 9/19 -9 T3
JR GALBRAITH (NIR) -9 T3
Wilco NIENABER (RSA) -7 T7
Bailey GILL (ENG) TURNED PRO 9/19 -7 T7
Joe MACILWRAITH (ENG) AM -7 T7
Jake BURNAGE (ENG) TURNED PRO 9/19 -6 T10
Ben JONES (ENG) AM -5 T13
Blake COLLYER (AUS) TURNED PRO 9/19 -5 T13
Ben HUTCHINSON (ENG) TURNED PRO 9/19 -5 T13
Laurie OWEN (ENG) AM -4 T19

Did Not Qualify
Matty LAMB (ENG) AM -3 T22
Dermot MCELROY (NIR) -1 T27
Thomas PLUMB (ENG) AM -1 T27
Benjamin HALLAM (ENG) TURNED PRO 9/19 Ev T31
Paul MCBRIDE (IRL) +1 T34
Bradley BAWDEN (ENG) AM +1 T34
Ali THURLOW (SCO) AM +6 T55
Craig LAWRIE (SCO) +12 T59
Tom SLOMAN (ENG) TURNED PRO 9/19 +12 T59
Ashton TURNER (ENG) MC
Ryan CORNFIELD (ENG) MC
Callum FARR (ENG) AM MC
Dan LAWRENCE (SCO) AM MC
Ben FIRTH (ENG) AM MC
Haydn BARRON (AUS) AM MC
Hamish GORN (SCO) AM MC

Click here for the full – Frilford Heath Q-School Results

1st – 4th October 2019

SECTION D – BOGOGNO GOLF RESORT, ITALY

Entries – 99 players (inc. 10 amateurs) started with 19 qualifying (inc. 2 amateurs).

Qualified
Justin HICKS (USA) -24 COWINNER
David CAREY (IRL) -24 CO-WINNER
Conor O’ROURKE (IRL) -15 T7
James ALLAN (ENG) -14 9th
Jeong Weon KO (FRA) AM -11 T10
Stefano MAZZOLI (ITA) -11 T10
Marc HAMMER (GER) AM -9 T13

Did Not Qualify
Bryden MACPHERSON (AUS) -5 T24
Luca CIANCHETTI (ITA) -4 T31
Loris SCHUEPBACH (SUI) AM -4 T31
Michael HIRMER (GER) AM -2 T37
Andrea ROMANO (ITA) AM -2 T37
Daniel SCHMIEDING (USA) AM -1 T43
Federico ZUCCHETTI (ITA) -1 T43
Victor TREHET (FRA) TURNED PRO 9/19 MC
Giacomo FORTINI (ITA) TURNED PRO 9/19 Ev MC
Jonathan YATES (IRL) MC
Owen EDWARDS (WAL) MC
Cédric GUGLER (SUI) AM MC
Sasha WORTELBEOR (SUI) AM MC
Antonio MURDACA (AUS) MC
Zachary STANGER (USA) AM MC
Brandon GILDENHUYS (RSA) AM WD

Click here for the full – Bogogno Q-School Results

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18th – 21st September 2019

SECTION C – EBREICHSDORF GC, AUSTRIA

Entries – 101 players (inc. 12 amateurs) started with 22 qualifying (inc. 3 amateur).

Qualified
Marcus HELLIGKILDE (DEN) -18 WINNER
Alex HIETALA (FIN) AM -13 T8
Lukas LIPOLD (AUT) TURNED PRO 9/19 -13 T8
Brandon DIETZEL (GER) AM -12 T11
Thomas ROSENMÜLLER (GER) AM -12 T11
Harry ELLIS (ENG) -11 T15
Craig HOWIE (SCO) -8 T20

Did Not Qualify
Maximillian LECHNER (AUT) AM -7 T23
Gerold FOLK (AUT) TURNED PRO 9/19 -5 T36
Alexander KOPP (AUT) AM -4 T40
Darren WALKLEY (ENG) -3 T46
Dan HEBENSTREIT (AUT) AM +1 57th
Laurenz BAUMGART (GER) AM +7 63rd
Jim JOHNSTON (SCO) AM MC
Matias HONKALA (FIN) AM MC
Jakob VAN DE FLIERDT (GER) AM MC
Simon LIDDELL (AUS) AM MC
Thomas DORIER (FRA) AM MC
Chris ROBB (SCO) WD

Click here for the full – Ebreichsdorf Q-School Results

17th – 20th September 2019

SECTION C – STOKE BY NAYLAND GOLF & SPA, ENGLAND

Entries – 93 players (inc. 10 amateurs) started with 20 qualifying (inc. 2 amateurs).

Qualified
Jack DAVIDSON (WAL) -11 WINNER
Thriston LAWRENCE (RSA) -6 T7
Jamie DICK (ENG) -5 T9
Jordan NIEBRUGGE (USA) -4 T11
Robin WILLIAMS (ENG) AM -4 T11
David HAGUE (ENG) AM -4 T11
Joshua MCMAHAON (ENG) TURNED PRO 9/19 -3 T17

Did Not Qualify
Bradley NEIL (SCO) -2 21st
Alasdair PLUMB (ENG) -1 T22
Kyle MCCLATCHIE (RSA) +1 T29
Harry HALL (ENG) TURNED PRO 9/19 +1 T29
Dagbjatur SIGURBRANDSSON (ISL) AM +3 T37
Curtis KNIPES (ENG) AM +4 T41
Jack FLOYDD (ENG) AM +5 T43
Mark YOUNG (ENG) +5 T43
James NEWTON (ENG) AM +6 47th
Jordan PRUDEN (NZL) AM +9 49th
Evan GRIFFITH (WAL) +11 51st
Will STEWART (USA) TURNED PRO 9/19 +12 52nd
Tiger ADAMS (ENG) AM MC
Rhys EVANS (WAL) AM MC
Alasdair CHEYNE (ENG) AM MC

Click here for the full – Stoke By Nayland Q-School Results

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10th – 13th September 2019

SECTION B – FLEESENSEE G&CC, GERMANY

Entries – 84 players (inc. 12 amateurs) started with 22 qualifying (inc. 5 amateur).

Qualified
Lauri RUUSKA (FIN) -17 WINNER
Will ENEFER (ENG) -12 T4
Jannik DE BRUYN (GER) AM -10 7th
Oliver CLARKE (ENG) -7 T12
Bjarki PETURSSON (ISL) AM -7 -7 T12
Andreas HILLERSBORG (DEN) AM -7 T12
Runar ARNORSSON (ISL) AM -7 T12
Yannik EMMERT (GER) AM -7 T12

Did Not Qualify
Ragnar Mar GARDARSSON (ISL) AM Ev T39
Timo VAHLENKAMP (GER) AM Ev T39
Niklas THEILKEN (GER) AM +5 45th
Aron JUULIUSSON (ISL) AM MC
Will WHITEOAK (ENG) MC
Frederik SCHOTT (GER) AM MC
Nick BACHEM (GER) AM MC
Julian BALLMANN (GER) AM MC

Click here for the full – Fleesensee Q-School Results

10th – 13th September 2019

SECTION B – ARLANDASTAD, SWEDEN

Entries – 57 players (inc. 3 amateurs) started with 15 (inc. 0 amateurs) qualifying.

Qualified
Björn HELLGREN (SWE) -11 WINNER
Ben BRISCOE (WAL) Ev T8

Did Not Qualify
Jonatan JOLKKONEN (FIN) AM +11 35th
Filip LUNDELL (SWE) AM MC
Saransh Dev SAXENA (USA) AM MC

Click here for the full – Arlandastad Q-School Results

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3rd – 5th September 2019

SECTION A – THE PLAYERS CLUB, ENGLAND

Entries –  86 players (inc. 6 amateurs) started with 20 qualifying (inc. 4 amateurs)

Qualified
Daniel HILLIER (NZL) TURNED PRO 9/19 -13 WINNER 
Kyle MICHEL (AUS) AM -9 T2
Ryan LUMSDEN (SCO) AM -9 T2
Mitch WAITE (ENG) -9 T2
Haider HUSSAIN (ENG) AM -5 11th
Sam BROADHURST (ENG) AM -2 T16

Did Not Qualify
Gian-Marco PETROZZI (ENG) +1 T26
Calum FYFE (SCO) +3 T30
Kieran CANTLEY (SCO) AM +4 T35
Julien SALE (FRA) AM MC
George BLOOR (ENG) MC

Click here for the full – The Players Club Q-School Results

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THE 2019 EUROPEAN TOUR QUALIFYING SCHOOL SERIES

The European Tour Qualifying School was first played in 1976, four years after the European Tour was founded. What started out as a 72 hole test has grown into potentially a 252 hole marathon.

