The Masters – 2020 Amateur Results

Posted on 08/11/2020 by Golf Bible

15th November 2020 – Round 4

2019 U.S. Amateur champion Andy OGLETREE (USA) won the 2020 Silver Cup at The Masters for the low amateur completing all 72 holes.

Andy Ogletree (Photo: Michael Holahan / The Augusta Chronicle)

2020 Final Results (Photo: The Masters)

Ogletree delivered another very impressive round, particularly after starting on the 10th with two straight bogeys. His even par 72 in the final round saw him finish in tied 34th place on 286 (-2).

Andy Ogletree’s Results (Photo: The Masters)

John AUGENSTEIN (USA) also teed off on the 10th hole but a poor start meant he was unable to apply any pressure on Ogletree in his pursuit of the amateur prize. His final round 75 meant he finished 5-shots back of his compatriot.

John Augenstein’s Results (Photo: The Masters)

Click here to view the final – Masters 2020 Leaderboard

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14th November 2020 – Round 3

Andy OGLETREE (USA) again impressed in round 3 and will take a 2-shot lead into the final round in the race for the low amateur Silver Cup. Ogletree, looking increasingly comfortable in these surroundings, shot a 71 today alongside Shane Lowry and Ian Poulter off the 10th. Another very steady round, albeit one which included two bogeys in his last three holes, means he has had just four bogeys in his last 36 holes.

Andy Ogletree 54 hole Scorecard (Photo: The Masters)

John AUGENSTEIN (USA), playing with Rory McIlroy and Bernhard Langar off the 1st, sadly continued to trend upwards in scoring terms. A poor start and finish both caused by pushed tee shots were the main contributors to his 75. He’ll start the final round on Even par and will be hoping for a low one to get a modicum of revenge for his 2019 U.S. Amateur defeat to Ogletree at Pinehurst.

John Augenstein 54 hole Scorecard (Photo: The Masters)

Dustin Johnson on -16, a 54 hole tied record score after a 65 (-7) in round 3, will take a 4-shot lead into tomorrow’s final round over Sungjae Im, Abraham Ancer and Cameron Smith.

54 Hole Leaderboard (Photo: The Masters)

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12th-14th November 2020 – Rounds 1 and 2

John AUGENSTEIN (USA) and Andy OGLETREE (USA) both made the 36 hole cut and will now contest the low amateur Silver Cup competition over the weekend.

A total of 60 players made the cut which fell at 144 (Even). The soft conditions saw lower than normal scoring.

Amateur 36 Hole Leaderboard (Photo: The Masters)

John AUGENSTEIN (USA) enjoyed an excellent 3-under par opening round which included an eagle on the 13th. Starting his second round on the 10th he moved to -6 overall and was sitting comfortably in the top 10 before a poor finish saw him fall down the leaderboard to tied 28th.

John Augenstein 36 hole Scorecard (Photo: The Masters)

Andy OGLETREE (USA) showed great character to make the cut on 143 (-1) in tied 43rd place. He was 4-over after four holes having started nervously from the 10th in round 1 in the company of Tiger Woods. In his subsequent 32 holes he recorded nine birdies and just four bogeys to get himself under par.

Andy Ogletree 36 hole Scorecard (Photo: The Masters)

James SUGRUE (IRL) finished on 148 (+4) to miss the cut. His four 3-putts in Round 1, including a short one on the 18th when he was trying to finish his round before darkness fell, probably destroyed his chances of progressing. He can take some consolation from his second round 71 though which was the lowest round ever recorded by a GB&I amateur at The Masters.

James Sugrue 36 hole Scorecard (Photo: The Masters)

Mid-amateur Lukas MICHEL (AUS) also missed the cut after rounds of 76 and 74. Six birdies weren’t enough to offset a number of bogeys.

Lukas Michel 36 hole Scorecard (Photo: The Masters)

Left hander Yuxin LIN (CHN) struggled to a disappointing 79 in round 1. His eagle 3 on the 15th was the highlight and will at least earn him a pair of crystal highball glasses. A much improved second round 73 restored some pride but sadly the damage had already been done.

Yuxin Lin 36 hole Scorecard (Photo: The Masters)

Abel GALLEGOS (ARG), the youngest and least experienced player in the field, unsurprisingly found the going tough. His 160 (+18) tied 89th with Andrew Landry, last of the 90 players who completed both rounds.

