Some Reflections On The 2019 GB&I Men’s Amateur Golf Year

Posted on 31/12/2019 by Golf Bible

31st December 2019

Here are a few thoughts on the 2019 Great British & Irish (GB&I) men’s amateur golf season: –

1. I will start with our defining event, the Amateur Championship. It was great to see James SUGRUE (IRL) deliver a memorable win at Portmarnock to the delight of the home fans who supported the event so well. Sugrue peaked perfectly and having played in The Open and in the Walker Cup in 2019 can now look forward to the remainder of his golfing rewards next year.

2. Ben SCHMIDT (ENG) continued to impress winning four times in 2019. The Yorkshireman became just the fourth player to win both the Brabazon Trophy and Carris Trophy – that’s the men’s and U18 boys’ English Open Stroke Play Championships – in the same year. Some achievement.

Ben Schmidt With The Brabazon Trophy And His Parents (Photo: Jonathan Plaxton)

3. Talking about juniors Conor GOUGH (ENG), Connor MCKINNEY (SCO), Tom MCKIBBIN (IRL) and Joe PAGDIN (ENG) also stood out amongst the U18’s which hopefully bodes well for the immediate future of GB&I golf. McKibbin winning the Junior Invitational and Pagdin getting to the semi-finals of the U.S. Junior Amateur at Inverness G.C. were particular highlights that stand alongside Ben Schmidt’s wins for me.

4. I am particularly interested to see how the future unfolds for Schmidt and Gough, winners of the two English Amateur Championships this year and our two leading juniors. Schmidt is now focussing on his golf full time and heading towards the professional ranks at some speed whilst Gough appears to be ‘driving with the brakes on’, determined to focus on his education for the time being and happy to enjoy the journey. Followers of amateur golf know there is no right answer to this age old conundrum as everyone is different. Following this tortoise and hare fable over the next few years should be fun.

5. Whilst I failed to record Tom McKibbin’s chip in to win the McEvoy Trophy on the 2nd play-off hole, despite videoing most of the final play at Copt Heath, I did manage to get Josh MCMAHON‘s (ENG) birdie putt on the 18th which won him the Lytham Trophy. The “Yes, Get in !” shout from his caddie Dad will live long in my memory.

Josh McMahon Drops The Best Putt Of His Life (Video: GolfBible)

6. I believe a review of Championship entry exemptions may be required for the leading events in the summer months given how quickly one followers another. James NEWTON (ENG) and Ben SCHMIDT (ENG) were the surprise winners of the Irish Amateur Open and the Brabazon Trophy respectively in 2019 but with low WAGR rankings beforehand and having missed the cut off dates had no way of playing in either the St. Andrews Links Trophy or the Amateur Championship. There needs to be a mechanism – a blank entry to cover such eventualities – to allow recent winners to gain a late entry into subsequent events assuming they wish to compete in them. It doesn’t happen too often but this year not playing in two of our major Championships against his direct peers may have cost Ben Schmidt a place in our Walker Cup team.

7. It was a good year for Scottish amateur golf. Few would argue that Euan WALKER was the outstanding GB&I amateur golfer of 2019 with fellow Walker Cupper Sandy SCOTT not too far behind him. Ryan LUMSDEN also won the prestigious Byron Nelson Award, handed out in late April to a graduating Senior in recognition of their entire collegiate academic and golf career as well as their character and integrity while in college. The Scottish administrators also made the decision to return the Scottish Open Amateur to its late May date from the irrelevant late August fixture it had become since 2018.

Euan Walker With His European Amateur Silver Medal (Photo: EGA)

8. Curtis KNIPES (ENG) and Thomas THURLOWAY (ENG) both came through Final Qualifying to join James Sugrue in The Open Championship field. Watching Jake BURNAGE (ENG) and Tom SLOMAN (ENG) try and follow them at Hollinwell was a highlight of my golfing year. Unusually no amateur made the cut at Royal Portrush so no Silver Medal was awarded this year.

9. GB&I lost the 47th Walker Cup match against USA at Royal Liverpool G.C. I may be deluded but I still believe this was a match we could have and should have won. I don’t think the opposition was quite as strong as they had been in previous years and playing at home we should have been spot on with our selection, pairings and preperation – we weren’t. Perhaps if the weather hadn’t been so pleasant we may have done a little better.

10. Craig WATSON (SCO) stood down / was relieved of his GB&I Men’s Team captaincy duties with Stuart WILSON (SCO), the current Boy’s team captain, promoted as his replacement. Stuart will debut with the men at Royal Porthcawl in July in the next edition of the St. Andrews Trophy match against Continent of Europe. Good luck to him.

11. It wasn’t a vintage year for other GB&I men’s teams either – Sweden beat England in the Final of the European Amateur Team Championship and Europe beat GB&I in the boys’ Jacques Léglise Trophy.

12. WAGR finally announced a new methodology to be introduced to their ranking with effect from January 2020. A more accurate ranking can be expected but at face value it still won’t be better than the SPWAR. If I was The R&A and USGA I’d have used some of my funds to simply take out Fred Solomon and his ‘gold standard’ SPWAR.

13. The R&A and the USGA confirmed that they are reviewing the Rules of Amateur Status to make them easier to understand and apply. The results are set to be published in late 2021 – no rush there then. Lucy LI’s (USA) ‘one time warning’ for her Apple Watch advert at the start of the year (she should have had her amateur status removed) and the more recent California State’s ‘Fair Pay To Play’ Act which means NCAA athletes, including golfers, within that jurisdiction will be able to negotiate endorsement deals from 2023 have accelerated the need for an update.

14. Josh HILL (ENG) qualified to play in both the Dubai Desert Classic and Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in early 2020 after winning the MENA Tour’s Amateur Order of Merit and then the Abu Dhabi Amateur Championship. What an opportunity for him on two courses he knows very well.

15. Ben JONES (ENG) finished the year as GB&I’s highest ranked amateur in the SPWAR after a top 5 finish at the South Beach International Amateur in Florida helped lift him above Caolan RAFFERTY (IRL) a few weeks ago. Scant consolation for his surprise exclusion from the GB&I Walker Cup team.

16. One to watch in 2020 – as I haven’t mentioned him yet I’m going to pick Jake BOLTON (ENG). Jake’s crept up to 37th in the SPWAR and with his confidence high after adding the 2019 Scottish Open Amateur title to his resume, as well as a 4th place finish at this month’s South Beach International Amateur, I expect him to progress further next year.

Jake Bolton With The Scottish Open Amateur Trophy (Photo: Bolton Family)

17. As always a number of players turned Pro, most notably, Jake BURNAGE (ENG), Calum FYFE (SCO), Bailey GILL (ENG), Harry HALL (ENG), Ben HUTCHINSON (ENG), David LANGLEY (ENG), Ryan LUMSDEN (SCO), Billy MCKENZIE (ENG), Josh MCMAHON (ENG), Ronan MULLARNEY (IRL), Conor PURCELL (IRL), Tom SLOMAN (ENG) and Euan WALKER (SCO). I wish them all well in the coming years.

18. Robert MACINTYRE (SCO) and Matthew JORDAN (ENG) gave encouragement to the next generation of amateurs with a number of excellent performances on the European Tour and Challenge Tour. Over in the U.S. on the PGA Tour Viktor Hovland (NOR), Matthew Wolff (USA) and Collin Morikawa (USA) also showed that a quick transition to the big time is possible for the highly talented and fortunate few.

ME.

The Western Amateur Championship – 2018 Preview, Reports & Results

Posted on 29/07/2018 by Golf Bible

4th August 2018

Final

In what he subsequently described as the “biggest day in my golf career, no question” Cole HAMMER beat Davis RILEY by 1 Hole to become the 116th Western Amateur champion at Sunset Ridge C.C.

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

Birdies on holes 3, 6 and 9 and an eagle on 7 helped Cole into a 4Up lead after 9 holes. Whilst Davis fought back admirably, particularly with late birdies on 15 and 16, the young Texan was still able to hold his nerve and see out the match.

Hole-By-Hole Final Results (Photo: Western Amateur / Event-Net Scoring)

By playing 76 holes of match play over the four rounds Cole tied the Championship record with Justin Leonard (1992) and David Chung (2010) for most holes played.

In an outstanding performance Hammer led from the front for virtually the whole Championship. He was of course co-medalist in the earlier stroke play qualifying; an achievement which included a new course record 61 in Round 3.

He is just the sixth 18 year-old champion, joining a select group that includes Tiger Woods and last year’s winner Norman Xiong, who also completed the ‘double’.

Like most of the field Hammer will now move on to the U.S. Amateur Championship in California. In September he will start his freshman year at the University of Texas.

Semi-Finals

In the morning Cole HAMMER needed 20 holes to overcome Brandon WU. The scoring was excellent in this match with Wu birdieing the last to take the match back down the 1st. Hammer was 5-under the card and Wu 4-under after the 18 holes. Hammer birdied the 2nd to progress.

The second Semi-Final was tighter with far less birdies recorded. Davis RILEY, a rising Senior at the University of Alabama, pulled away on the back-nine to secure a 4&2 win over a slightly out of sorts Tyler STRAFACI.

Semi-Final Results (Photo: Western Amateur / Event-Net Scoring)

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

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3rd August 2018

Round 2

In a relatively poor quality match Cole HAMMER was fortunate to get through against Spencer RALSTON where both players struggled to match their scoring prowess of previous days.

Brandon WU overcame John AUGENSTEIN on the 19th hole of their match. Wu was 2Down as he stood on the 17th tee. He won that hole with a par 3 before a birdie on the 18th and a par on 19 saw him complete a memorable comeback.

Two late birdies helped Tyler STRAFACI to a 2Up win against Kaiwen LIU.

Davis RILEY enjoyed another big win in the final Quarter-Final benefiting from some loose early play from Hayden SPRINGER before powering away with four birdies. This is the second time in the last three years that the Alabama man has reached the final day.

Here are the full Round 2 results: –

Round 2 Results (Photo: Western Amateur / Event-Net Scoring)

Round 1

Cole HAMMER birdied the 20th hole to overcome Davis SHORE in Round 1.

Hammer’s Co-medalist Sam STEVENS wasn’t so lucky being beaten easily by Kaiwen LIU.