Nowadays there are three stages of stroke play qualifying, First, Second and Final.

The 2019 European Tour Q-School entrance fee is £1,800 or €2,030 (2018: €2,000).

Some entrants are exempted straight into Second Stage or Final Stage based on their past results and ranking.

One of these exemptions is available to the leading five Q-School entrants as at 21st August 2019, up to a limit of 15th place, in the Men’s World Amateur Golf Ranking. David MICHELUZZI (AUS) #4 and Euan WALKER (SCO) #16 both appear to have benefitted from this exemption into Second Stage this year. Juniors Conor GOUGH  (ENG) #3 and Ben SCHMIDT (ENG) #13 were also in the top 15 at the cut off but neither entered Q-School.

First Stage

First Stage consists of nine 72 hole stroke play qualifying events split into five Sections, A, B, C, D and E.

Around 20% of each field, normally 15-30 players, progress from each event. The actual number of places are confirmed after all the players have teed off on Day 1 of each event.

A 54-hole cut, where players need to be within 7 shots of the final allocated qualifying place, reduces the field for the final round. Ties for the final qualifying place at the end of play proceed too.

Second Stage

The Second Qualifying Stage consists of four separate 72-hole events that will be played at Alenda Golf, Club de Golf Bonmont, Desert Springs GC and Las Colinas G&CC, all in Spain, concurrently on 7th-10th November 2019.

Final Stage

The Final Qualifying Stage consists of 108 holes on the Lakes and Hills Courses at Lumine GC in Tarragona, Spain. Lumine replaced PGA Catalunya Resort in 2017 and will be hosting Final Stage for the second consecutive year. This competition will be played on 15th-20th November 2019.

The leading 25 players (plus those tied for 25th place) in the Final Stage competition will earn Full Membership of The European and Challenge Tours for the 2019 season. On average over the last 5 years the medalist has received 29 European Tour starts whilst the 25th qualifier has garnered 19. Every finishing place matters.

Those who make the 72 hole cut but finish outside the Top 25 will also earn a membership category on the European Challenge Tour.

ME.

Copyright © 2014-2019, Mark Eley. All rights reserved.

The Jacques Léglise Trophy – 2019 Preview, Reports & Results

31st August 2019

Continent of Europe beat Great Britain & Ireland (GB&I) 15.5 – 9.5 to win the 43rd Jacques Léglise Trophy at Aldeburgh G.C. in England.

They won three out of the four series with GB&I halving the opening foursomes.

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Continent of Europe Team (Photo: @EGA_golf)

It was Europe’s 13th win in the match which dates back to 1977. Interestingly nine of these have come away from home. GB&I have 29 wins with one match drawn.

Click here to view the full – 2019 Jacques Léglise Trophy Results

Daniel DA COSTA RODRIGUES and Bård Bjørnevik SKOGEN were both unbeaten for the Continent of Europe. Loïc ETTLIN also won three of his four matches for the winning team.

Ben SCHMIDT, Joe PAGDIN and Joshua HILL provided some consolation for GB&I with their positive individual contributions. Connor MCKINNEY can also be pleased with his two wins.

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Jacques Léglise Trophy Individual performances (Photo: GolfBible)

Continent of Europe captain Joachim Fourquet said “I am very, very proud of my team. They showed that they are not just 16, 17 or 18 years old, they are real players – they know how to manage the course. The thing with the European team is you have 48 hours to create team spirit, it was better and better as the week went on. I could feel it last night, they were all talking and joking so I think today we are a real team, yesterday it was 75% and two days ago it was 50%. The attitude and team spirit was amazing today.”

GB&I captain Stuart Wilson said “There were a lot of positives. I think the guys changed their approach a little bit to put the challenge up to the European guys this afternoon but unfortunately they were just too strong for us. They keep the ball in play a little more than us and holed a few more putts and in the end that makes all the difference.”

GB&I will have to wait until 28-29 August 2020 to try and regain the trophy. The next Jacques Léglise Trophy match will be played at Blairgowrie G.C. in Scotland.

Day 2 Singles

The Continent of Europe won the Day 2 Singles 6 – 3.

After their strong performance in this morning’s Foursomes Continent of Europe needed only 3.5 points from this afternoon’s nine Singles to win the match. It didn’t take them long to achieve their goal.

Joe PAGDIN led GB&I out for the fourth time in the match. His opening hole birdie set the tone for a good afternoon for the Englishman who can be pleased with his two Singles wins. 3 Up at the turn Joe soon found himself back to 1 Up when Alvaro MUELLER-BAUMGART, who had been rested in the morning, hit back with two quick birdies on the back nine. The experienced Pagdin didn’t panic and his more consistent golf eventually saw him overcome the Spaniard 3&1.

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Ben SCHMIDT got off to a great start against Charles LARCELET and was 3 Up after 5 holes. However, the impressive Frenchman slowly reeled the Yorkshireman back in eventually birdieing the 17th to take a 2&1 win.

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Adam WALLIN overcame Connor MCKINNEY who fought to the end in a tight match.

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Archie DAVIES lost his way on the back nine handing Norway’s Bård Bjørnevik SKOGEN a relatively straight forward 4&2 win in the end.

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Playing captain Barclay BROWN redeemed himself with a 2&1 Singles win this afternoon after an uncharacteristic foursomes outing in the morning.

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An out of sorts Aaron MARSHALL was saved from a heavier defeat by the relatively poor play of opponent David PUIG in a poor quality encounter.

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Fellow Irishman Luke O’NEILL, who had been dropped from the morning foursomes by Captain Wilson, also struggled this afternoon gifting his game to Loïc ETTLIN with numerous errors evident.

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Joshua HILL finished strongly to take advantage of a disappointing back nine from Frenchman Tom VAILLANT to win their game by 2 holes. Hill was unbeaten in his two Singles having drawn his first game yesterday afternoon.  An encouraging GB&I debut.

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Tom MCKIBBIN played much better this afternoon but was still unable to secure his first point of the match losing 2&1 to Daniel DA COSTA RODRIGUES who proved to be one of the stars of the European team.

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The Day 2 Jacques Léglise Trophy Singles Results (Photo: The R&A / Golfbox)

Day 2 Foursomes

Continent of Europe won the Day 2 Foursomes series 3 – 1 and will now take a 9.5 – 6.5 lead into the final Singles series this afternoon.

Play started at 8.30am with GB&I led off by Ben SCHMIDT and Archie DAVIES in the morning Foursomes. On the front nine holes were exchanged freely with pars normally good enough to secure a win. After allowing the French pair to draw level on the 10th Schmidt and Davies powered in front with three quick birdies, seeing out the game 4&3.

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Barclay BROWN and Joe PAGDIN were unfortunately unable to put up much resistance in a game GB&I would have been hoping to take against Adam WALLIN and Loïc ETTLIN.

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Connor MCKINNEY and Aaron MARSHALL were unable to deliver a second foursomes win but Europe’s Bård Bjørnevik SKOGEN and Matteo CRISTONI were clearly in sparkling form. Seven birdies is always going to take some stopping in foursomes.

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In a tight game the Irish pairing of Tom MCKIBBIN and Joshua HILL lost out to the Iberian pairing of Daniel DA COSTA RODRIGUES and David PUIG. I think it is fair to say McKibbin does not like the closing holes at Aldeburgh.

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The Day 2 Jacques Léglise Trophy Foursomes Results (Photo: The R&A / Golfbox)

ME.

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30th August 2019

Day 1 Singles

The eight afternoon singles started at 1.30pm with Europe taking the series honours 4.5 – 3.5.

Continent of Europe therefore lead GB&I 6.5 – 5.5 at the end of Day 1 of the 43rd Jacques Léglise Trophy match.

Joshua HILL came in to the GB&I Singles line up in place of Aaron MARSHALL whilst Matteo CHRISTONI replaced Bård Bjørnevik SKOGEN for the Europeans as both Captains ensured all nine of their players saw action on Day 1.

Captain Wilson led off with his strongest match player Joe PAGDIN. Whilst not at his best on a windy afternoon in Suffolk the Florida-based Englishman still had an enough to see off Spain’s David PUIG. Match play is all about finding a way to win.

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Connor MCKINNEY was sent out second and soon found himself 3 Down after five holes to Charles LARCELET who had been part of the outstanding French foursomes pairing earlier in the day. Then somewhat inexplicably Larcelet proceeded to collapse losing six of the next seven holes, with only one being to a birdie from the young Scotsman. Connor saw out the game with little trouble.

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Joshua HILL will be a little disappointed with his finish but can be pleased with a half against Spaniard Alvaro MUELLER-BAUMGART on his GB&I debut.