Abel Gallegos 36 hole Scorecard (Photo: The Masters)

Here are the 36 hole playing statistics for the six amateur contestants: –

Screenshot 2020-11-15 at 09.26.57

36 Hole Amateur Playing Statistics (Source: The Masters)

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10th November 2020

The 84th Masters will take place at Augusta National G.C. between 12-15 November. A field of 92 players including six amateurs will be aiming to win the green jacket in 2020.

This year’s Masters was originally scheduled to be played on 9-12 April but had to be deferred due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As such there will be no colourful azalea backdrops and the course is expected to be much softer, playing longer but easier.

This year the Amateur Dinner is being held on Wednesday night, instead of the normal Monday, and due to social distancing only one amateur will be allowed to stay in the Crow’s Nest per night.

Andy Ogletree, Lukas Michel, Abel Gallegos, Fred Ridley, James Sugrue, Luxin Yin and John Augenstein at the 2020 Amateur Dinner (Photo: The Masters)

There will be no patrons due to COVID-19 which should hopefully help the amateurs to settle more quickly in to their famous surroundings when play gets underway. However, their chances of making the weekend have been reduced with the 36-hole cut being restricted to just the low 50 players and ties – the within 10 strokes proviso being removed due to the limited daylight.

I will be updating this article throughout the week with scoring information as I have done in previous years.

The 2020 Masters Journal (November Version)

2020 Amateur Player Biographies

The legacy of Bobby Jones, the founder of the tournament and a lifelong amateur (at least during his competitive years), means The Masters has always found a place for the leading amateur players. This year’s intake will take the total number of amateurs to have competed to 438.

Since 2016 just six Amateurs have been able to qualify for The Masters. In 2020 they are: –

The Winner of the 2019 U.S. Amateur Championship (Cat. 7) – ANDY OGLETREE (USA). Ogletree, 22, graduated from Georgia Tech last May with a degree in Business Administration. He represented USA in the 2019 Walker Cup match at Royal Liverpool G.C. and has played in four PGA Tour events this year missing the cut in all of them. Tradition dictates that Ogletree will have the pleasure of playing with Tiger Woods, the defending champion, in the opening two rounds. SPWAR #11 / WAGR #7.

The Runner-Up at the 2019 U.S. Amateur Championship (Cat. 7) – JOHN AUGENSTEIN, (USA). Augenstein is a 22 year old 5th year Senior at Vanderbilt University and also represented USA in the 2019 Walker Cup match. SPWAR #13 / WAGR #12.

The Winner of the 2019 Amateur Championship (Cat. 8) – JAMES SUGRUE (Ireland). The 23 year old from Mallow in County Cork will become the 15th Irishman to play in The Masters this week. He won the Amateur at Portmarnock in June 2019 and represented GB&I in the Walker Cup a few months later. SPWAR #95 / WAGR #8.

The Masters

James Sugrue During Tuesday Practice (Photo: Golffile / Scott Halleran)

Ogletree, Augenstein and Sugrue had all planned to turn pro after playing in The Masters in April so have had to delay their plans to ensure they experience Augusta National G.C.

The U.S. and Amateur champions also receive non-playing honorary invitations which mean they are invited to attend The Masters every year for the rest of their lives.

The Winner of the 2019 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (Cat. 9) – YUXIN LIN (China). This was left-hander Yuxin’s second win in this Championship, he also won in 2017, so for a 20 year old amateur he will unusually arrive in Augusta with some experience. The Masters co-founded this event in 2009. SPWAR #45 / WAGR #29.

The Winner of the 2019 Latin America Amateur Championship (Cat. 10) – ABEL GALLEGOS CAPUTO (Argentina). Gallegos won the Championship at El Camaleon G.C. in Mexico when he was just 17. The Masters co-founded this event in 2015. SPWAR #165 / WAGR #199.

The Winner of the 2019 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship (Cat. 11) – LUKAS MICHEL (Australia). The 26 year old Michel was the first non-American to win this title. He is of Czechoslovakian descent and has a Masters Degree in Engineering from the University of Melbourne. This exemption has been in place since 1989. SPWAR #230 / WAGR #90.

Up until 2015, when the U.S.G.A. discontinued the Championship, the winner of the U.S. Public Links was also invited. Byron Meth (USA) was the last recipient of such an invite in 2015.