There were surprise early defeats for highly fancied Collin MORIKAWA and Isaiah SALINDA.

Here are the full Round 1 results: –

Round 1 Results (Photo: Western Amateur / Event-Net Scoring)

ME.

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2nd August 2018

Cole HAMMER (Texas, USA) and Sam STEVENS (Kansas, USA) shared medalist honours after completion of the final 36 holes of stroke play on Thursday.

They both posted an unbelievable 261 (-23) total for the 72 holes. This was the lowest stroke play total score in the long history of the Western Amateur; the previous best being Aron Price’s 265 (-15 in relation to par) at Point O’ Woods Golf & Country Club in 2004.

Hammer, a rising freshman at the University of Texas, posted rounds of 65, 68, 61 and 67. The 61 (-10) in today’s morning round represented a new course record for the Sunset Ridge Country Club.

Cole Hammer’s Scorecard (Photo: Western Amateur / Event-Net Scoring)

Stevens, a former Oklahoma State player, was far more consistent recording scores of 65, 66, 65 and 68. He earned a share of first by holing a 50-foot putt on his final qualifying hole.

Sam Steven’s Scorecard (Photo: Western Amateur / Event-Net Scoring)

The leading 16 stroke play finishers – known as the ‘Sweet 16’ – now move onto the match play stage of the competition.

Amongst the other leading qualifiers were Isaiah SALINDA USA (-20), who won last week’s Pacific Coast Amateur, Collin MORIKAWA USA (-19), a 2017 Walker Cup and the SPWAR No. 2-ranked player, Brandon WU USA and Min Woo LEE AUS (both -18)

The final spot went to Davis SHORE (Tennessee, USA) who having finished the stroke play on -11 successfully negotiated a 6-for-1 play-off by making a birdie on the third extra hole.

‘Sweet 16’ Qualifiers (Photo: Western Amateur / Event-Net Scoring)

World No. 1 Braden THORNBERRY (Mississippi, USA) was a casualty. He has now missed out on ‘Sweet 16’ status on each of this four appearances. In fact 2018 was the first time he had made it through to Day 3 of the stroke play.

Click here to view the Western Amateur’s – Stroke Play Results

ME.

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1st August 2018

Spencer RALSTON (Georgia, USA) leads the Western Amateur after completion of the second 18 holes of stroke play at Sunset Ridge. His rounds of 63 and 66 gave him a 36 hole tournament record total of 137 (-13).

44 players made the 36-hole cut, which fell at -5, and will now play a final 36 holes of stroke play tomorrow. The cut mark was 4 shots lower than the previous record set last year.

Unfortunately English pair Billy MCKENZIE and Ben JONES were amongst those to miss out. 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 cut fell.

After Thursday’s two rounds the field will be trimmed to 16 for match play.

ME.

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29th July 2018

The 116th Western Amateur Championship starts on Tuesday at Sunset Ridge Country Club in Northfield, Illinois 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.

Sunset Ridge C.C. (Photo: Sunset Ridge C.C.)

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 full attention.

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.

In 2017 more players in the Top 200 of the SPWAR competed in the Western Amateur (99) than in both the U.S. Amateur (93) and the Amateur Championship (73). That is despite the two major Championships having much larger fields, 312 and 288 players respectively.

Ben JONES (England) and Billy MCKENZIE (England) are the only entries from Great Britain and Ireland this year.

Last year saw David BOOTE (Wales), Liam JOHNSTON (Scotland) and Connor SYME (Scotland) compete. None of them were able to make the top 16 match play stage.

2018 Draw

Click here to view the Western Amateur’s – Stroke Play Rounds 1 & 2 Draw

Sunset Ridge C.C. (Photo: Sunset Ridge C.C.)

This year the match play stage will be streamed live for the first time ever on GolfChannel.com, the Golf Channel mobile app and thewesternamateur.com.

For more information including the scoring links which will go live from Tuesday please 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 for 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.

2018 Venue

Sunset Ridge Country Club is located on Chicago’s North Shore, the course being 25 miles from the city centre.

Sunset Ridge C.C. was designed by William Diddel in 1923 and renovated by Rick Jacobson in 2004-05. The Club is celebrating its 95th anniversary this year.

As you will have seen from the above photos the course is tight with trees and water adjacent to most fairways. It plays 6,800 yards from the Championship tees and is protected by well bunkered fast greens, often sloping from back to front. It is clearly a strategic course where accurate driving to set up attacking approach shots to the right green segments is required.

Sunset Ridge C.C., Holes 1 -9 Aerials (Video: Sunset Ridge C.C.)

Sunset Ridge C.C., Holes 9-18 Aerials (Video: Sunset Ridge C.C.)

The Western Amateur will be staged at the following clubs over the next four years: –
2019 – Point O’Woods G.&C.C., Benton Harbor, Michigan
2020 – Crooked Stick G.C., Carmel, Indiana
2021 – Glenview G.C., Golf, Indiana
2022 – Exmoor C.C., Highland Park, Illinois

History and Past Winner’s

The Western Amateur was founded in 1899 and the 2018 event will be its 116th playing. It is the third-oldest amateur championship in the world.

As the photos below 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 (England) 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 (U.S.A.) 3&1 in the Final.

In 2017 the Western Amateur was played at Stokie C.C. in Glencoe, Illinois. Norman XIONG (U.S.A.) won the stroke play qualifying with rounds of 72, 67, 66 and 65 (-14) before going on to beat Doc REDMAN (U.S.A.) in the match play final on the 22nd hole.

Xiong, who played in the subsequent Walker Cup and recently left Oregon after his second year to turn pro, was the 25th medalist to win the tournament and the first since Chris Williams (U.S.A.) in 2012.

Norman Xiong – The 2017 Western Amateur Champion (Photo: Western Amateur)

Here’s a selection of former winners: –

Last 5 Years

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.

Tiger Woods (Photo: Western Amateur)

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

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).

ME.

The Open Championship – 2018 Final Qualifying

Posted on 30/06/2018 by Golf Bible

3rd July 2018

Scotland’s Sam LOCKE saved the day for GB&I amateur golf at Final Qualifying today. Rounds of 69 and 66 helped the Stonehaven man to medalist honours on 135 (-7) at The Renaissance and a place in The 147th Open Championship at Carnoustie Golf Links.

(l-r) Thomas Curtis, Sam Locke and Grant Forrest (Photo: @Renaissancegc)

With only 3 qualifying places available from each site it was always going to be a big ask for any amateur to come through. It’s therefore a great achievement for Sam who had been exempted into Final Qualifying as the reigning Scottish Closed Amateur champion. He was also rewarded by a 105 place jump in the SPWAR to 140th.

Other notable amateur performances came from David HAGUE ENG (T6), Alex FITZPATRICK ENG (T6) and Jake BURNAGE ENG (T9) at Hollinwell, Ryan LUMSDEN SCO (T4) at Prince’s, Joshua MCMAHON ENG (T8) and Ben HUTCHINSON ENG (T8) at St. Annes Old Links and Eugenio LOPEZ-CHACARRA ESP (T5) at The Renaissance. All ‘came close but no cigar’.

There were 72 amateurs amongst the 288 players contesting today’s four 36 hole Final Qualifying events. 59 of them came through Regional Qualifying whilst 13 were granted exemptions.

Links to the final results are provided below, along with a list of all of the qualifiers from each site and every amateur performance.

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NOTTS G.C. (HOLLINWELL) – Results
72 players / 20 amateurs / 3 qualifying places

Qualifiers
1. TURNER, Ashton – Kenwick Park 72 66 (-6)
2. WILSON, Oliver – Unattatched 72 69 (-3)
3. ENOCH, Rhys – Truro 72 70 (-2)

Amateur Results
T6. HAGUE, David (A) – Malton & Norton 68 76 (Ev)
T6. FITZPATRICK, Alex (A) – Hallamshire 73 71 (Ev)
T9. BURNAGE, Jake (A) – Saunton 69 76 (+1)
T15. WILSON, Andrew (A) – Darlington 72 75 (+3)
T19. BROOKS, Jack (A) – The Mere 76 72 (+4)
T19. MCKENZIE, Billy (A) – Rowlands Castle 73 75 (+4)
T24. HAWKSBY, Jack (A) – The Millbrook 75 74 (+5)
T24. SLOMAN, Thomas (A) – Taunton & Pickeridge 72 77 (+5)
T24. WOODCOCK, Lee (A) – The Leicestershire 72 77 (+5)
T28. BROADHURST, Sam (A) – Atherstone 74 76 (+6)
T31. ABBOTT, Chris (A) – Lutterworth 78 73 (+7)
T31. FARRELL, Oliver (A) – Evesham 74 77 (+7)
T43. TREW, Gaelan (A) – Wentworth 74 79 (+9)
T50. HUSSAIN, Haider (A) – The Kendleshire 84 71 (+11)
T50. NEVIN, Rhys (A) – Hartford 78 77 (+11)
T56. HAPGOOD, Jake (A) – Southerndown 81 78 (+15)
59. SHIN, Timothy (A) – Castle Royle 79 82 (+17)
60. MACARTHUR, Freddie (A) – Ullesthorpe Court 83 83 (+22)
62. WINTER, Adam (A) – Woburn 83 91 (+30)
WD. FIRTH, Benjamin (A) – Leeds Golf Centre 81 WD

PRINCE’S G.C. – Results
72 players / 17 amateurs / 3 qualifying places

Qualifiers
1. LEWIS, Tom – Welwyn Garden City 72 68 (-4)
2. MAGNUS, Haraldur – Iceland 72 70 (-2)
3. GOOSEN, Retief – South Africa 71 72 (-1)