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Ben SCHMIDT played the best of all of the GB&I players this afternoon. Never falling behind his consistent play helped him see off the more experienced Adam WALLIN.

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At this point in proceedings everything appeared to be going nicely for GB&I. Unfortunately the tide started to turn as the remaining games came down the closing holes.

Matteo CRISTONI got the better of Archie DAVIES in a tight match thanks primarily to two birdies on the back nine.

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Tom MCKIBBIN sadly let his match get away from him on Aldeburgh’s back nine. Two pars on the final two holes ended up being good enough for Loïc ETTLIN to completely turn around what looked to be a certain point for GB&I for much of the afternoon.

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Having taken a 1 Up lead into the back nine Luke O’NEILL was unable to stop Tom VAILLANT from securing his second win of the day on a topsy turvy back nine.

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Daniel DA COSTA RODRIGUES was given the initiative early on in his match against Barclay BROWN and comfortably saw out the game with a string of pars. The Portuguese player was one of just four players, two on each side, to end the day with a 100% win record.

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The Day 1 Jacques Léglise Trophy Singles Results (Photo: The R&A / Golfbox)

Day 1 Foursomes

The Day 1 morning Foursomes started at 9.00am and were shared 2 – 2 by GB&I and Continent of Europe.

GB&I’s opening pair of Barclay BROWN and Joe PAGDIN got off to a poor start falling 4-Down after 4 holes and simply never recovered against their French opponents, who were holing putts from everywhere.

Connor MCKINNEY and Aaron MARSHALL faired much better. This new foursomes pairing took the lead and built on it nicely until the match had been won on the 14th green.

The final two games were much tighter affairs both being decided in the final holes. Ben SCHMIDT and Archie DAVIES won the 18th after a superb approach by the Welshman to 4 feet was converted by his partner. However, Tom MCKIBBIN and Luke O’NEILL lost both the 16th and 17th holes to allow the Europeans a late win.

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The Day 1 Jacques Léglise Trophy Foursomes Results (Photo: The R&A / Golfbox)

No hole-by-hole scores were provided by The R&A for the Day 1 Foursomes.

ME.

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29th August 2019

The 43rd Jacques Léglise Trophy match between Great Britain & Ireland (GB&I) and Continent of Europe will take place at Aldeburgh Golf Club in Suffolk, England on Friday 30th and Saturday 31st August.

This annual match is contested by two nine-player U18 boys’ teams. It is essentially a junior equivalent of the biennial men’s St. Andrews Trophy match also played between these two regions.

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The Jacques Léglise Trophy (Photo: European Golf Association) 

2019 Teams

The R&A have selected the following team to represent GB&I: –

Barclay BROWN (18) – England
Archie DAVIES (18) – Wales
Joshua HILL (16) – Ireland
Aaron MARSHALL (18) – Ireland
Tom MCKIBBIN (16) – Ireland
Connor MCKINNEY (17) – Scotland
Luke O’NEILL (18) – England
Joseph PAGDIN (17) – England
Ben SCHMIDT (17) – England

For the third time Scotland’s Stuart WILSON, The R&A’s Boys’ Chairman of Selectors, is in charge of the team.

Four players will be making their GB&I debuts in Suffolk. The remainder of the team, Barclay Brown, Archie Davies, Tom McKibbin, Connor Mckinney and Joe Pagdin, all played last year.

The 2019 Continent of Europe team, selected by the European Golf Association, consists of: –

Matteo CRISTONI – Italy
Daniel DA COSTA RODRIGUES – Portugal
Loïc ETTLIN – Switzerland
Charles LARCELET – France
Alvaro MUELLER-BAUMGART LUCENA – Spain
David PUIG – Spain
Bård Bjørnevik SKOGEN – Norway
Tom VAILLANT – France
Adam WALLIN – Sweden

Europe will be led for the first time by Captain Joachim FOURQUET of France. He succeeds Jeroen Stevens (NED) who captained the team to two wins and a loss during his three year term of office.

Daniel Da Costa Rodrigues, Loïc Ettlin, David Puig, and Adam Wallin all return having played last year in Finland.

Format

Four foursomes games are played each morning.

Singles are then played in the afternoon; eight on Day 1 and nine on Day 2.

As there will be 25 points to play for each team will require 13.0 points to claim outright victory.

Click here to view the – 2019 Jacques Léglise Trophy Start Sheets

Venue

The match will be played on Aldeburgh’s Championship Course. This heathland layout beside the River Alde measures 6,603 yards and, with no par 5’s, plays to a demanding par of 68.

Aldeburgh G.C. was founded in 1884 and is therefore one of the oldest clubs and courses in the world.

It’s original course was laid out by Scottish professionals John Thomson and Willie Fernie. Subsequent changes were made by Willie Park Jnr. and J.H. Taylor in 1907 and finally by Harry Colt and Hugh Alison in 1922.

The 2018 Jacques Léglise Trophy Match

GB&I won the 2018 Jacques Léglise Trophy match against Continent of Europe 15.5 – 9.5.

GB&I won three of the four series and halved the other in what was a comprehensive victory.

It was GB&I’s first outright win since 2014 at Barsebäck in Sweden, albeit the 2015 match at Royal Dornoch in Scotland did finish in a 12.5 – 12.5 tie.

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The Great Britain and Ireland Team With The Jacques Léglise Trophy

Conor GOUGH, Robin WILLIAMS and Barclay BROWN were the star men for GB&I last year. Gough and Williams won both of their singles and halved their two foursomes games where they played together. Brown won his two singles and one foursomes match.

Click here to view the detailed – 2018 Jacques Léglise Trophy Results

Previous Matches

This junior match was first played in 1958 but only became the Jacques Léglise Trophy in 1977 when Jean-Louis Dupont donated a trophy in memory of Jacques Léglise, a former President of both the French Golf Association and the European Golf Association. Leglise was also a past French amateur champion and national team captain.

GB&I won all of the original 9 matches played between 1958 and 1966. Since becoming the Jacques Léglise GB&I have won 29 of the matches with the Continent of Europe claiming 12 victories with one match tied.

Originally played in a single day the match moved to two in 1996.

Click here to view all of the – Jaques Léglise Trophy Historic Results

ME.

Copyright © 2014-2019, Mark Eley. All rights reserved.

Scottish Men’s Open Championship – 2019 Preview, Reports & Results

25th August 2019

Round 4

Jake BOLTON (ENG) won the Scottish Men’s Open Championship with a 272 (-12) total.

img_1793.jpg Jake Bolton (Photo: Mark Bolton)

Jake shot a final round 64 (-7) including birdies on 16 and 18. He bravely holed a 15 footer on the home green to secure the title by 1-shot.

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Jake Bolton Round 4 Scorecard (Photo: Scottish Golf / Golfbox)

Sam BAIRSTOW (ENG) finished 2nd on -11, Matthew CLARK (SCO) -8 3rd and Ben HUTCHINSON (ENG) -7 4th.

There were two holes in one in the final round. Jake HIBBERT (ENG) posted one on the 12th and Kieran CANTLEY (SCO) on the 16th.

Click here to view the – 2019 Scottish Men’s Open Championship Results

Round 3

Sam BAIRSTOW (ENG) -10 moved into the lead on Sunday morning with a 66, 10 shots better than overnight leader Jake BOLTON who struggled to a 76.

Matthew CLARK (SCO) moved into 2nd place on -8 with a 69 whilst Bolton drifted out to 3rd on -5.

ME.

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24th August 2019

Jake BOLTON (ENG) developed a 3-shot lead on Day 2 of the Scottish Men’s Open Championship after he posted a 68 (-3) on The Duke’s Course.

His 132 (-10) 36 hole total is 3 shots better than compatriot Ben HUTCHINSON who could only manage a par 71 in Round 2.

Jake HIBBERT (ENG) and Matthew CLARK (SCO) are tied 3rd after matching opening rounds of 66 and 70 (-6).

Alasdair MCDOUGALL (SCO) recorded the low round of the championship on Saturday with a 63 (-8). The score lifted him up 40 places to tied 5th on -5 alongside Sam BAIRSTOW (ENG).

 Alisdair McDougall Round 2 Scorecard (Photo: Scottish Golf / Golfbox)

21 players broke par on Day 2 compared with the 16 in Round 1.

42 players made the top 40 and ties cut which fell at 145 (+3) and will now play a final 36 holes on Sunday.

ME.

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23rd August 2019

Ben HUTCHINSON (ENG) and Jake BOLTON (ENG) share the Round 1 lead at the Scottish Men’s Open Championship after opening with superb 64’s (-7) on The Duke’s Course in St. Andrews.