2020 Amateur Tee Times – Rd 1 and Rd 2 (GMT +4hrs)

John Augenstein – 11.16am (1st) / 7.11am (10th)
with Danny Willett and Rickie Fowler

Abel Gallegos – 7.55am (1st) / 12.00pm (10th)
with Charles Schwartzel and Jason Day

Yuxin Lin 7.00am (10th) / 11.05am (1st)
with Sandy Lyle and Jimmy Walker

Lukas Michel – 7.22am (1st) / 11.27am (10th)
with Larry Mize and Andrew Landry

Andy Ogletree – 7.55am (10th) / 12.00pm (1st)
with Tiger Woods and Shane Lowry

James Sugrue – 12.11pm (10th) / 8.06am (1st)
with Jose Maria Olazabel and Andrew Putnam

Click here to view the – Masters 2020 Tee Times

2019 Masters – Amateur Performances

Viktor Hovland (Norway) won the low amateur Silver Cup competition at The Masters in 2019.

He was just the 7th non-American to win the Silver Cup and only the third European, following in the footsteps of Sergio Garcia (1998) and Matteo Manassero (2009).

He finished tied 32nd overall on 285 (-3), ten strokes behind winner Tiger Woods.

Hovland turned pro and has won on the PGA Tour in 2020. The only other player to win the Silver Cup and follow it up with a PGA Tour win since 2000 is Bryson DeChambeau.

Viktor Hovland (Photo: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)

Takumi Kanaya (Japan) posted the best amateur round of the 2019 Masters in Round 3 with a 4-under 68.

For more information on last year’s amateur performances please take a look at – The Masters – 2019 Amateur Results

The Masters – Amateur Playing Records

For more information on amateur performances at The Masters please take a look at – The Masters – Amateur Records.

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

Posted on 24/06/2020 by Golf Bible

16th August 2020 – Match Play Final

Tyler STRAFACI (USA) is the 120th U.S. Amateur champion. He beat Charles ‘Ollie’ OSBORNE (USA) in a high quality Final by 1 Hole.

Allowing for the usual match play concessions there were 23 birdies and 1 eagle in the 36 holes played. Strafaci shot rounds of 69 and 67 and Osborne rounds of 66 and 68.

2020 U.S. Amateur

Tyler Strafaci With The Havemayer Trophy (Photo: Steve Gibbons / USGA)

Tyler STRAFACI (USA), 22, started the Final as favourite based on his WAGR of 56th compared with Osborne’s 460th. Strafaci had also won the North & South Amateur at Pinehurst earlier this summer too.

There were two facts that made Tyler’s participation in the Final interesting. His late grandfather Frank Sr was a USGA champion, winning the U.S. Public Links Championship in 1935 and like the 2019 U.A. Amateur champion, Andy Ogletree (USA), he is a product of the Georgia Tech University golf program.

However, golf is no respecter of rankings or history. Charles ‘Ollie’ OSBORNE (USA), 20, a rising junior at Southern Methodist University (SMU), made a dream start birdieing the opening three holes and building a 5Up lead after 12 holes having played just 41 shots (6-under par).

Perhaps the key part of the Final were the next 5 holes where Strafaci found his form and reduced the deficit to just 1Up after the opening 18 holes.

Strafaci v. Osborne Match Play Final Scorecard, 1-18 Holes (Photo: USGA)

Strafaci achieved parity on the second hole of the afternoon round with a birdie on the 2nd and moved into the lead for the first time on the 25th with another.

Whilst pegged back on the 31st birdies on the 32nd and 33rd appeared to have earned Strafaci the title. He was after all now 2Up with 3 holes to play.

However, the realisation of what he was about to achieve perhaps overcame him and bogeys on the 34th and 35th set up a nervy final hole decider. Strafaci recovered his composure and a 245 yard 4-iron to 25 feet set up a tap-in birdie which proved good enough to win the Championship.

The Final was the fourth consecutive match which Strafaci had won on Bandon Dunes’ 18th hole.

Strafaci v. Osborne Match Play Final Scorecard, 19-36 Holes (Photo: USGA)

Conditions were again near perfect in Oregon with sunshine and a gentle breeze seen for almost all of the match. A sea mist drifted in as the players completed the final holes.

Here are the USGA’s video highlights of the Final: –

Over a 36-hole, seesaw match in sun, wind and fog that saw a combined 26 birdies and eagles, there are plenty of highlights.

We've got 'em all right here! Presented by @Lexus pic.twitter.com/6VDbPlLZeK

— USGA (@USGA) August 17, 2020

The two finalists earned an exemption into the 2021 U.S. Open Championship at Torrey Pines and the 2021 U.S. Masters Tournament.

By taking the title Strafaci also secured a place in the 2021 Open Championship at Royal St. George’s (if he remains an amateur) and a place on the USA’s 2021 Walker Cup team. Hailing from Davie, near Fort Lauderdale, in Florida Strafaci’s family home is a short distance from Seminole, the venue of the next May’s match.