Amateur Results
T4. LUMSDEN, Ryan (A) – Royal Wimbledon 76 68 (Ev)
T16. BURNS, Liam (A) – Chislehurst 77 72 (+5)
T16. NILEHN, Fredrik (A) – Sweden 75 74 (+5)
T23. BAUCHOU, Zachary (A) – USA 77 73 (+6)
T23. DAWSON, Robin (A) – Tramore 75 75 (+6)
T23. HALL, Harry (A) – West Cornwall 74 76 (+6)
T31. DYER, Jack (A) – Rochford Hundred 80 72 (+8)
T31. BYERS, Harvey (A) – Walton Heath 78 74 (+8)
T33. HOVLAND, Viktor (A) – Norway 81 72 (+9)
T33. GENNINGS, George (A) – Thorndon Park 75 78 (+9)
T41. SHERREARD, Tom (A) – Kings Hill 76 79 (+11)
T44. TAPLIN, Daniel (A) – Chartham Park 80 76 (+12)
T44. LEONARD, Eoin (A) – Wentworth 79 77 (+12)
T55. MULLAN, Sean (A) – Wentworth 84 78 (+18)
60. RUDGE, Charlie (A) – South Herts 80 86 (+22)
61. RILEY-BOURNE, Daniel (A) – The Essex 83 85 (+24)
RTD. ORTIZ, Alvaro (A) – Mexico 79 RTD

ST. ANNES OLD LINKS – Results
72 players / 20 amateurs / 3 qualifying places

Qualifiers
1. ROBINSON, James – Southport & Ainsdale 67 65 (-12)
T2. SENIOR, Jack – Carus Green 68 66 (-10)
T2. ARMITAGE, Marcus – Howley Hall 65 69 (-10)

Amateur Results
T8. MCMAHON, Joshua (A) – Wallasey 71 70 (-3)
T8. HUTCHINSON, Ben (A) – Howley Hall 70 71 (-3)
T14. ROBINSON, James (A) – Redditch 75 67 (-2)
T14. SUGRUE, James (A) – Mallow 75 67 (-2)
T19. HESSING, Rick (A) – Netherlands 74 69 (-1)
T19. BANNAN, Joseph (A) – The Manchester 72 71 (-1)
T27. JORDAN, Matthew (A) – Royal Liverpool 76 68 (Ev)
T27. BARROW, Callan (A) – Royal Lytham & St. Annes 74 70 (Ev)
T27. BOWE, William (A) – Workington 71 73 (Ev)
T34. NEWTON, James (A) – Prestbury 69 77 (+2)
T43. PLUMB, Thomas (A) – Yeovil 73 76 (+5)
T49. SIDDLE, Ashley (A) – Rossendale 74 76 (+6)
T49. KELLY, Luke (A) – Ashton Under Lyme 71 79 (+6)
T52. LONG, Joe (A) – Lansdown 75 76 (+7)
T52. AINSCOUGH, Jack (A) – Hartlepool 72 79 (+7)
T57. GOODMAN, Paul (A) – Huyton & Prescot 78 74 (+8)
T57. SUTTIE, Jack (A) – Denton 78 74 (+8)
T57. CARROLL, John (A) – Huyton & Prescot 77 75 (+8)
T62. SHUCKSMITH, William (A) – Alwoodley 77 76 (+9)
66. ROGERS, Luke (A) – Kidderminster 79 81 (+16)

THE RENAISSANCE CLUB – Results
72 players / 15 amateurs / 3 qualifying places

Qualifiers
1. LOCKE, Sam (A) – Stonehaven 69 66 (-7)
2. FORREST, Grant – Craigelaw 67 69 (-6)
3. CURTIS, Thomas – Unattached 68 69 (-5)

Amateur Results
T5. LOPEZ-CHACARRA, Eugenio (A) – Spain 67 73 (-2)
T25. CAHILL, Ryan (A) – Mill Ride 72 74 (+4)
T25. DODDS, William (A) – Stonehaven 69 77 (+4)
T31. PLUMB, Alasdair (A) – Chelmsford 73 74 (+5)
T48. LAW, Tom (A) – Broome Manor 77 74 (+9)
T48. BEST, Ben (A) – Rathmore 74 77 (+9)
T48. NESBIT, Gavin (A) – Boldon 73 78 (+9)
T48. SIDDELL, Aaron (A) – Castle Royle 73 78 (+9)
T54. UNDERWOOD, Kyle (A) – Australia 76 76 (+10)
T54. FAIRBURN, Simon (A) – Torwoodlee 74 78 (+10)
T59. GREEN, Christopher (A) – Cleakheaton & District 78 77 (+13)
64. ROGERS, Alistair (A) – Grange 77 81 (+16)
T65. HAIN, Alistair (A) – St. Andrews 80 79 (+17)
T65. BLAIR, Stuart (A) – Royal Musselburgh 74 85 (+17)

ME.

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30th June 2018 (Updated 1st July 2018)

Final Qualifying for the 2018 Open Championship will take place on Tuesday 3rd July at four courses across Great Britain.

The qualifying venues are Notts G.C. (Hollinwell), Prince’s G.C., St. Annes Old Links and The Renaissance Club.

There are currently three amateurs in The Open Championship field. These are: –
The Amateur Champion for 2018 – Jovan REBULA (RSA);
The Asia-Pacific Amateur Champion 2017 – Lin YUXIN (CHI); and
The European Amateur Championship 2018 – Nicolai HOJGAARD (DEN).

Doc REDMAN (USA), the 2017 U.S. Amateur Champion, and Joaquin NIEMANN (CHL), winner of the 2017 Mark H. McCormack Medal (Men’s World Amateur Golf Ranking No. 1 in August 2017) have both turned pro and therefore foregone their exemptions.

Final Qualifying represents the last roll of the dice for the Great British and Irish amateur fraternity. There are 72 amateurs competing out of a total field of 288 players, with 65 of them coming from GB&I. 13 amateurs were exempt straight into Final Qualifying. With 12 places available hopefully one of them can come through for me.

Regional Qualifying

143 players initially progressed from the 13 Regional Qualifying events on Monday 25th June with 40 amateurs amongst them.

Following withdrawals from Final Qualifying around 55 Reserves have now also been brought forward from the Regionals. Within this number are another 19 amateurs.

For more information on this first stage please read my earlier report – ‘The Open Championship – 2018 Regional Qualifying’.

Final Qualifying

36 holes of stroke play golf will be played by each competitor in Final Qualifying.

287 players, including 66 amateurs, have been allocated evenly to the four venues.

The three leading players at each of theses events will advance to the Open Championship to be played at Carnoustie Golf Links on 15th – 22nd July.

Any ties for the last qualifying places in each competition will be resolved by a hole by hole play-off at the end of play.

As always 156 players will contest The Open itself, with the majority of these already being exempted into the field.

Carnoustie Golf Links (Photo: http://www.execgolf-leaisure.com)

Amateur Players / Tee Times

Here is a list of the four Final Qualifying events with all of the amateur entries (in tee time order) noted.

All tee times at Hollinwell will be off the 1st whilst the other three venues will be utilising their 1st and 10th tees.

NOTTS G.C. (HOLLINWELL) – Tee Times

72 players / 20 amateurs / 3 qualifying places

06.40 / 12.10 SHIN, Timothy (A) – Castle Royle
07.00 / 12.30 HAWKSBY, Jack (A) – The Millbrook
07.10 / 12.40 FARRELL, Oliver (A) – Evesham
07.20 / 12.50 MACARTHUR, Freddie (A) – Ullesthorpe Court
07.55 / 13.25 WOODCOCK, Lee (A) – The Leicestershire
08.05 / 13.35 TREW, Gaelan (A) – Wentworth
08.15 / 13.45 BURNAGE, Jake (A) – Saunton
08.25 / 13.55 HAPGOOD, Jake (A) – Southerndown
08.25 / 13.55 WINTER, Adam (A) – Woburn
08.40 / 14.10 HUSSAIN, Haider (A) – The Kendleshire
08.50 / 14.20 NEVIN, Rhys (A) – Hartford
09.00 / 14.30 WILSON, Andrew (A) – Darlington
09.20 / 14.50 MCKENZIE, Billy (A) – Rowlands Castle
09.30 / 15.00 FITZPATRICK, Alex (A) – Hallamshire
09.45 / 15.15 BROOKS, Jack (A) – The Mere
09.55 / 15.25 ABBOTT, Chris (A) – Lutterworth
10.05 / 15.35 HAGUE, David (A) – Malton & Norton
10.15 / 15.45 SLOMAN, Thomas (A) – Taunton & Pickeridge
10.25 / 15.55 BROADHURST, Sam (A) – Atherstone
10.35 / 16.05 FIRTH, Benjamin (A) – Leeds Golf Centre

PRINCE’S G.C. – Tee Times

72 players / 17 amateurs / 3 qualifying places

07.10 / 12.55 HALL, Harry (A) – West Cornwall
07.10 / 12.55 TAPLIN, Daniel (A) – Chartham Park
07.20 / 13.05 ORTIZ, Alvaro (A) – Mexico
07.20 / 13.05 MULLAN, Sean (A) – Wentworth
07.30 / 13.15 BAUCHOU, Zachary (A) – USA
07.40 / 13.25 RILEY-BOURNE, Daniel (A) – The Essex
07.40 / 13.25 DYER, Jack (A) – Rochford Hundred
07.50 / 13.35 NILEHN, Fredrik (A) – Sweden
08.05 / 13.50 DAWSON, Robin (A) – Tramore
08.15 / 14.00 BURNS, Liam (A) – Chislehurst
08.25 / 14.10 LEONARD, Eoin (A) – Wentworth
08.25 / 14.10 RUDGE, Charlie (A) – South Herts
08.35 / 14.20 SHERREARD, Tom (A) – Kings Hill
08.45 / 14.30 GENNINGS, George (A) – Thorndon Park
08.45 / 14.30 HOVLAND, Viktor (A) – Norway
08.45 / 14.30 BYERS, Harvey (A) – Walton Heath
08.55 / 14.40 LUMSDEN, Ryan (A) – Royal Wimbledon