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Ben Hutchinson Round 1 Scorecard (Photo: Scottish Golf / Golfbox)

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Jake Bolton Round 1 Scorecard (Photo: Scottish Golf / Golfbox)

Matthew CLARK (SCO) and Jake HIBBERT (ENG) are tied 3rd after posting 65’s (-5) with Charlie THORNTON (ENG) 5th after a 67 (-3).

Just 16 players out of the 137 that started the Championship managed an under par round on a breezy day in Fife.

ME.

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22nd August 2019

The 53rd Scottish Men’s Open Stroke Play Championship starts on Friday 23rd August at The Duke’s Course in St. Andrews, Fife.

Format

This open amateur competition consists of 72 holes of stroke play.

18 holes will be played on both Friday 23rd and Saturday 24th August.

A 36 hole cut will then take place with only the leading 40 competitors and ties qualifying for the final two rounds which will be played on Sunday 25th August.

In the event of a tie for the Championship there will be a sudden death play off. All other ties will be resolved via card count back.

Field

138 competitors, all off scratch or better, will start the 2019 Championship.

Click here to view the – 2019 Scottish Men’s Open Championship Tee Times

The Championship was historically played in late May or early June but in 2018 was moved to late August. As a result its status has been reduced. Field quality has diminished due to overseas touring parties moving on, international teams largely having been selected, players returning to college in the United States, others finalising moves into the professional ranks and in some cases funds simply having run out.

This year no members of the recently announced ten man Great Britain & Ireland (GB&I) Walker Cup team are competing at St. Andrews. If the event had been in early June I am sure most of them would have been there.

Standout names in this year’s field include Jake BOLTON (ENG), Jack BROUN (SCO), Kieran CANTLEY (SCO), Andrew DAVIDSON (SCO), Arron EDWARDS-HILL (SCO), Callum FARR (ENG), Bailey GILL (ENG), Olly HUGGINS (ENG) Matty LAMB (ENG), David LANGLEY (ENG), Joe LONG (ENG),  Euan MCINTOSH (SCO), Gaelan TREW (WAL), James WILSON (SCO) and Jeff WRIGHT (SCO).

Prizes

The Winner receives the distinctive Championship Trophy and a silver gilt medal.

Silver and bronze medals are also awarded to the runner-up and third place finisher(s).

The Duke’s Course, St Andrews

The Duke’s is a heathland course set in Craigtoun Park in the hills above the town of St. Andrews.

Originally designed by Peter Thomson the course was revised and renovated by Tim Liddy in 2006.

It is named after HRH The Duke of York, Prince Andrew, who opened the course in July 1995.

A number of prestigious amateur Championships have been staged on the course since it opened, namely, the Scottish Amateur in 2003, the Scottish Amateur Open Stroke Play in 2008 and the European Amateur in 2014.

The course plays to 7,002 yards and a par of 71. The front nine measures 3,476 yards (36) and the back nine 3,526 yards (35).

Weather Forecast

The weather forecast is very good; sunny intervals and a reasonable breeze should ensure good scoring and a memorable Championship:-

Fri 23rd Aug – Sunny / Wind 20 mph W / Temp. Min. 13°C / Max. 21°C,
Sat 24th Aug – Sunny /  Wind 11 mph SW / Temp. Min. 13°C /Max. 21°C
Sun 25th Aug – Sunny / Wind 8 mph E / Temp. Min. 13°C / Max. 21°C

Rounds 1 and 2 will see players tee off the 1st from 7.00am right through until 3.20pm.

The 2018 Scottish Men’s Open Amateur

France’s Victor VEYRET won the 2018 Carrick Neill Scottish Open Amateur Championship at Gleneagles.

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Victor Veyret (Photo: Scottish Golf / Kenny Smith Photography)

Four under par rounds of 69, 65, 67 and 67 on the Kings Course gave the tall Frenchman a 268 (-12) total and an impressive 6-shot victory.

Ireland’s Conor PURCELL (-6) finished second coming through the field strongly on the final day with rounds of 67 and 68.

Euan WALKER (-5) wasn’t able to repeat his form of the first two days but two par 70’s helped him secure third, taking the leading Scot honours in the process.

Joe LONG (ENG), Thomas PLUMB (ENG) and Stuart EASTON (SCO) all finished tied 4th on 278 (-2).

Just seven players finished under par in the Championship. The final one being Jake HAPGOOD (WAL) who finished in seventh on -1.

Click here to view the – 2018 Scottish Men’s Open Championship

Past Winners

The Scottish Men’s Open Amateur was first contested in 1967 and has an impressive list of past winners. Here are some of them: –

2017 – Liam Johnson (SCO)
2016 – Cameron John (AUS)
2015 – Marco Penge (ENG)
2014 – Gavin Moynihan (IRE)
2013 – Garrick Porteous (ENG)
2011 – Andy Sullivan (ENG)
2009 – Tommy Fleetwood (ENG)
2004 – Richie Ramsay (SCO)
2003 – Gary Wolstenholme (ENG)
2002 – Barry Hume (SCO)
1997 – Barclay Howard (SCO)
1996 – Alastair Forsyth (SCO)
1995 – Stephen Gallacher (SCO)
1992 – Dean Robertson (SCO)
1991 – Andrew Coltart (SCO)
1985 – Colin Montgomerie (SCO)
1981 – Philip Walton (IRE)
1980 – Gordon Brand Jr (ENG)
1975 and 1984 – Charlie Green (SCO)
1971, 1974 and 1979 – Ian Hutcheon (SCO)
1970 – Dale Hayes (RSA)
1968 – Ronnie Shade (SCO)
1967 – Bernard Gallacher (SCO)

ME.

Copyright © 2014-2019, Mark Eley. All rights reserved.

U.S. Amateur Championship – 2019 Preview, Reports & Results

Sunday 18th August 2019

Final

Andy OGLETREE won the Final of the 2019 U.S. Amateur Championship beating John AUGENSTEIN 2&1 in the 36 hole match.

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Andy Ogletree (Photo: @USGA)

Augenstein got off to a great start on Course No. 4, which was used for the first 18 holes. Three consecutive birdies helped him build a 4Up lead after just 5 holes.

Ogletree came back at the Vanderbilt player gradually on the back nine and a birdie on the final hole saw him go into lunch just 2Down.

The Mississipian was relentless as play moved on to Course No. 2 in the afternoon. He finally got the match back to All Square on the 31st and immediately moved to 1Up with a birdie on the par 5 14th. After two shared holes with pars a four putt from off the green on the par 3 17th by Augenstein handed the trophy to Ogletree.

Ogletree made just three bogeys in the 37 holes he played in the Final and can now look forward to a place in the U.S. Walker Cup team and playing exemptions into the U.S. Masters (where he will be paired for the first two rounds with Tiger Woods), the U.S. Open and The Open Championship.

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U.S. Amateur Championship Match Play Scoring (Photo: U.S.G.A)

Click here to view the live – U.S. Amateur Match Play Draws and Scores

ME.

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Saturday 17th August 2019

Semi-Finals

Andy OGLETREE beat Cohen TROLIO 3&1 in a fairly poor quality first Semi-Final where pars on Pinehurst’s tough Course No. 2 were frequently good enough to win holes.

The second match was of a much higher standard with John AUGENSTEIN coming through against William HOLCOMB V who battled to the end but was outclassed by his more experienced opponent.

Ogletree and Augenstein both gain exemptions into The Masters Tournament and U.S. Open Championship in 2020 following their wins today.

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U.S. Amateur Championship Match Play Scoring (Photo: U.S.G.A)

Click here to view the live – U.S. Amateur Match Play Draws and Scores

ME.

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Friday 16th August 2019

Quarter Finals

Debutant Cohen TROLIO, who celebrated his 17th birthday last week continues to surprise at the U.S. Amateur Championship. Having drawn level on the 13th with an eagle Austin SQUIRES gifted Game 1 to his opponent by following it with three consecutive bogeys on 14, 15 and 16.

Trolio will now play 21 year old Andy OGLETREE, a fellow Mississippian and a rising senior at Georgia Tech, who overcame Spencer RALSTON in their Quarter Final. Ralston was made to pay for five bogeys on the day by the much steadier Ogletree.

John AUGENSTEIN (21) beat Palmer JACKSON 3&2 and is now the player to beat for me. A strong start saw the man from Kentucky build a 3Up lead after seven holes and he saw the game out comfortably thereafter.

In the biggest surprise of the day William HOLCOMB V, who is 21 and married, easily saw off Australia’s Karl VILIPS, who turned 18 today. Vilips who had looked so good all week simply didn’t turn up. He shot 6-over for the front nine gifting Holcomb a 4Up lead and whilst he played much better on the back side he was unable to make any inroads.