Click here to view the full – 2020 U.S. Amateur Championship Results

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15th August 2020 – Match Play Semi-Finals

Playing conditions were perfect on Saturday with temperatures in the 70’s and very light winds.

Tyler STRAFACI (USA) was taken to the final hole for the third match running before overcoming Aman GUPTA (USA) 1Up. Strafaci had led 4Up after 12 holes but needed to win the 18th to take his place in the final.

‘Ollie’ OSBORNE (USA) took control of his match with Matthew SHARPSTENE (USA) with a birdie on the 9th, a winning par on the difficult par 4 11th and consecutive birdies on the 13th and 14th.

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14th August 2020 – Match Play Quarter Finals

Match Play Quarter Finals Results (Photo: USGA)

Tyler STRAFACI (USA), 22, beat mid-amateur Stewart HAGESTAD (USA), 29, by 1 Hole.

No mid-amateur has won the U.S. Amateur since John Harris in 1993. Hagestad has probably now done enough to secure a spot in the 2021 U.S.A. Walker Cup team, which will be his third consecutive appearance.

Philip BARBAREE (USA), 22 and Michael THORBJORNSEN (USA), 18, both lost thus losing the opportunity to join Tiger Woods as the only winner to date of both the U.S. Junior Amateur and U.S. Amateur Championships. Barbaree won the Junior in 2015 and Thorbjornsen in 2018.

Aman GUPTA (USA), 21, is the highest stroke play seed remaining. He only earned a spot in the Championship when Ricky CASTILLO (USA) withdrew last friday.

Matt SHARPSTENE (USA), 21, won the opening hole of his match against Barbaree and was never caught.

Charles ‘Ollie’ OSBORNE (USA), 20, beat Cameron SISK (USA), 20, who had come through the stroke play play-off to earn the 62nd seed, by 2&1. Osborne led 4Up after 10 holes, lost the next four holes before recovering to take his place in the semi-finals.

For the first time since 2004 all of the quarter finalists were from America.

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13th August 2020 – Match Play Round of 32 and Round of 16

The winds picked up to gusts of over 30mph in the afternoon making conditions tough.

Of particular note in the Round of 16 was Tyler STRAFACI‘s (USA), 22, 1Hole win over Segundo OLIVA PINTO (ARG). With the match tied Oliva Pinto’s approach to the final green finished in a green side bunker and inexplicably when he reached the bunker his caddie jumped in and started rubbing the sand with his hand to test the depth. A loss of hole penalty was assessed and as a result Strafaci progressed.

Here are the afternoon Round of 16 results: –

Match Play Rd of 16 Results (Photo: USGA)

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Sandy SCOTT (SCO) lost his morning Round of 32 match to Davis CHATFIELD (USA) by 2&1 thus ending GB&I interest in this year’s Championship.

Scott again got off to a bad start before recovering. However, Chatfield maintained his composure and two late mistakes from the Scotsman enabled him to regain the upper hand,

Chatfield v. Scott Match Play Rd of 32 Scorecard (Photo: USGA)

Medalist Wilson FURR (USA) bogeyed the 18th and double bogeyed the 19th to hand his Round of 32 match to Harrison OTT (USA). No medalist has won the U.S. Amateur since 2003.

Conqueror of John Gough Segundo OLIVA PINTO (ARG) had a good win taking out McClure MEISSNER (USA) who had beaten Angus Flanagan in the previous round.

Here are the complete Round of 32 results: –

Match Play Rd of 32 Results (Photo: USGA)

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12th August 2020 – Play-Off and Match Play Round of 64

Cameron SISK (USA), Evan KATZ (USA) and Aaron DU (CHN) came through the 18-for-3 play-off early on Wednesday morning. Sisk and Katz birdied Bandon Dunes’ 375 yard 10th whilst Du birdied the 435 yard 11th to finish affairs off relatively quickly.

From a GB&I perspective only Sandy SCOTT seeded 42 (SCO) was able to negotiate his Round of 64 match coming back from 3Down after 6 holes to beat Brayden GARRISON (USA) 23 by 3&2.

Garrison v. Scott Match Play Rd of 64 Scorecard (Photo: USGA)

Scott should now be looking confidently towards the latter stages of this Championship. He won both of his singles in last year’s Walker Cup at Royal Liverpool, has a nice comeback win under his belt here at Bandon and he is the highest WAGR ranked player left in the field (6th).