ST. ANNES OLD LINKS – Tee Times

72 players / 20 amateurs / 3 qualifying places

07.10 / 12.55 ROGERS, Luke (A) – Kidderminster
07.10 / 12.55 SIDDLE, Ashley (A) – Rossendale
07.20 / 13.05 GOODMAN, Paul (A) – Huyton & Prescot
07.20 / 13.05 AINSCOUGH, Jack (A) – Hartlepool
07.30 / 13.15 MCMAHON, Joshua (A) – Wallasey
07.30 / 13.15 BOWE, William (A) – Workington
07.40 / 13.25 SUGRUE, James (A) – Mallow
07.50 / 13.35 SHUCKSMITH, William (A) – Alwoodley
07.50 / 13.35 CARROLL, John (A) – Huyton & Prescot
07.50 / 13.35 HESSING, Rick (A) – Netherlands
08.15 / 14.00 BANNAN, Joseph (A) – The Manchester
08.15 / 14.00 HUTCHINSON, Ben (A) – Howley Hall
08.25 / 14.10 JORDAN, Matthew (A) – Royal Liverpool
08.25 / 14.10 NEWTON, James (A) – Prestbury
08.35 / 14.20 PLUMB, Thomas (A) – Yeovil
08.35 / 14.20 ROBINSON, James (A) – Redditch
08.35 / 14.20 BARROW, Callan (A) – Royal Lytham & St. Annes
08.45 / 14.30 KELLY, Luke (A) – Ashton Under Lyme
08.55 / 14.40 LONG, Joe (A) – Lansdown
08.55 / 14.40 SUTTIE, Jack (A) – Denton

THE RENAISSANCE CLUB – Tee Times

71 players / 15 amateurs / 3 qualifying places

07.00 / 12.45 NESBIT, Gavin (A) – Boldon
07.10 / 12.55 GREEN, Christopher (A) – Cleakheaton & District
07.20 / 13.05 HAIN, Alistair (A) – St. Andrews
07.20 / 13.05 BLAIR, Stuart (A) – Royal Musselburgh
07.30 / 13.15 CAHILL, Ryan (A) – Mill Ride
07.50 / 13.35 ROGERS, Alistair (A) – Grange
07.50 / 13.35 LOPEZ-CHACARRA, Eugenio (A) – Spain
08.15 / 14.00 FAIRBURN, Simon (A) – Torwoodlee
08.15 / 14.00 BEST, Ben (A) – Rathmore
08.25 / 14.10 LOCKE, Sam (A) – Stonehaven
08.25 / 14.10 DODDS, William (A) – Stonehaven
08.35 / 14.20 LAW, Tom (A) – Broome Manor
08.45 / 14.30 UNDERWOOD, Kyle (A) – Australia
08.55 / 14.40 PLUMB, Alasdair (A) –
08.55 / 14.40 SIDDELL, Aaron (A) – Castle Royle

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For more information on the Low Amateur prize at The Open Championship you may like to take a look at an article I wrote earlier this year – ‘The Open Championship’s Silver Medal’.

ME.

The St. Andrews Links Trophy – 2018 Preview, Reports & Results

Posted on 04/06/2018 by Golf Bible

Sunday 10th June 2018

Play-off

John MURPHY (IRE) beat Jannik DE BRUYN (GER) on the first play-off hole to win the 2018 St. Andrews Links Trophy.

John becomes the third Irish golfer to win the title following in the footsteps of Alan Dunbar (2009) and Conor O’Rourke (2016).

John Murphy (Photo: St. Andrews Links Trust / Kenny Smith Photography)

Murphy looked second favourite after his approach to the 1st hole on the Old Course ended up 25 feet away after De Bruyn had left himself just 6 feet. However, the Irishman sank his birdie putt and perhaps unsurprisingly in the circumstances the German was unable to match him.

The St. Andrews Links Trust tweeted a video of the winning putt with a short interview with their winner.

John Murphy won a dramatic sudden death play off in style to be Links Trophy Champion 2018. He also tried to tell us all about it, despite the local pipe band trying to drown him out to the side of the Swilcan Bridge!#LinksTrophy @John_murphy5 pic.twitter.com/JSJNyfgg5n

— St Andrews Links (@TheHomeofGolf) June 10, 2018

This was a great win for the man from Kinsale who has just completed his sophomore year at University of Louisville in the United States. He rose to 143rd in the SPWAR, jumping 616 places, as reward for the biggest win of his career.

Here are the full – 2018 St. Andrews Links Trophy Results

Round 4

Round 4 started at 12 noon with the leaders setting off at 2.56pm.

Jannik DE BRUYN (GER) shot the best final round, his second 68 of the day. Whilst his morning round had included two bogeys this afternoon he produced a clean card with four birdies. He posted 278 (-9) and waited patiently in the clubhouse to see if it would hold up.

Jannik De Bruyn Round 4 Scorecard (Photo: St. Andrews Links Trust / Intelligent Golf)

John MURPHY (IRE) also recorded the same score as he did in the morning. His 71 meant he was the only player to catch De Bruyn on -9 and that a play-off would be required to decide the winner.

Jake BURNAGE (ENG) shot final day rounds of 70 and 69 to finish tied 3rd with Haydn BARRON (AUS) on 279 (-8), just one shot back.

Englishman Burnage was bogey free in the afternoon but his morning 70 was something of a rollercoaster. Without wishing to be dismissive of his seven birdies it included, with the benefit of hindsight, a painful double bogey 6 on 12 and bogeys on 15 and 16. Nevertheless this represented another very good result for the Devonian No. 1 and a welcome return to form. He was the leading GB&I player in one of the world’s best amateur events.

Compatriot Laird SHEPHERD finished well with a 70 to secure a tied 5th place result on 280 (-7). Gian-Marco PETROZZI (ENG) was next best for GB&I. His 281 (-6) score was good enough to secure tied 8th.

Round 3

Round 3 started at 7.00am with Kieran CANTLEY (SCO) going out alone. The two leading players, Laird SHEPHERD (ENG) -8 and John MURPHY (IRE) -7, teed off at 9.56am.

36 holes on the Old Course lay ahead as the 45 qualifying players set out to determine the winner of the 2018 St. Andrews Links Trophy.

Joey SAVOIE (CAN) 67 and John MURPHY (IRE) 71 shared the 54 hole lead on -8.

Overnight leader Laird SHEPHERD (ENG) shot 75, faltering late on with a double bogey on the 15th and a bogey on 17.

Sandy SCOTT (SCO) shot the best third round score. His blemish free 66 included an eagle on the par 5 5th and birdies on 9, 12, 13 and 14.

Sandy Scott’s Round 3 Scorecard (Photo: St. Andrews Links Trust / Intelligent Golf)

Daniel O’LOUGHLIN (ENG) also shot 67, with defending champion Matthew JORDAN (ENG) and fellow Englishman Gian-Marco PETROZZI (ENG) 68 delivering the next best GB&I scores.

Jannik DE BRUYN (GER) moved up to -6 after a 68 in Round 3.

For those interested here is a link to today’s tee times – 2018 St. Andrews Trophy Round 3 and Round 4 Start Sheet

ME.

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Saturday 9th June 2018

The star of Day 2 was Laird SHEPHERD (ENG). The Stirling University student knows St. Andrews well and demonstrated it around the Old Course today. With a supportive wind on the way out he completed his front 9 in just 30 shots and held it together nicely on the way home. His 65 (-7) helped him move to the top of the 36 hole leaderboard on 135 (-8).

Laird Shepherd’s Round 2 Scorecard (Photo: St. Andrews Links Trust / Intelligent Golf)

There were a number of great rounds today reflecting the generally benign conditions in Fife. John MURPHY (IRE) shot 66, Christo LAMPRECHT (RSA) – winner of the East of Ireland Amateur earlier this week – 67, David HAGUE (ENG) 67, Joey SAVOIE (CAN) 67 and Jamie LI (ENG) 68, all moving into the top 10 as a result.

Stuart EASTON (SCO) 67, Gian-Marco PETROZZI (ENG) 68, Therion NEL (RSA) 68 and Daniel O’LOUGHLIN (ENG) 68 all knew they needed good rounds to make the cut and impressively delivered.

However, the bounceback prize has to go to Joao GIRAO (POR). After a disappointing 80 on the New Course yesterday, from which there was never going to be a way back, he at least went down fighting delivering a 66 which included 7 birdies.

First round leader Olly HUGGINS (ENG) found the going harder today – his 75, and 142 (-1) total, was at least good enough to ensure he made the cut.

The top 40 and ties 36 hole cut eventually fell at even par with 45 players making it through to the final day.

ME.

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Friday 8th June 2018

Olly HUGGINS (ENG) leads the St. Andrews Links Trophy after an impressive 67 (-4) on the New Course.

Olly Huggins’ Round 1 Scorecard (Photo: St. Andrews Links Trust / Intelligent Golf)

Five players, Matias HONKALA (FIN), Jake BOLTON (ENG), Luca Filippi (RSA), Tom PLUMB (ENG) and Euan WALKER (SCO), shot 68 (-3).

46 players are on Even par or better highlighting how tight the leaderboard is.

ME.

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4th June 2018

144 golfers from 26 different countries will tee off on Friday 8^th June in the 30th St. Andrews Links Trophy.

This event has become one of the ‘Majors’ in men’s amateur golf helped by venue and timing.

St Andrews Clubhouse

R&A Clubhouse, St. Andrews (Photo: R&A Website)

Competition Format

The Links Trophy is a 72 hole scratch stroke play competition played over the St. Andrews Links in early June.

After various National Golf Union and St. Andrews Links Trust nominations the field is determined by World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) as at 3rd May 2018 rather than handicap as is normally the case.

This year Round 1 will be played on the New Course – the Jubilee Course was used last year – with Round 2 on the Old Course.

Following a top 40 and ties cut on Saturday the leading players will play a final 36 holes on the Old Course on Sunday.

The New Course plays 6,625 yards to a par of 71. The front nine is 3,270 yards long with a par of 36 whilst the tougher back nine is 85 yards longer but with a par of 35.

New Course Scorecard (Photo: St. Andrews Links Trust)

The Old Course is 6,721 yards off the white tees and has a par of 72. Both nines have a par of 36 and have similar yardages – the front is 3,336 yards long whilst the back is a little longer at 3,385 yards.

Old Course Scorecard (Photo: St. Andrews Links Trust)

The winner will be the player who returns the lowest 72 hole score. In the event of a tie a sudden death play-off will be held over holes 1 and 18.

Ties for other places are decided by the lowest score for the last 18 holes or the last 9 or 6 or 3 or 2 or 1 hole if necessary.

The Field

The 2018 St Andrews Links Trophy start sheets can be viewed here – Round 1 (New) and Round 2 (Old).

The Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking (SPWAR) placed the Links Trophy 8th in its 2017 Amateur Tournament Ranking based on the strength of it’s field. It was 6th in the same ranking in 2016.