The Quarter finals were delayed for just over an hour when heavy rain caused a suspension in play at 4.32pm.

Here are the current SPWAR’s of the Semi-Finalists – Augenstein #21, #Ogletree #120, Holcomb #426 and Trolio #1,706.

On paper, from a selfish GB&I Walker Cup perspective, I would be pleased to see anyone but Augenstein win the Championship over the weekend. The champion earns an automatic place on the U.S.A. team.

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U.S. Amateur Championship Match Play Scoring (Photo: U.S.G.A)

Click here to view the live – U.S. Amateur Match Play Draws and Scores

ME.

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Thursday 15th August 2019

Match Play Round of 16

An inspired Cohen TROLIO (USA) beat Alex FITZPATRICK 5&4 in their Round of 16 match. Five birdies on his front nine handed Trolio a 4Up lead and after a wobble at the start of the back nine he eventually saw out the game with another birdie on the 14th.

UPPER HALF (seedings in brackets)

Cohen Trolio (57) 🇦🇺 v. Alex FITZPATRICK (24) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 

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U.S. Amateur Championship Match Play Scoring (Photo: U.S.G.A)

The son of a golf professional Trolio, from West Point in Mississippi is 17 and has verbally committed to Louisiana State University for the 2021/22 academic year. Whilst relatively inexperienced and unknown he is certainly enjoying his time in North Carolina this week. Before beating Fitzpatrick this afternoon he had taken out 8th seed Trevor WERBYLO (USA) by 2 Holes in the Round of 64 and 40th seed Blake WAGONER (USA) 2&1 earlier today.

Trolio will play Austin SQUIRES (USA) in the Quarter Finals. Squires has gone from strength to strength since claiming the last Match Play spot in Wednesday morning’s play-off, today beating both Stefano MAZZOLI (ITA) and highly fancied Amercian John PAK.

The COODY brothers both lost in the Round of 16. Parker to Spencer RALSTON 6&5 and Pierceson more surprisingly to William HOLCOMB V 2&1.

Ricky CASTILO and Isaiah SALINDA, alongside Pierceson Coody, strong U.S.A. Walker Cup candidates, also lost. Castillo to John AUGENSTEIN 1Up and Salinda to Palmer JACKSON.

Australia’s Karl VILIPS continues to impress. His 3&1 win over Brad DALKE 3&1 won’t have been lost on the rest of the field.

Match Play Round of 32

Alex FITZPATRICK, now GB&I’s sole representative in the U.S. Amateur Championship, teed off against Jack TRENT (AUS) at 8.30am (1.30pm BST) in the Round of 32.

In a tight match where both players played very good golf on the tough Course No. 2 the Yorkshireman finally came through with a birdie on the 21st hole to progress.

The highlight of the game would appear to be hole 5 where Fitzpatrick is shown as having recorded an albatross 2 on the par 5 to win the hole.

UPPER HALF (seedings in brackets)

Jack TRENT (56) 🇦🇺 v. Alex FITZPATRICK (24) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 

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U.S. Amateur Championship Match Play Scoring (Photo: U.S.G.A)

Akshay BHATIA (USA), one of the three players pre-selected for the U.S.A. Walker Cup team fell at this hurdle. He lost 4&2 to John AUGENSTEIN (USA) who has every chance of joining him at Hoylake in three weeks time.

The two COODY brothers, Parker and Pierceson, both win and with the two of them on opposite sides of the draw an all Coody Final remains a possibility.

In the final game Steven FISK (USA) lost to Karl VILIPS (AUS) 3&1 in one of the standout matches of the Round of 32.

Click here to view the – U.S. Amateur Match Play Draws and Scores

ME.

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Wednesday 14th August 2019

Match Play Round of 64

The Match Play Round of 64 games started at 10.00am (3.00pm BST) today on Course No. 2. The games involving the three leading seeds and the three play-off qualifiers were scheduled at the back of the field to ensure there was no delay in play.

It proved to be a generally disappointing day for the five GB&I players who qualified.

UPPER HALF (seedings in brackets)

Alex FITZPATRICK (24) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 v. James SUGRUE (41) 🇮🇪

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U.S. Amateur Championship Match Play Scoring (Photo: U.S.G.A)

Alex FITZPATRICK comfortably beat an out of sorts James SUGRUE in their match. James was +7 and Alex +2 for the 14 holes played. Alex will now play Australia’s JACK TRENT in the Round of 32 tomorrow morning. Jack beat Ryan GERARD (USA) 4&3 in his Round of 64 match.

LOWER HALF (seedings in brackets)

Tom SLOMAN (3) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 v. Van HOLMGREN (62) 🇺🇸

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U.S. Amateur Championship Match Play Scoring (Photo: U.S.G.A)

Tom SLOMAN will be disappointed to have lost to the relatively inexperienced Minnesotan Van HOLMGREN, particularly having got off to a good start. Tom was +5 for the 16 holes played whilst Holmgren recovered well after a nervous opening to be +1.

Thomas FORSTER (19) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 v. William HOLCOMB V (46) 🇺🇸

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U.S. Amateur Championship Match Play Scoring (Photo: U.S.G.A)

Thomas FORSTER led 4Up with 8 holes to play but bogeyed 7 of them to let Texan William HOLCOMB back into the match. Holcomb found his feet after 7 holes playing the last 11 in 1-under which is always going to get the job done on Course No. 2.

Brad DALKE (27) 🇺🇸 v. Sandy SCOTT (38) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

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U.S. Amateur Championship Match Play Scoring (Photo: U.S.G.A)

Sandy SCOTT played the best golf of all of the GB&I players who contested the Round of 64 but ended up losing to 2016 runner up Brad DALKE. Scott was Even par on his round when play ended on the 17th. The joys of match play golf.

Medalist Brandon WU (USA) lost by 2 holes to the final qualifier Austin SQUIRES (USA). Other notables exits included Austin ECKROAT (USA), Stewart HAGESTAD (USA), Chandler PHILLIPS (USA), Matthias SCHMID (GER) and Cameron YOUNG (USA).

Click here to view the – U.S. Amateur Match Play Draws and Scores

ME.

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Tuesday 13th August and Wednesday 14th August 2019

Stroke Play Qualifying Round 2

Course No. 2 – 7,414 yards, par 70 – Rd 1 Stroke Average 77.14
Course No. 4 – 7,246 yards, par 70 – Rd 1 Stroke Average 73.58

Round 2 of the Stroke Play Qualifying competition was not completed on Day 2 with play suspended due to darkness at 8.00pm. This was after a late afternoon weather delay of 1 hour and 21 minutes which ultimately prevented 50 players from finishing their rounds.

The Stroke Play Qualifying resumed on Wednesday morning at 7.20am and was quickly completed.

Just 11 players from the starting field of 312 finished the 36 holes at 140 (Ev) or better highlighting the severity of the U.S.G.A.’s Pinehurst test.

Brandon WU (22) followed up an opening round of 65 (-5) with a 72 (+2) on Course No. 2 to secure medalist honours on 137 (-3).

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Brandon Wu (Photo: @USGA)

Six players finished at -2 including Ricky CASTILLO (18), Cooper DOSSEY (21), Jacob SOLOMON (22), Shiryu (Leo) OYO (20) of Japan, Tom SLOMAN (23) of England and Philip BARBAREE (22).

Tom SLOMAN enjoyed 5 birdies on No. 4 on his way to a 68 (-2) and an impressive tied 2nd place finish. He will enter Match Play as the 3rd seed. Tom put his success down to his caddie. “I’ve got a local caddie. He obviously knows where to hit it and I’ve just been trying to do it.” Personally, I think his good play is more likely due to his newly acquired Pinehurst straw boater hat !

Tom Sloman (Photo: USGA / Michael Reaves)

Thomas FORSTER, from Oundle in England, shot a 69 (-1) on No. 4 to secure his passage to the Match Play stage. Forster, who is a rising senior at Carson-Newman University in Tennessee, has used his knowledge of U.S. courses to good affect so far.

Alex FITZPATRICK battled hard on Course No. 2 to secure his place in Match Play with a 74 (+4) on Tuesday. He finished alongside Forster in tied 19th.

Our later starters in Round 2 were impacted by the deteriorating conditions and subsequent weather delay.

Sandy SCOTT shot a back nine 40 on Course No. 2 on his way to a 76 (+6) but thankfully had enough in the bank after his strong opening round to make it through in tied 28th.

The fates of James SUGRUE and Ben JONES were not decided until Wednesday morning.

Sugrue finished Day 2 on +4, which at that point was right on the top 64 and ties cut mark, with two holes to play and having double bogeyed the 15th on Course No. 2. as light faded. Undaunted he came out the following morning and proceeded to birdie 17 and par 18 to comfortably qualify on +3, also in tied 28th.

Jones looked like an easy qualifier all day but sadly unwound coming down the stretch. He sandwiched two birdies on 10 and 18 with 7 dropped shots to shoot 40 and put himself under pressure with a +5 total. Thankfully, it quickly became clear on Wednesday morning that he was likely to get a reprieve with the top 64 and ties cut quickly drifting out to his score.

The 27 players, including Ben JONES, who finished tied 62nd were therefore thrown the lifeline of a 27-for-3 sudden death play-off. It started on Course No. 4 once all of the scores had been collated. Van HOLMGREEN (USA) and Chad SEWELL (USA) birdied the par 4 1st to quickly earn the 62nd and 63rd Match Play seeds. With 7 players eliminated the remaining 18, still including Jones, progressed to the long par 4 2nd. This hole saw a further 5 players eliminated. Jones and 12 others moved onto the par 5 17th. Unfortunately Ben was not able to match the three birdies that were recorded so had to drop out at this point. Austen SQUIRES (USA) went on to par the 18th and secure the final Match Play spot. The play-off took around 3 hours and 45 minutes to complete.

The other GB&I players all missed the cut. Ben SCHMIDT (+6) T89, Euan WALKER (+6) T89, Conor GOUGH (+8) T120, Conor PURCELL (+16) T234 and Caolan RAFFERTY (+16) T234 all missed the cut.

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U.S. Amateur Championship Stroke Play Scoring (Photo: U.S.G.A)

Other notable players to miss out on the Match Play were Quade CUMMINS (USA – Walker Cup hopeful), Cole HAMMER (USA – World No. 1), Daniel HILLIER (NZL), David MICHELUZZI (AUS), Kevin O’CONNELL (USA – 2018 Mid-Amateur champion), Trent PHILLIPS (USA – Walker Cup hopeful), Jovan REBULA (RSA – 2018 Amateur champion), Alex SMALLEY (USA – Walker Cup hopeful), Chun An YU (CTP).

Click here to view the – U.S. Amateur Stroke Play Qualifying Results

ME.

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Monday 12th August 2019

Stroke Play Qualifying Round 1

Course No. 2 – 7,414 yards, par 70 – Rd 1 Stroke Average 77.05
Course No. 4 – 7,246 yards, par 70 – Rd 1 Stroke Average 73.14

U.S.A’s Brandon WU (22), a recent graduate of Stanford University, leads the Stroke Play Qualifying competition having shot a new course record 65 (-5) on Course No. 4.

This was a little surprising as his preparation for the U.S. Amateur could hardly have been worse. He and Stewart HAGESTAD (USA) represented the U.S.A. at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, last week which finished on Sunday. As such they only arrived at Pinehurst this morning with the U.S.G.A. arranging late tee times for both of them. “I tried to manage my sleep as well as I could,” said Wu, “I slept great on the two flights up here and then took a quick nap before I teed off for about two hours. I actually felt pretty good.”

HAGESTAD, already selected for the U.S.A. Walker cup team, didn’t fair quite so well in Round 1. His 73 (+3) on Course No. 2 leaves him tied 102nd and with work to do on the easier Course No. 4 tomorrow.

The two other U.S.A. Walker Cup W.A.G.R. picks Akshay BHATIA and Cole HAMMER are also far from certain to make match play. Bhatia 72 +2 (No.2) is tied 73rd whilst Hammer 75 +5 (No. 2) is tied 152nd after 18 holes.

Wu holds a one-stroke lead over Trevor WERBYLO (21), a junior at the University of Arizona, and Palmer JACKSON (18), an incoming freshman at the University of Notre Dame, who both shot 66’s (-4) on Course No. 4.

Sandy SCOTT (SCO) is leading the group of eleven Great British & Irish (GB&I) players who are competing. His 67 (-3) on Course No. 4 where he teed off on the 9th hole, included six birdies. Talking after his round Scott said, “I felt like I got off to a little bit of a shaky start. I made a bogey on the second and I had some nerves going through the first few holes, but I managed to bounce back with a birdie (on the par 3 11th). I had three birdies on 15, 16 and 17 which gave me a bit of momentum. I managed to just trust a lot of the numbers that me and my caddie were going with and hit a lot of good approaches.” He finished a much steadier front nine with two birdies on the par 4 7th and 8th.

Alex FITZPATRICK (ENG), who reached the Quarter Finals last year, shot a 68 (-2) on Course No. 4 to lie 8th after Round 1. Five birdies and an eagle on the par 4 16th hole were offset by two double bogeys and a bogey. “I played nicely, I had a few bumps in the road, but overall I sort of stuck it out and was patient and waited for openings to appear and luckily took them and yeah, finished off nicely. So pretty pleased.”

Ben JONES (ENG) recorded four birdies on his way to a 69 (-1). He is tied 19th.

Tom SLOMAN (ENG) arguably had the best round by a GB&I player. His even par 70 on Course No. 2 was one of only seven rounds that achieved par or better on this challenging layout. He is tied 28th.

Amateur Champion, James SUGRUE (IRL) is also nicely placed after a 70 (Ev) on Course No. 4 and sits alongside Sloman in tied 28th.

The table below shows how all of the 11 Great British & Irish GB&I players performed, along with their tee times and courses for Round 2. Many found Course No. 2 a tough nut to crack and will be looking to bounce back on Course no. 4 today.

Click here to view the full – U.S. Amateur Stroke Play Qualifying Scores

ME

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Friday 9th August 2019 

The 119th U.S. Amateur Championship starts on Monday 12th August at the Pinehurst Resort & Country Club in North Carolina.

The Championship is being played on Pinehurst’s No. 2 and No. 4 courses.

Administered by the United States Golf Association (U.S.G.A.) the U.S. Amateur is the most important and prestigious competition in the amateur golf calendar.

Competition Format

On Monday 12th and Tuesday 13th August all of the competitiors will play 36-holes of stroke play, one round on Course No. 2 and the other on Course No. 4.

The Top 64 qualifiers will then progress to the match play stage of the competition. Ties for the last qualifying place will be resolved by a sudden death play-off.

18 hole match play rounds will then be played on Course No. 2 between Wednesday 14th and Saturday 17th, culminating in a 36-hole Championship Final on Sunday 18th August. Extra holes will be played to resolve any halved games.

The first round of the Final will be played over Course No. 4 with the second round utilising Course No. 2. This will be the first time that two different courses have been used for the 36 hole match.

2019 Field

There were 7,191 entries this year, each player paying the $175 entry fee.

96 36 hole Sectional Qualifying events were held in July across the U.S.A., with one each in Canada and Mexico too. The introduction of a European Sectional Qualifier, like the U.S.G.A. stage at Walton Heath for the U.S. Open Championship, remains long overdue in my opinion.

A final field of 312 players from 27 different countries (2018: 24) will contest this year’s Championship. 246 players are from U.S.A. with 66 coming from the Rest of the World.

Jay BROOKS (USA) is the youngest competitor at 14 and Sean KNAPP (USA) the oldest at 57. The average age of the field is 22.1 years.

2015 U.S.A. Walker Cup player Mike McCOY (56), the second oldest player, will be making his 20th appearance in the Championship. His son Nathaniel McCOY (29), also a reinstated amateur, is also playing this week.

There are 11 GB&I players competing. There were 7 in 2018, 9 in 2017 and 11 in 2016 at Pebble Beach, Riviera and Oakland Hills respectively.

Here is a list of the GB&I players with their Exemption Category or Sectional Qualifying event noted: –

Alex FITZPATRICK (ENG) – 2018 U.S. Amateur Quarter Finalist

Tom FORSTER (ENG) – Qualifier (1st Alternate) from Little Rock, Arkansas (22/07/19)

Conor GOUGH (ENG) – Top 50 WAGR as at 26/6/19

Ben JONES (ENG) – Top 50 WAGR as at 26/6/19

Connor PURCELL (IRE) – Top 50 WAGR as at 26/6/19

Caolan RAFFERTY (IRE) – Top 50 WAGR as at 26/6/19

Ben SCHMIDT (ENG) – Top 50 WAGR as at 26/6/19

Sandy SCOTT (SCO) – Top 50 WAGR as at 26/6/19

Tom SLOMAN (ENG) – Top 50 WAGR as at 26/6/19

James SUGRUE (IRE) – Winner of the Amateur Championship 2019

Euan WALKER (SCO) – Top 50 WAGR as at 26/6/19

Earlier this week Joe PAGDIN (ENG) qualified for a place in the field based on his WAGR of 30th as at 7/8/19. However, having already committed to this week’s Boys’ Home Internationals and next week’s Boys’ Amateur Championship he understandably declined the opportunity.