18 of the 20 members of the 2018 GB&I St. Andrews Trophy squad will be competing at St. Andrews this week. Harry HALL (ENG) and Ryan LUMSDEN (SCO) are the exceptions; both were competing in U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying today in the United States. Many of the Squad have been drawn together in the opening rounds to help the selectors follow their play closely.

The attraction of St. Andrews always ensures a strong overseas entry. Australia, Canada and South Africa are particularly well represented in 2018 with Hugo BERNARD (CAN), Christo LAMPRECHT (RSA), David MICHELUZZI (AUS), Wilco NIENABER (RSA), Dylan PERRY (AUS) and Matt SAULEZ (RSA) all strong challengers.

Weather Forecast (updated on Wednesday 6^thJune)

The current weather forecast appears perfect for golf – dry with minimal chance of rain.

Friday 8^th June – Cloudy. Wind 13 mph E. Temp. Max. 15°C / Min 9°C.
Saturday 9^th June – Cloudy. Wind 11 mph E. Temp. Max. 15°C / Min 10°C.
Sunday 10^th June – Cloudy. Wind 11 mph E. Temp. Max. 16°C / Min 9°C.

Tee times in Rounds 1 and 2 start at 7.00am and end at 3.10pm so as with any links course the draw could play a big part in proceedings.

Prizes

The winner receives The St Andrews Links Trophy and a cheque for £500.

The runner-up and third place finisher also receive commemorative medals.

Reducing cash prizes are awarded to the top 10 finishers in all.

In addition to the main prizes The Ian Forbes Memorial Cup is awarded for the best aggregate score on the first two days of the event.

2017 Event

Royal Liverpool’s Matthew JORDAN won the 2017 St. Andrews Links Trophy. Following an outstanding run of form the victory almost certainly secured his place in last year’s Great Britain and Ireland (GB&I) Walker Cup team.

Matthew Jordan (Photo: Kenny Smith)

Rounds of 70, 68, 69 and 70 took Matthew to a finishing total of 277 (-11).

J.R. GALBRAITH (IRE) shot 66, 71, 70 and 71 (-10) to secure second place with Ben FERGUSON (AUS) finishing 3rd on -9.

Other GB&I players to finish in the top 10 included Laird SHEPHERD (-8) 4th, David BOOTE (-8) 6th, Liam JOHNSTON (-6) 7th , Gian-Marco PETROZZI (-5) 8th and Jack DAVIDSON (-5) 9th.

Click here to view the – 2017 St Andrews Links Trophy Results

Click here to view the – 2016 St. Andrews Links Trophy Results

Past Winners

Click here to view a full list of the – St Andrews Links Trophy Past Winners

Only Craig WATSON (1992 and 1998), the current Great Britain & Ireland (GB&I) Walker Cup captain, and Barclay HOWARD (1994 and 1996) have won the title twice.

The most famous winner is Justin ROSE who won in 1997.

Interestingly given the normally cosmopolitan nature of the fields the Links Trophy has only been won by players from outside GB&I on three occasions – Australia’s Stuart BOVIER (1990), Daan HUIZING from The Netherlands (2012) and FedericoZUCCHETTI from Italy (2015).

Huizing, who had won the 2012 Lytham Trophy by 11 shots just a few weeks earlier, set a scoring record of -23 in 2012 (65 New, 64, 68 and 67 all Old) and won by an astonishing 14 shots.

ME.

The Brabazon Trophy – 2018 Preview, Reports & Results

Posted on 28/05/2018 by Golf Bible

Sunday 3rd June 2018

Nick POPPLETON (ENG) today won the 2018 Brabazon Trophy after a sudden death play-off with Wilco NIENABER (RSA).

Both players had started the day on 6-under, 3 shots back of overnight leader Jeong Weon KO (FRA).

Nick shot two rounds of 67 on the final day recording just two bogeys while Wilco posted a 65 and 69. Both players posting an impressive aggregate score of -10 for their final two rounds, played in glorious sunshine on Frilford Heath’s Red Course.

Nick Poppleton (Photo: Golf Bible)

Play-Off

The play-off took place on the 9th hole of Frilford’s Red Course. The 9th is a 180 yard par 3 played over a valley to an elevated green that slopes from back to front and is protected by two short bunkers. The flag was in the front right portion of the green.

Nick teed off first and finished short right in front of the bunker. Wilco followed him and finished in roughly the same area, a little closer to the bunker. Nick chipped up and watched in anguish as his well judged shot hit the flag and stayed out. Wilco followed and saw his chip finish an inch to the right of the hole. Both tapped-in quickly and returned to the tee to try again.

Despite now playing the hole for the fourth time on the day both players again missed the green short right. Nick was further away, perhaps as much as 30 feet. This time his chip ran up perfectly and dropped into the hole beside the flag. A magnificent shot played under the most extreme pressure. Wilco then chipped up from just in front of the green and amazingly lipped out, the ball finishing stone dead. The gallery had seen four difficult chips to a raised green and from reasonable distance in the play-off; three hit the hole and one stayed on the lip. It was some exhibition of the skills these elite amateurs have.

Nick had won the 2018 Brabazon Trophy in some style on the second extra hole. It was a great win for the likeable Yorkshireman.

Wilco should be disappointed he lost. This was my first viewing of him and he certainly looked the part, a professional in all but name. He hits the ball miles, has a beautiful short game and his temperament was first class. He clearly has a big future in the game, a prediction I wouldn’t normally make but feel confident of doing so with him. I am sure he will learn from this loss.

Click here to view the final – 2018 Brabazon Trophy Results

Round 4

I set off with the Wilco NIENABER and Jack COPE pairing this afternoon, keeping a close eye on Nick POPPLETON who was playing ahead of them with David LANGLEY.

Not for the first time this season I would end up watching a relatively comfortable leader grasp defeat from the jaws of victory.

Wilco seemed very relaxed and despite leaking most of his tee shots to the right took advantage of his power and beautiful short game. He seemed to escape with pars or earn birdies on most of the holes on the front nine. The exception being the downhill 500 yard 6th where he eagled after a long drive and iron shot to 10 feet. When he followed it with a birdie on the 7th he was 5-under for his final round and -18 for the Championship, leading Nick by 4 shots.

Jack was playing very well but simply couldn’t get anything to drop on the greens on the front nine. Up ahead Nick was continuing his good form and was 3-under on the front nine for his own round.

Wilco was a bit lose around the turn dropping shots on 8 and 11 but doing well to get one back on the 12th where his towering approach from the deepish rough was judged perfectly.

After a solid par on the strategic right-to-left dogleg 13th, where he hit an iron off the tee and a nice approach to the difficult back pin position, the South African Number 1 was -4 for the round and -17 for the event. He was leading Nick by 3 shots.

As the small gallery walked up the 354 yard par 4 – what appeared to be the tightest, most penal hole on the course – we discussed how Wilco would surely play an iron. Jack, who had birdied the 12th and was therefore playing first, did just that and found the centre of the fairway, leaving himself a wedge in.

This was the point at which the Championship was undoubtedly lost.

Wilco, who was confidently being advised and caddied for throughout by a Golf RSA coach / manager, proceeded to smash his drive well into the gorse, again long right. This was not a surprise; he had done the same thing on most of the proceeding holes, the difference being they had all been much wider, allowing short ‘recovery’ shots to be played to the green. Aggressive play is great and clearly Wilco’s preferred approach but certain situations – e.g. when you have a 3 shot lead with 5 holes to play and are facing a hole bordered by gorse on both sides – require a bit more subtlety and the removal of big numbers from the potential equation.

If I had been caddying for him neither his woods, or for that matter his long irons, would have gone within 100 yards of the tee box. After all this is a lad that probably hits his 7-iron 200 yards. Surprisingly he hit his provisional with his driver too. To be fair this time he came up 20 yards short of the green. His chip was poor by the high standards of earlier in his round and before he knew it he was writing down 6 on his scorecard. He may not of known it at the time but his lead was now just 1 shot.

On the 421 yard 15th Wilco smashed his ball to within 30 yards of the green. Even allowing for the perfect playing conditions this was a massive hit. However, he couldn’t get up and down for birdie. Playing from the semi-rough he misjudged the lack of spin he would be able to generate and ran well past the hole.

As he putted out Nick was waiting on the nearby 16th with his caddie, friend and professional Alex Stubbs.

This was the point where the Championship was won.

England Golf had pushed the tee up for the final round and as such the hole was playing as a drivable 295 yard par 4. Nick hit a superb drive that found a path up the narrow right side of the green to a pin perched on the right ledge. When he holed the 15 foot putt for eagle he led by 1 shot.

With the green clear Jack found the putting surface whilst Wilco bounced into the left hand bunker. Jack proceeded to three putt for par whilst Wilco played a superb long bunker shot to a few feet but to everyone’s surprise missed his short birdie putt.

I quickly scampered after the Yorkshireman who by this time was finishing off on the 17th. Nick held his nerve to par in. He did give himself a 20 footer on the last for the outright win but the putt lipped out.

Wilco missed a relatively short downhill putt on 17 to draw back level. Hitting driver – perfectly justifiable given he was now chasing – on the 324 yard par 4 18th he flirted with the members car park before coming up just short of pin high on the left hand side. His chip was well played but ran out four feet passed the hole which was on the right edge of the green. To his credit he bravely slotted the downhill right to lefter for birdie, thus gaining a chance for redemption in a play-off.

With four groups still to come in it took almost an hour before the play-off could commence.

The Leading Brabazon Trophy Scorecard (Photo: England Golf / GolfBox)

As can be seen from the above screenshot England’s Bailey GILL and Jack COPE (-13 / tied 3rd), Andrew WILSON (-11 / tied 6th), Mitch WAITE (-11 / tied 6th), Arun SINGH BRAR (-9 / 8th), Max MARTIN, David LANGLEY and Ben JONES (-8 / all tied 9th) all enjoyed Top 10 finishes.

Jack COPE (ENG) seemed to gain confidence from Wilco’s back nine difficulties coming home in 33 with four birdies and one bogey. His -13 total and tied 3rd finish helped him win The George Henriques Salver, a prize awarded to the leading GB&I player in the Championship under the age of 20. Arun SINGH BRAR (-9) finished second in these supplementary standings.

Jack Cope (Photo: GolfBible)

Round 3

Play commenced at 7.30am with the leaders, Messrs. Ko and Waite, heading off at 9.09am. Unfortunately they recorded a 73 and 72 respectively from which they were unable to recover in the afternoon despite posting much improved rounds of 68 and 69.

However, the two main stories from Round 3 concerned South African protege Wilco NIENABER (RSA) and Darlington’s Andrew WILSON.

Wilco started on the 10th being one of the leading players. His halves of 33 and 32 included six birdies and one eagle. His -13 total after 54 holes gave him a 2 shot lead over Nick POPPLETON who had also impressed with his own 6 birdie 67 to move into second on -11.

Andrew started on the 1st at 8.15am and shot a sparkling best of the tournament course record 63 which he told me could have been better; a bogey on three and with four birdie opportunities all passed up over the closing holes. He was now right in the mix but would need to go low again in the afternoon.

Andrew Wilson’s 3rd Round Scorecard (Photo: England Golf / GolfBox)

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Saturday 2nd June 2018

Round 2

Jeong Weon KO (FRA) leads Mitch WAITE (ENG) by 1 shot at the end of Round 2. Ko shot a 69 to move onto -9 whilst Waite posted a joint best of the day 67 (-5), including 7 birdies, to move on to -8.

Jeong Weon Ko (Photo: Leaderboard Photography / England Golf)

Charlie STRICKLAND (ENG), whose season has been interrupted with health issues, is pleasingly in a three way tie for third on -7; he’s joined by Stuart EASTON (SCO) and Ferdinand MUELLER (GER).

Thomas BEASLEY (ENG) was the other player to shoot 67 on Day 2. His bogey free round included 4 birdies in his last 6 holes. Thomas will start the final day on -2 and in tied 28th place.

The cut fell at -1 with 46 players progressing.

With 21 players within 5 shots of the lead Sunday’s 36 holes should provide an exciting race to the title.

ME.

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Friday 1st June 2018

Round 1

Round 1 was concluded by early afternoon with the scoring bar lowered even further.

Jeong Weon KO (FRA), Nick POPPLETON (ENG) and Jay BEISSER (ENG) all posted 66’s (-6) on Day 2 to tie the Round 1 lead.

Beisser birdied every par 3 and par 5 to hand in an unusual card made up solely of 2’s and 4’s.

The Leading Round 1 Scorecards (Photo: England Golf / GolfBox)

Frederic LACROIX (FRA) joined Wilco NIENABER (RSA), Jack COPE (ENG) and Ferdinand MUELLER (GER), yesterday’s clubhouse leaders, by recording a 67 (-5). The four of them are all tied for fourth at this early stage.

Round 1 scoring has been good with 42 players under par from the 155 who started the event.

England Golf have announced that the 36 hole cut will now be set at the top 45 and ties, rather than the normal top 60 and ties; the higher level having also been reaffirmed yesterday after the suspension in play.

With 59 players tied 45th or better and 78 players at tied 60th or better after Round 1, and with only another 18 holes to be played before the cut is made, I assume a fear of having too big a field for the final 36 holes on Sunday has driven this decision.

After disappointing first rounds Matt SAULEZ (RSA) 74 +2, Chris WOOLLAM (RSA) 74 +2, Sam LOCKE 75 (SCO) +3, Andrew WILSON (ENG) 75 +3, Lewis GEORGE (ENG) 76 +4 and Robin WILLIAMS (ENG) 77 +5 are amongst the more notable players that will require a strong bounce back tomorrow to make the final day.

ME.

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Thursday 31st May 2018

Round 1

Play started at 8.00am but was brought to a premature close around 3.00pm by thunderstorms which left the Frilford Heath course flooded.

The Practice Putting Green (Photo: Frilford Heath G.C.)

74 players managed to complete their first rounds before play was abandoned. The leaders in the clubhouse being Wilco NIENABER (RSA), Jack COPE (ENG) and Ferdinand MUELLER (GER) who all shot 67’s (-5).

Sadly Todd CLEMENTS (ENG), one of the highest ranked competitors, had to withdraw before his 9.05am tee time with a back injury. In an event already lacking some of the field depth seen in previous years this was a blow from a ranking perspective.

England Golf have now decided to complete Round 1 tomorrow before playing Round 2 on Saturday.

The Top 60 and Ties cut will still take place after 36 holes meaning the leading players will now have to play 36 holes on Sunday.

ME.

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28th May 2018

The English Men’s Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship for the Brabazon Trophy will be played at Frilford Heath Golf Club this week.

The 72nd playing of this event takes place between Thursday 31st and Sunday 3rd June on the Oxfordshire Club’s Red Course.

Frilford Heath Golf Club (Photo: Frilford Heath G.C.)

Format

The competition consists of 72 holes of stroke play golf with 18 holes being played each day.

A 36 hole cut will take place with only the leading 60 competitors and ties progressing to the two weekend rounds.

In the event of a tie for the Championship on Sunday, there will be a sudden death play off.

Field

156 competitors will start the 2018 Championship. Whilst England dominates the entries players from 12 other countries are also represented.

The start sheet for Rounds 1 and 2 can be viewed here – 2018 Brabazon Trophy Start Sheet

78 players were exempted into the field based on their previous accomplishments with 78 coming through a qualifying process.

Callan BARROW (-2) of Royal Lytham & St. Annes G.C. was the medalist at neighbouring Fairhaven in the North Qualifier, pipping Lincolnshire’s Sam DONE on count back. Click here to view the full North Qualifier Results

Cameron PHILLIPS (-6) from Hindhead G.C. led the qualifiers at Camberley Heath G.C. in the South Qualifier. Click here to view the full South Qualifier Results

13 of the 20 recently announced Great Britain & Ireland (GB&I) St. Andrews Trophy Squad will be competing at the Brabazon. These are Todd CLEMENTS (ENG), Alex FITZPATRICK (ENG), Calum FYFE (SCO), David HAGUE (ENG), Ben JONES (ENG), Matthew JORDAN (ENG), Sam LOCKE (SCO), Billy MCKENZIE (ENG), Gian-Marco PETROZZI (ENG), Jamie STEWART (SCO), Euan WALKER (SCO), Robin WILLIAMS (ENG) and Andrew WILSON (ENG).

Of those missing the event Harry HALL (ENG), Ryan LUMSDEN (SCO) and Sandy SCOTT (SCO) were unable to enter due to the conflicting NCAA Division I National Championships which is currently being played in Oklahoma.

Rowan LESTER (IRE) and Caolan RAFFERTY (IRE) are playing in the East of Ireland Amateur Championship. The two leading Irish players Robin DAWSON (IRE) and Alex GLEESON (IRE) appear to be taking the week off.

To put the event in context the 2017 Brabazon was ranked the 17th most important amateur competition in the world last year based on the strength of it’s field by the Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking (SPWAR). Unfortunately a scheduling clash with the East of Ireland Championship means a much lower event ranking can be expected in 2018.

Prizes

The Winner receives the magnificent gold Brabazon Trophy shown in the photo below.

The Champion’s Prize and Brabazon Trophy (Photo: GolfBible)

Prize vouchers will be awarded to those players finishing in the top six.

Two other prizes are connected to the Brabazon Trophy competition. The George Henriques Salver is awarded to the leading GB&I player in the Championship under the age of 20. The Philip Scruton Jug is awarded later in the year to the player returning the best aggregate scores in The Brabazon Trophy and The Berkshire Trophy (which will be played on 23rd and 24th June).

Frilford Heath Golf Club

Frilford’s first course, the Red, was designed by J.H. Taylor, the five times Open Champion, in 1908 and opened in the following year. Club professional J.H. Turner undertook some later tweaks but it largely remains as originally planned.

This predominantly heathland course measures around 7,000 yards depending on which tees are selected. A par of 72 is split 36-36, albeit as you can see from the scorecard below the hole configurations are different on the two nines.

frilford_red_combo_alt_grid

Red Course Scorecard (Photo: Frilford Heath G.C.)

Weather Forecast

The weather forecast (as at Wednesday 30th May) is broadly positive for all four competition days, albeit the modest winds are expected to move around from day to day.

Thu 25th May – Thundery Showers / Wind 8 mph E / Temp. Min. 15°C, Max. 21°C.
Fri 26th May – Light Rain / Wind 11 mph SW / Temp. Min. 13°C, Max. 21°C.
Sat 27th May – Sunny / Wind 9 mph W / Temp. Min. 10°C / Min 21°C.
Sun 28th May – Cloudy / Wind 8 mph NE / Temp. Min. 13°C / Max. 23°C.

It is worth remembering that Rounds 1 and 2 will see players tee off the 1st from 8.00am right through until 2.35pm.

The 2017 Brabazon Trophy

South Africa’s Kyle MCCLATCHIE celebrated his 20th birthday by winning the 2017 English Men’s Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship at Woodhall Spa Golf Club.

Kyle shot rounds of 70, 66, 75 and 71 for a 282 (-10) total and a 1-shot victory. He was the fifth South African to win the Brabazon Trophy, following in the footsteps of Neville Sundelson (1974), Richard Kaplan (1986), Craig Rivett (1989T) and Charl Schwartzel (2002).

Kyle McClatchie (Photo: Ernest Blignault)

Jamie STEWART (SCO), Jake BURNAGE (ENG) and Jack SINGH BRAR (ENG) all finished on -9 to tie for second place.

Jamie Stewart had a superb weekend shooting the lowest two scores on both days. He followed a 67 (-6) with a 68 (-5) in the final round.

Matthew JORDAN (ENG) (-7) finished 5th, Dan BROWN (ENG) (-5) 6th and David BOOTE (WAL) (-4) 7th.

Click here to see the full – 2017 Brabazon Trophy Results

Click here to see the full – 2016 Brabazon Trophy Results

History, Past Winners and Records

The English Amateur International Trophy competition was first played in 1947.

In 1957 the official title was changed to the English Men’s Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship.

The current trophy was donated by Lord Brabazon of Tara in 1948 and the event has come to be widely known as the Brabazon Trophy.

Click here to view the full list of – Brabazon Trophy Past Winners

The first player to successfully defend the title was Ronnie WHITE who won at Birkdale in 1950 and nearby Formby in 1951.

Shortly afterwards Philip SCRUTTON won the Brabazon three times in four years (1952, ‘54 & ‘55).