Jake BURNAGE (ENG) narrowly missed out on a place. He rose to 46th in the WAGR this week but was the sixth new player, not already exempt, to move into the top 50. Only the top 5 are eligible with declined places, such as Pagdin’s, falling into the hands of Qualifying Alternates. Garrett Rank (CAN), the surprise winner of last week’s Western Amateur, moved up to 45th in the WAGR this week to secure the last of these final exemptions. The Points Average difference between him and Jake being just 0.5857.

2019 Stroke Play Qualifying

The draw for the 36-hole Stroke Play Qualifying competition was made on Wednesday 7th August and can be viewed here – U.S. Amateur Tee Times

Play will start at 7.15am (BST 12.15pm). As North Carolina is 5 hours behind us the action will take place place during our afternoons and evenings.

Host Courses

The Pinehurst Resort – Courses No. 2 and No. 4 (Photo: U.S.G.A.)

Pinehurst Resort Course No. 2
7,519 yards (maximum), Par 70
Opened in 1907.
Designed by Donald Ross (1907). Renovated by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw (2010).

No. 2 is the primary Championship course of the nine that make up the Pinehurst Resort. Donald Ross worked on his masterpiece until he died in 1948. It is known for its crowned, undulating greens and has been returned to its original state by Coore and Crenshaw with huge areas of turf removed and a more natural look re-introduced. There are 111 bunkers and no rough on the course now.

This will be the third time that No. 2 has been the lead course for the U.S. Amateur. The previous stagings were in 1962 and 2008 with Labron Harris Jr. and Danny Lee the champions.

Pinehurst Resort Course No. 4
7,196 yards (maximum), Par 70.
Opened in 1919.
Designed by Gil Hanse (2018); Designed originally by Donald Ross (1919)

Weather Forecast (Updated – at 8.00am 12th August 2019)

Hot and sunny weather is forecast with the possibility of some delays in play due to late afternoon thundery showers.

Stroke Play Qualifying
Mon 12th August – Sunny. Wind 8mph (SE). Temp. Min 20°C. / Max. 33°C.
Tues 13th August – Sunny. Wind 10mph (SW). Temp. Min 23°C. / Max. 35°C.

Match Play Stage
Weds 14th August – Sunny, PM Showers. Wind 9mph (SW). Temp. Min 21°C. / Max. 35°C.
Thurs 15th August – Sunny, PM Showers. Wind 7mph (W). Temp. Min 20°C. / Max. 31°
Fri 16th August – Sunny. Wind 7mph (NW). Temp. Min 20°C. / Max. 32°C.
Sat 17th August – Sunny. Wind 8mph (SE). Temp. Min 20°C. / Max. 30°C.
Sun 18th August – Sunny. Wind 8mph (NE). Temp. Min 20°C. / Max. 32°C.

UK Television Coverage

Sky Sports Golf channel will be taking the Fox U.S. television feed, via the Red Button, over the final match play weekend.

Prizes

The 2019 U.S. Amateur champion will receive the following: –

a) A Gold Medal and custody of the Havemeyer Trophy for the following year;

b) An exemption to play in the 2020 U.S. Open to be staged at Winged Foot Golf Club;

and assuming they remain amateur,

c) An exemption to play in the 2020 Open Championship at Royal St. George’s Golf Club;

d) An invitation to play in the 2020 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club;

e) An exemption to play in the 2020 – 2029 U.S. Amateur Championships;

and unofficially

f) Various invitations to play in PGA Tour and European Tour events.

A Silver Medal is awarded to the runner-up and Bronze Medals to the two losing semi-finalists.

A Bronze Medal is also awarded to the stroke play medalist(s).

The original silver Havemeyer Trophy was presented to the U.S.G.A. on March 1895 in honour of the Association’s first President Theodore A. Havemeyer. This was lost in a fire at Bobby Jones’ home club, East Lake, in 1925.

A new gold trophy was produced in 1926. This was retired in 1992 with a copy of the trophy being produced and passed from champion to champion ever since.

Sadly the original gold trophy was stolen from the U.S.G.A. Museum in 2012 and has never been seen since.

2018 U.S. Amateur Championship

Viktor HOVLAND (NOR) beat Devon BLING (USA) 6&5 in the 36-hole Final of the U.S. Amateur Championship at Pebble Beach Golf Links.

Hovland became just the second Continental European to win the U.S. Amateur. Edoardo Molinari (ITA) won in 2005 at Merion Golf Club beating Dillon Dougherty (USA) 4&3 in the Final.

From a GB&I perspective Alex FITZPATRICK (ENG) did superbly well eventually losing in the Quarter Finals to Cole HAMMER (USA) 3&2. Harry HALL (ENG) and Eoin LEONARD (IRE) also qualified for the match play stage but both lost in the Rd of 64, to Stewart HEGASTAD (USA) by 1 Hole and Kristoffer REITAN (NOR) by 6&4 respectively.

In the preceding stroke play competition, played at Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill, only Eoin LEONARD (IRE) on 145 +2 [74 SH / 71PB], Harry HALL (ENG) 146 +3 [72 PB / 74 SH] and Alex FITZPATRICK (ENG) 146 +3 [72 PB / 74 SH] qualified from the seven strong Great British and Irish contingent. Matthew JORDAN (ENG) 148 +5 [77 SH / 71 PB], Todd CLEMENTS (ENG) 148 +5 [78 SH / 70 PB], Robin DAWSON (IRE) 150 +7 [76 SH / 74 PB] and Gian-Marco PETROZZI (ENG) 150 +7 [78 SH / 72PB] all missed the Top 64 match play cut.

Click here to view the full – 2018 U.S. Amateur Championship Results

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U.S. Amateur Championship History

The U.S. Amateur is the oldest golf championship in America and this will be its 119th playing.

It was first played in 1895, the winner being Charles B. Macdonald.

It has always been decided by match play save for an 8 year period between 1965 and 1972 when the winner was determined solely by stroke play.

Former U.S. winners include Walter Travis (1900-01-03), Jerome Travers (1907-08-12-13), Bobby Jones (1924-25-27-28-30), Francis Ouimet (1914-31), W. Lawson Little (1934-35) Arnold Palmer (1954), Jack Nicklaus (1959-61), Deane Beman (1960-63), Lanny Wadkins (1970), Craig Stadler (1973), Mark O’Meara (1979), Hal Sutton (1980), Phil Mickelson (1990), Justin Leonard (1992), Tiger Woods (1994-95-96), Matt Kucher (1997), Ryan Moore (2004), Peter Uihlein (2010) and Bryson DeChambeau (2015).

British players have won the Championship on six occasions but just twice in the last 100 years – H.J. Whigham (1896-97), Findlay Douglas (1898), Harold Hilton (1911), Richie Ramsay (2006) and Matthew Fitzpatrick (2013).

Italy’s Edoardo Molinari (2005) and Norway’s Viktor Hovland (2018) are the only player from the Continent of Europe to have lifted the Havemeyer Trophy.

Future U.S. Amateur Venues

10-16 August 2020 – Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Oregon

9-15 August 2021 – Oakmont Country Club,

15-21 August 2022 – Ridgewood Country Club, Paramus, New Jersey

14-20 August 2023 – Cherry Hills Country Club, Cherry Hills Village, Colorado

12-18 August 2024 – Hazeltine National Golf Club, Chaska, Minnesota

11-17 August 2025 – The Olympic Club, San Francisco, California

10-16 August 2026 – Merion Golf Club, Ardmore, Pennsylvania

ME.

Copyright © 2014-2019, Mark Eley. All rights reserved.

The Western Amateur Championship – 2019 Preview, Reports & Results

3rd August  2019

Garrett RANK (CAN) beat Daniel WETTERICH (USA) by a score of 3&2 in the 18 hole Final of the Western Amateur at Point O’ Woods G. & C.C.

Rank, aged 31, is a full time National Hockey League referee in North America and his golf is therefore largely restricted to the summer months.

He is the first Canadian to win the prestigious title since 1977 and the first mid-amateur since 1997.

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Garrett Rank (Photo: Western Amateur)

Here are the full Match Play results: –

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MP Results – Upper Half (Photo: Western Amateur / GolfGenius Scoring)

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MP Results – Lower Half (Photo: Western Amateur / GolfGenius Scoring)

Medalist Davis THOMPSON (USA) beat young Australian Karl VILIPS on Day 1 but fell later on the same day to David LASKIN (USA), the Arizona University player, in the Quarter Finals.

Click here to view the 2019 Western Amateur Championship’s – MP Qualifying Results

Interestingly from a Walker Cup selection perspective this major event is raising more questions than answers for the USGA. All of the leading U.S. players either crashed out in stroke play or in match play round 1.

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The ‘Sweet 16’ Match Play Qualifiers (Photo: Western Amateur) 

ME.

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1st August 2019

Davis THOMPSON (USA) 67 68 65 67 (-13) secured Stroke Play Qualifying medalist honours by 4 shots from Eric BAE (USA) 69 69 67 66 (-9) and Daniel WETTERICH 66 68 69 68 (-9) on Day 3 of the Western Amateur Championship.

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Davis Thompson Receives The Cameron Eddy Trophy (Photo: Western Amateur) 

The 53 remaining competitors all played a further 36 holes today to determine the Sweet 16 match play field.

Here are the leading stroke play scores after 72 holes: –

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The Sweet 16 Qualifiers (Photo: Western Amateur / GolfGenius Scoring)

Ryan LUMSDEN (SCO) 70 70 70 73 (+3) missed the final match play cut finishing tied 44th.

Click here to view the 2019 Western Amateur Championship’s – SP Qualifying Scores (Select ‘Round 4’)

ME.

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31st July 2019

Ben JONES (ENG) 74 69 (+3) T78 missed the first stroke play cut which was made at the close of play on Day 2.

53 competitors made the cut which is set at the leading 44 players and ties after 36 holes.

The remaining players now play a final 36 holes to determine the ‘Sweet 16’ match play qualifiers tomorrow.

Defending champion Cole HAMMER (USA) also failed to advance to Day 3. His rounds of 72 and 69 left him on +1 which proved to be 1-shot too many.

Click here to view the 2019 Western Amateur Championship’s – SP Qualifying Scores (Select ‘Round 2’)

ME.

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29th July 2019

The 117th Western Amateur Championship starts tomorrow at Point O’ Woods Golf & Country Club in Benton Harbor, Michigan in the Unites States.

The Western Amateur is one of the world’s leading amateur golf tournaments. Only the U.S. Amateur Championship and the Amateur Championship could be considered more prestigious.

Put simply The Western has history and tradition, strong entry procedures, the best format and arguably the best trophies in all of amateur golf.

The Championship is run by the Western Golf Association (WGA). The WGA were established in 1899 and appropriately set up their headquarters in the town of Golf, Illinois. In addition to the Western Amateur the WGA also run the Western Junior Championship (since 1914) and the BMW Championship, the second oldest professional tournament in the U.S.A.

The event sits uncomfortably in the Great British and Irish (GB&I) amateur golf calendar, coming at the height of the European season. Despite the small number of GB&I entries normally seen the event is of such standing that it is always worthy of our attention, particularly in Walker Cup years from a U.S.A. team selection perspective.

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Field

156 players are exempted or invited to compete. Free to choose whichever ranking it wishes the WGA uses the Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking (SPWAR) to assess exemptions (top 175).

In 2018 more players in the Top 300 of the SPWAR competed in the Western Amateur (113) than in both the U.S. Amateur (103) and the Amateur Championship (103). That is despite the two major Championships having much larger fields, 312 and 288 players respectively.

Ben JONES (ENG) and Ryan LUMSDEN (SCO) are the only entries from GB&I this year. Jones is playing for the second time whilst Lumsden debuts despite having been a

student at nearby Northwestern University in Chicago for the last few years.

2019 Draw

Click here to view the 2019 Western Amateur Championship’s – SP Qualifying Startsheet

Point O’ Woods G. & C.C. (Photo: Point O’ Woods G. & C.C. Website)

For more information take a look at the Championship website – www.thewesternamateur.com

Format

Not only is the field often the strongest in amateur golf the current format, which was first adopted in 1961, is arguably the best of any amateur tournament in the world. It certainly offers a thorough examination of the players.

All of the field start by playing 18 holes of stroke play on each of the first two days.

A 36 hole cut to the low 44 scores and ties is then made.

The remaining players then play a further 36 holes of stroke play on Day 3.

At the end of 72 holes the low 16 finishers progress to the match play stage. A sudden death play off is used to separate those players tied for 16th place.

The “Sweet Sixteen” then play match play over the final two days of competition, the finalists having to play two matches on each day.

2019 Venue

Point O’ Woods G. & C.C., located in Benton Harbor, southwest Michigan has long been associated with the Western Amateur Championship having previously held the event 40 times. Firstly in 1963, then in 1965 before becoming its permanent home between 1971-2008.

Point O’ Woods was designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and opened for play in June 1958.

The course plays 7,075 yards from the Championship tees and has a par of 70 (72 for the members). It is protected by tree lined fairways and large, undulating greens. The two nines are similar in length with both playing to a par of 35 (36).

2018 Western Amateur

Last year 18 year old Cole HAMMER (USA) beat Davis RILEY (USA) by 1 Hole to become the 116th Western Amateur champion at Sunset Ridge C.C.

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Cole Hammer With The Cameron Eddy Trophy (SP) and George R. Thorne Trophy (MP) (Photo: Western Amateur)

Hammer had to work hard for the title, playing a record equalling 76 holes of match play in addition to the stroke play qualifying. In an outstanding performance Hammer led from the front for virtually the whole Championship. He was co-medalist, with Sam STEVENS (USA), in the stroke play qualifying, with both players producing a superb 261 (-23) total for the 72 holes. Hammer’s total also included a new course record 61 in Round 3 which included 10 unblemished birdies on the par 71 Sunset Ridge course.

Only two GB&I players competed last year, Billy MCKENZIE (ENG) and Ben JONES (ENG). McKenzie recorded scores of 71 and 69 (-2) to lie tied 68th whilst Jones’ 74 and 72 (+4) saw him sitting in tied 132nd when the first stroke play qualifying cut fell.

Click here to view the 2018 Western Amateur Championship – Match Play Results

Click here to view the 2018 Western Amateur Championship – Stroke Play Results

History and Other Past Winner’s

The Western Amateur was founded in 1899 and the 2019 event will be its 117th playing. It is the third-oldest amateur championship in the world.

As the various photos in this article show the trophies certainly match the history and prestige of the event.

Virtually all of the great names in U.S. golf have competed in and in many cases won the Western Amateur.

There has never been a GB&I winner albeit Florida-based Sam HORSFIELD (ENG) went close in 2016 at Knollwood C.C. Sam won the stroke play qualifying by 9 shots (63, 75, 67, 64 / -15) before losing to Dylan MEYER (USA) 3&1 in the Final.

Here’s a selection of former winners: –

Last 6 Years

2018 Cole Hammer – Sunset Ridge C.C.
2017 Norman Xiong – Skokie C.C.
2016 DylanMeyer – Knollwood Club
2015 Dawson Armstrong – Rich Harvest Farms
2014 BeauHossler – The Beverly C.C.
2013 JordanNiebrugge – The Alotian Club

Others

Jamie Lovemark – 2005 (youngest winner at 17 years, 6 months and 8 days).
Ryan Moore – 2004.
Tiger Woods – 1994.

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Tiger Woods (Photo: Western Amateur)

Justin Leonard – 1992 and 1993 (1991 Runner-Up).
Phil Mickelson – 1991.

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Phil Mickelson (Photo: Western Amateur) 

Chris DiMarco – 1988.
Scott Verplank – 1985.
Hal Sutton – 1979 and 1980. 
Bobby Clampett – 1978
Andy Bean – 1975
Curtis Strange – 1974.
Ben Crenshaw – 1973.
Andy North – 1971.
Lanny Wadkins – 1970. 
Steve Melnyk – 1969. 
Tom Weiskopf – 1963.
Jack Nicklaus – 1961. 
Tommy Aaron – 1960.
Dr. Ed Updegaff – 1957 and 1959. 
Charles Coe – 1950. 
Frank Stranahan – 1946, 1949, 1951 and 1952 (4).
Marvin Ward – 1940, 1941 and 1947. 
Charles Yates – 1925.
Don Moe – 1929 and 1931.
Francis Ouimet – 1917.
Chick Evans – 1909, 1912, 1914, 1915, 1920, 1921, 1922 and 1923 (8). 
H. Chandler Egan  – 1902, 1904, 1905 and 1907 (4).  

Bobby Jones first played in 1917 when he was just 15. He reached the match play stage before losing in Round 1 (32) to Daniel ‘Ned’ Sawyer. He played for the second time in 1920 where he was medalist before losing to Chick Evans in the semi-finals (36 holes in those days).

Future Venues

The Western Amateur will be staged at the following clubs over the next four years: –
2020 – Crooked Stick G.C., Carmel, Indiana
2021 – Glenview G.C., Golf, Indiana
2022 – Exmoor C.C., Highland Park, Illinois

ME.

Copyright © 2014-2019, Mark Eley. All rights reserved.