Sir Michael BONALLACK has four wins to his name. The first came at Royal Cinque Ports in 1964 and the last at Hillside in 1971. At Moortown in 1969, with play-offs having been discarded at this time, he shared the title with Rodney FOSTER.

Other well known British winners of the Brabazon include Gordon Brand Jnr, Sandy Lyle (2), Peter MCEVOY, Ronan Rafferty and Ronnie SHADE (3).

Other notable European winners include well known pros Ignacio GARRIDO (1992) and Peter HANSON (1998).

ME.

England v. France International Match – 2018 Preview, Reports & Results

Posted on 11/05/2018 by Golf Bible

13th May 2018

England beat France 13 – 7 in the 2018 Men’s International Match.

The 2018 England Team (Photo: Federation of French Golf / @ffgolf)

With heavy rain forecast to start in the St. Tropez area around midday the decision was taken to cancel the Day 2 Foursomes series and to concentrate on completing the 8 Singles.

England enjoyed a great team performance winning the Day 2 Singles series 6.5 – 1.5. This took them to a 13 – 7 lead and therefore meant the decision to cancel the four foursomes was pleasingly irrelevant to the overall match result.

As you can see from the results below there were Singles wins for Matthew Jordan, Todd Clements, Andrew Wilson, Ben Jones, Bailey Gill and David Hague.

Well done to the England team and in particular Ben Jones and David Hague who were both unbeaten in all three of their matches.

Day 2 Scoreboard (Photo: Federation of French Golf)

Click here to view the – Event Information & Results (www.ffgolf.org)

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12th May 2018

England lead France 6.5 – 5.5 after the first day’s play at Vidauban G.C.

The morning foursomes were shared, two a piece. Matthew Jordan and Gian-Marco Petrozzi and Ben Jones and David Hague were the successful pairings for England.

The afternoon singles also proved tight with England narrowly edging them 4.5 – 3.5. Ben Jones enjoyed the most convincing win, 7&5 over Jeong-Weon Ko. Gian-Marco Petrozzi and David Hague (both 4&3) also did well against Antoine Auburn and Paul Margolis respectively. Todd Clements picked up England’s fourth win battling hard for a 2Up win against Victor Veyret.

Tomorrow will hopefully see a further four foursomes and eight singles so there is clearly still lots to play for. I say hopefully because forecast rain in the afternoon is expected to lead to some adjustments being made to the match format.

img_9160-1

Day 1 Scoreboard (Photo: Federation of French Golf)

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______________________________________________

11th May 2018

England take on France this coming weekend in the 35th Men’s International Match between the two countries.

This year’s match is being played at Vidauban Golf Club in South East France.

Format

8 man teams from each country play 4 foursomes and 8 single matches on the two competition days.

With a total of 24 points to play for the winning team needs to secure 12.5 points to win the match outright. As England won the 2016 match they will also retain the trophy in the event of a 12-12 tie.

France is 1 hour ahead of the UK so play on Day 1 will start at 7.30am our time.

Teams

Here are the two 8 man teams with their current Scratch Player World Amateur Rankings in brackets: –

England
Todd Clements (21)
Bailey Gill (301)
David Hague (100)
Ben Jones (174)
Matthew Jordan (14)
Billy McKenzie (200)
Gian-Marco Petrozzi (93)
Andrew Wilson (433)

France
Antoine Auboin (347)
Edgar Catherine (105)
Clément Charmasson (305)
Jeong-Weon Ko (789)
Frédéric Lacroix (126)
Aymeric Laussot (813)
Paul Margolis (742)
Victor Veyret (332)

England will clearly start the match as favourites as is normally the case. At this time of year, with a number of players still engaged in the US College Championship series, France simply don’t have the strength in depth.

Venue

Vidauban Golf Club is an ultra-private club that was opened in 1999 on the hilly land around 10 miles north of St. Tropez.

Vidauban G.C. (Photo: Patrick Jantet)

The site was originally acquired by the famous golf architect Robert Trent Jones Snr. in the late 1970s. Fraught with subsequent financial and planning issues a course was eventually designed on the land by his son Robert Trent Jones Jnr.

Following recent renovation work the course is now established as one of Continental Europe’s finest. It is an undulating parkland track often compared with Spain’s Valderrama both in design and standing.

Adam Lawrence briefly tells the story of Vidauban in an October 2016 article for – Golf Course Architecture Magazine.

Background

This International Match was first played in 1934, originally starting with 6 players aside before moving to 8 in 1949.

It lapsed after the 1962 match at Ganton G.C. but was resurrected in 1982 at Chantilly with a new format which has been retained to this day. It has been played biennially ever since.

Frilford Heath G.C., hosts of the 1984 match, donated a silver salver which the winning team retains.

England v. France Match Salver (Photo: Cyprien Comoy / Vidauban G.C.)

To date England have won 29 of the matches with France winning just 5, the last one being in 2010 at Chantilly.

Previous Results

England beat France 14 -10 in the 2016 match played at Formby G.C – Full Results

The 2016 England Team (Photo: GolfBible)

The England team back then consisted of Jamie Bower, Scott Gregory, Josh Hilleard, Paul Kinnear, Bradley Moore, Alfie Plant, Ashton Turner and James Walker.

The overall match record is Played 34, England Won 29 and France Won 5.

Match	Year	Venue	England	France	Winner
35	2018	Vidauban
34	2016	Formby	14	10	England
33	2014	Fontainebleau	13	11	England
32	2012	Rochester & Cobham	15	9	England
31	2010	Chantilly	11	13	France
30	2008	Frilford Heath	14	10	England
29	2006	Golf du Medoc	16.5	7.5	England
28	2004	Royal St. George’s	11.5	12.5	France
27	2002	Chantilly	17.5	6.5	England
26	2000	Chart Hills	17.5	6.5	England
25	1998	Les Bordes	11.5	12.5	France
24	1996	Sunningdale	9	15	France
23	1994	Nimes	17	7	England
22	1992	Royal Lytham & St. Annes	18	6	England
21	1990	Morfontaine	16.5	7.5	England
20	1988	Berkshire	16	8	England
19	1986	Hossegor	14.5	9.5	England
18	1984	Frilford Heath	16	8	England
17	1982	Chantilly	13	11	England
1963-1981 No matches were played
16	1962	Ganton	7.5	4.5	England
15	1960	Chantilly	7.5	4.5	England
14	1959	West Hill	8.5	3.5	England
13	1956	Chantilly	10	2	England
12	1954	Berkshire	11	1	England
11	1952	Deal	8	4	England
10	1950	Morfontaine	8.5	3.5	England
9	1949	Deal	5	4	England
8	1948	St. Cloud	5.5	3.5	England
7	1947	Wentworth	8	1	England
1940-1946 No matches were played
6	1939	Morfontaine	5	4	France
5	1938	Sunningdale	8.5	0.5	England
4	1937	Chantilly	7	0	England
3	1936	Deal	5.5	3.5	England
2	1935	St. Germain-en-Laye	5.5	3.5	England
1	1934	Wentworth	5.5	3.5	England

N.B. Matches 1–8 had 6 players and matches 9-35 had 8 players

ME.

The Lytham Trophy – 2018 Preview, Reports & Results

Posted on 23/04/2018 by Golf Bible

6th May 2018

Round 4

Matthew Jordan (ENG) today added the 2018 Lytham Trophy to his impressive amateur golfing c.v. after a superb day’s play from him on the challenging Lancashire links.

He started the day with a two shot lead and went on to finish the event with a 9-shot victory. Recording rounds of 67, 69, 70 and 66 – not one of over par – for a 272 total (-8) over three days takes some doing. His nerveless final round of 66 was also the best of the day.

img_9149-1

Matthew Jordan’s Rd 4 Scorecard (Photo: Royal Lytham GC)

The win initially moved Matthew to 12th in the SPWAR but this quickly became 11th when Dawson Armstrong (USA) announced he was turning pro. He and Todd Clements (18th) are now GB&I’s, and for that matter Europe’s, leading amateur golfers.

Matthew Jordan (Photo: Angie McGlue)

Backing up his recent Hampshire Salver win Mitch Waite (ENG) finished 2nd with a 281 (+1) total.

Sam Locke (SCO) and David Nyfjall (SWE) finished tied 3rd with a 284 (+4) score. Sam delivered a great 67 in the final round to record the best result of his career to date.

Tom Plumb (ENG) matched Sam’s 67 to finish 5th on 285 (+5). Todd Clements (ENG) shot a 68 and Ben Chamberlain (WAL) a 69 on the final afternoon to finish 6th (286 +6) and 7th (287 +7) respectively.

Click here to view the full 2018 Lytham Trophy results – Results

Round 3

Whilst achieved in completely different manners the three leading players Matthew Jordan (ENG), Mitch Waite (ENG) and David Nyfjall (SWE) all shot even par 70’s in the third round to keep the competition very much alive.

The best scores in round 3 came from Andrew Wilson (ENG) and Tiarnan McLarnon (IRE) who both recorded 69’s.

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5th May 2018

Matthew Jordan (ENG) shot a 69 in round 2 of the Lytham Trophy. His 136 total (67 69 / -4) leaves him two shots ahead of the field with 36 holes to be played tomorrow.

Mitch Waite (ENG), winner of the Hampshire Salver a few weeks ago, shot the round of the day matching Billy McKenzie’s 66 from yesterday. This lifted him into 2nd place which he shares with Sweden’s David Nyfjall, who recorded a second 69.

Mitch Waite’s Rd 2 Scorecard (Photo: Royal Lytham GC)

49 players on +7 or better made the top 40 and ties cut. The Round 2 CSS of 76 was the same as on Day 1.

Play will start at 7.00am tomorrow with the leading group teeing off in their 3rd and 4th rounds at 10.12am and 3.15pm respectively.

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4th May 2018

Billy McKenzie (ENG), winner of the Spanish International Amateur in early March, leads the Lytham Trophy after Round 1.

With playing conditions forecast to be good all weekend lower scoring than normal was expected around the tough Royal Lytham course. Billy didn’t disappoint. He teed off at 8.30am and his 66 (-4) set an impressive early target which from the outset looked like it may hold up all day.

To put it in context the CSS for the round was 76 and the lowest round in the whole 2017 competition was a 68 (-2), which Jack Singh Bear also recorded in Round 1.

Billy McKenzie’s Rd 1 Scorecard (Photo: Royal Lytham GC)

Matthew Jordan (ENG) is one shot back after a 67 (-3). In a very steady round birdies on 6, 8, 11 and 13 were offset by a single bogey on the difficult 15th, a par 4 playing 464 yards.

Tied for third are Robin Williams (ENG), Sam Locke (SCO) and John Brady (IRE) all of whom posted 68’s (-2).

After 18 holes tied 40th place is occupied by 11 players on +3. With warmer weather forecast for today scores should be similar to Day 1 and therefore the cut will probably be in the region of +6.

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29th April 2018

The 2018 Lytham Trophy will be played on 4th, 5th and 6th May at Royal Lytham & St. Annes G.C.

It is the first major event in the Great Britain and Ireland (GB&I) men’s amateur golf season.

Royal Lytham & St. Annes G.C. (Photo: Brian Young)

In 2017 the Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking (SPWAR) placed it 18th in it’s list of worldwide amateur competitions based on field strength. It normally ranks 3rd in GB&I behind the Amateur Championship and the St. Andrews Links Trophy. Coming early in the season it misses out on European players competing for U.S. colleges.

Course

The famous Royal Lytham links course certainly presents a stern test. Playing off the blue championship tees competitors have to meet a 7,118 yard par 70 challenge; the front nine being 3,437 yards, a par 34, and the back nine being 3,681 yards, a par 36.

Like The Open Championship players will tee off between 7.30am and 3.40pm on the Friday and Saturday so changes in the weather and wind speeds throughout the first two days often play a big part in scoring.

Format and Tee Times

144 scratch golfers from 15 diffrent countries will tee off in what will be the 54th playing of this prestigious competition.

The Lytham Trophy is a 72-hole stroke play event. 18 holes are played on the first two days before a top 40 and ties cut is made. 36-holes are then played on the final day by the leading competitors.

View the Draw for Rounds 1 and 2 here – 2018 Lytham Trophy Tee Times

In the event of a tie for the lowest score there is a 3-hole stroke play play-off on holes 1, 2 and 18. If a winner still hasn’t been determined then the play-off moves to sudden death over the same holes.

The Winner receives a silver replica of the Lytham Trophy, both of which are shown below.

Lytham Trophies

The Lytham Trophy and the Winner’s Replica (Photo: Royal Lytham & St. Annes G.C.)

Players

Most of GB&I’s leading amateur golfers will be competing.

Here is a list of the highest ranked players in the field and those showing some early season form (SPWAR rankings as at 29th April): –

Matt SAULEZ (RSA) – SPWAR 23rd
Matt has been building an impressive resume over the last 3 years without delivering a big win. He is currently the highest ranked player in the field.

Malcolm MITCHELL (RSA) – SPWAR 27th
Arrives in the UK on the back of two very solid season’s back home.

Todd CLEMENTS (ENG) – SPWAR 28th
The 2017 English Amateur champion has recently finished 2nd in the Sunshine Tour Qualifying School and 1st in the European Nations Cup Individual. He is now GB&I’s No. 1 amateur golfer.

Wilco NIENABER (RSA) – SPWAR 32nd
A prolific winner of junior events in South Africa in recent years as well as winner of the Western Province Open Amateur last week. He could very easily be the next Thriston Lawrence (Lytham Trophy 2015) or Kyle McClatchie (Brabazon Trophy 2017).

Matthew JORDAN (ENG) – SPWAR 39th
Finished tied 7th last year before embarking on a great run of form that led to his selection for the 2017 Walker Cup team.

Deon GERMISHUYS (RSA) – SPWAR 51st
A superb win at the 2018 South African Amateur followed up with another at the All Africa Junior Challenge will see Deon arrive in the UK full of confidence.

Gian-Marco PETROZZI (ENG) – SPWAR 78th
Now established as one of GB&I’s leading players Gian-Marco won the Welsh Open Amateur in 2017 and the New South Wales Amateur in Australia earlier this year. He was tied 2nd in the European Nations Cup Individual at Sotogrande last weekend.

David HAGUE (ENG) – SPWAR 87th
Won the Lagonda Trophy and North of England Open Amateur in 2017 and has become an important member of the England Men’s Squad in 2018.

Caolan RAFFERTY (IRE) – SPWAR 103rd
The medalist at last year’s Amateur Championship has finished tied 21st and tied 7th at the last two Lytham Trophies. I am sure he has a big win coming.

Alex GLEESON (IRE) – SPWAR 103rd
After a good playing trip to South Africa Alex is finding form at the right time. He arrives having recently reached the final of the West of Ireland and having finished tied 2nd in the European Nations Cup Individual.

Robin DAWSON (IRE) – SPWAR 106th
Like Alex Robin played well in South Africa and will now be looking for some big performances back home to secure a place in GB&I’s St. Andrews Trophy Team.

Clayton MANSFIELD (RSA) – SPWAR 123rd
Won the Cape Province Open earlier this year.

Ben JONES (ENG) – SPWAR 146th
Winner of the U18 Duke of York at nearby Royal Liverpool GC last year and tied 2nd at the Portuguese International Amateur a few weeks ago.

Jake BURNAGE (ENG) – SPWAR 154th
Saunton’s Jake finished 3rd at Lytham last year and was recently medalist in the Spanish International Amateur.

Laird SHEPHERD (ENG) – SPWAR 198th
Laird has dominated British University golf this season and has a number of good results on links courses under his belt in recent years.

Billy MCKENZIE (ENG) – SPWAR 203rd
Winner of the 2018 Spanish International Amateur at La Manga.

Callum FARR (ENG) – SPWAR 425th
Recent winner of the Selborne Salver and shared winner of the West of England Amateur at Royal North Devon this weekend.

Mitch WAITE (ENG) – SPWAR 559th
Mitch recently won the Hampshire Hog and Hampshire Salver competitions. His tied 4th place at the 2017 Irish Amateur Open, played at Royal County Down G.C., suggests he has the skills and strategy to cope with the toughest of layouts.

Weather Forecast

The latest weather forecast (as at Thursday 3rd May) looks great for all three competition days – sunny with no more than a gentle breeze blowing.

Fri 4th May – Cloudy / Wind 9 mph W / Temp. Min. 8°C / Max. 14°C.
Sat 5th May – Sunny Intervals / Wind 8 mph SW / Temp. Min. 7°C / Min 16°C.
Sun 6th May – Sunny Intervals / Wind 8 mph SSW / Temp. Min. 9°C / Max. 19°C.

The 2017 Lytham Trophy

Jack SINGH BRAR won the 2017 Lytham Trophy on an exciting final day at Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club.

Hamey and Jack Singh Brar (Photo: Angie McGlue)

Two in form players at the time ran the Hampshire man close; Charlie STRICKLAND finishing second and Jake BURNAGE third.

Click this link to view the 2017 Lytham Trophy – Final Results

History, Past Winners and Records

The competition was first played in 1965 after the Club identified a need for a new top class amateur competition and one that could be played in the North of England.

A date on the first weekend in May was established and a 72 hole stroke play format adopted.

Member’s subscribed to purchase the unique sputnik trophy. This remains at Royal Lytham with a smaller replica handed out annually to the winner.

As one would expect the list of past winner’s is a who’s who of GB&I and more recently world amateur golf.

Of the older winners the most notable are: –
Michael BONALLACK – 1965 (s), 1972
Rodney FOSTER – 1967, 1968
Geoffrey MARKS – 1970 (s)
Charles GREEN – 1970 (s), 1974
Michael KING – 1973
George MACGREGOR – 1975
Peter MCEVOY – 1978
Ian HUTCHEON – 1980
Roger CHAPMAN – 1981
John HAWKSWORTH – 1984
Paul BROADHURST – 1988
Gary EVANS – 1990, 1991
Stephen GALLAGHER – 1995
Graham RANKIN – 1997
Stuart WILSON – 2003
(s) = shared

In 2004 21 year old James HEATH won with a record score of 266 (-18), recording rounds of 67, 68, 66, and 65. No one else has ever come close to this mark before or after. The next best scores being Daan HUIZING’s 273 in 2013 and Richard MCEVOY’s 276 in 2001. Garth McGimpsey, the then Walker Cup captain, described Heath’s performance as ‘the best amateur golf I’ve ever seen’.

In 1999 the Lytham Trophy was won by Tino SCHUSTER, the first time a non-GB&I player had been successful.

The seven winners prior to Jack SINGH BRAR show just how international the amateur game has become as well as the increasing attraction of the Lytham Trophy beyond these shores: –
Paul CUTLER – 2010 (Ireland)
Jack SENIOR – 2011 (England)
Daan HUIZING – 2012 (The Netherlands)
Albert ECKHARDT – 2013 (Finland)
Thriston LAWRENCE – 2014 (South African
Marcus KINHULT – 2015 (Sweden)
Alfie PLANT – 2016 (England)

The Royal Lytham website lists all of the Past Winners and their Scores.

ME.

March 2018 Men’s Amateur Rankings

Posted on 08/04/2018 by Golf Bible

8th April 2018

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

This information has always been shown on the Rankings page of the GolfBible website and is updated quarterly.

However, as this analysis has not been communicated via the Blog previously I am conscious some subscribers may have missed out on this interesting data. Hence this short note to flag up the latest update covering the March 2018 Quarter.

I also select a Player of the Quarter. For Quarter 1 2018 I have selected England’s Billy McKenzie. Billy won the Spanish International Amateur at La Manga in early March.

Billy McKenzie (Photo: Adolfo Luna)

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

ME.

Golf Bible

The Home of Great British & Irish Amateur Golf

Tag Archives: Billy McKenzie

Some Reflections On The 2019 GB&I Men’s Amateur Golf Year

The Western Amateur Championship – 2018 Preview, Reports & Results

The Open Championship – 2018 Final Qualifying

The St. Andrews Links Trophy – 2018 Preview, Reports & Results

The Brabazon Trophy – 2018 Preview, Reports & Results

England v. France International Match – 2018 Preview, Reports & Results

The Lytham Trophy – 2018 Preview, Reports & Results

March 2018 Men’s Amateur Rankings