Unfortunately Angus FLANAGAN (ENG) and John GOUGH (ENG) both came out on the wrong side of tight matches.

The Southern Amateur champion McClure MEISSNER (USA) 8 beat Angus FLANAGAN (ENG) 57 by 2&1. The American won the 16th and 17th holes with birdies to secure the win.

John GOUGH (ENG) 25 lost on the 19th hole to Segundo OLIVA PINTO (ARG) 40. Oliva Pinto birdied the 17th to regain parity before another birdie on the 19th hole saw him through to the Round of 32.

Medalist Wilson FURR (USA) continued his good form by beating Aaron DU (CHN) by 6&4. However, there were notable losses for highly fancied Davis THOMPSON (USA) and John AUGENSTEIN (USA) in Round 1.

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11th August 2020 – Stroke Play Qualifying Round 2

22 year old University of Alabama student Wilson FURR (USA) 132 -11 secured medalist honours after posting a course record 62 (-9) on the Bandon Trails course on Day 2. His 62 was the joint second lowest score in U.S. Amateur history.

Wilson Furr (Photo: Steve Gibbons / USGA)

Wilson Furr’s Stroke Play Qualifying Scorecard (Photo: USGA)

James PIOT (USA) -9 and Ben SHIPP (USA) -7 finished second and third respectively after completing their qualifying with a 65 and 67 on Bandon Dunes.

Day 1 leaders McClure MEISSNER (USA) and Aman GUPTA (USA) were both over par in Round 2 but with their firm foundations in place still finished in the top 10.

Just three of the eleven GB&I players made it through to the match play stage of the Championship. John GOUGH (ENG) -2 finished tied 23rd, Sandy SCOTT (SCO) Ev tied 36th and Angus FLANAGAN (ENG) +1 tied 48th. Sandy did well playing himself into the top 64 with a 70 (-2) around the Dunes course.

John Gough’s Stroke Play Qualifying Scorecard (Photo: USGA)

Sandy Scott’s Stroke Play Qualifying Scorecard (Photo: USGA)

Angus Flanagan’s Stroke Play Qualifying Scorecard (Photo: USGA)

The match play cut came at 145 (+2) with 18 players finishing on this score in tied 62nd place. An 18-for-3 spots play-off will therefore now be held tomorrow morning to finalise the match play field.

Connor MCKINNEY (SCO) and Joe PAGDIN (ENG) both sadly bogeyed 3 of their last five holes to miss out on qualification and even a shot at the play-off.

Austin ECKROAT (USA) +3, Cole HAMMER (USA) +3, defending champion Andy OGLETREE (USA) +3, Preston SUMMERHAYS (USA) +4, John PAK (USA) +5 and Pierceson COODY (USA) +8 were amongst the leading home players to miss the cut.

Round 2 Average Scores: Dunes 72.931 (+0.931) and Trails 73.689 (+2.689). As with Round 1 the wind speeds picked up but not as significantly as on Day 1. As a result the score differential between the morning and afternoon starters was less material.

GB&I Stroke Play 36 Hole Qualifying Scores (Photo: USGA)

Click here to view the – 2020 U.S. Amateur Stroke Play Qualifying Results

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10th August 2020 – Stroke Play Qualifying Round 1

McClure MEISSNER (USA) -8 and Aman GUPTA (USA) -7 recorded the lowest rounds on Day 1 of the 120^th U.S. Amateur Championship. Meissner was playing on the Dunes course whilst Gupta started his Championship on the Trails.

The wind picked up significantly in the afternoon and scores were around 3.5 shots higher on both courses from the second wave players.

Round 1 Average Scores: Dunes 75.583 (+3.583) and Trails 75.598 (+4.598).

At the end of Round 1 John GOUGH (ENG) -2 Dunes, Angus FLANAGAN (ENG) -1 Dunes and Joe PAGDIN (ENG) Ev Trails are all positioned in the all-important top 64.

These three and certainly the other 8 GB&I players still have work to do on Day 2 if they are to make the Match Play stage.

GB&I Stroke Play 18 Hole Qualifying Scores (Photo: USGA)

Click here to view the – 2020 U.S. Amateur Stroke Play Qualifying Results

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5th August 2020

Introduction

This year’s Championship is being played on Bandon’s Dunes and Trails courses.

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

2020 Field

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic all Sectional Qualifying events were cancelled. In 2019 there were 96 36 hole events staged by the USGA with the qualifiers making up a large proportion of the final field.

The 2020 field is entirely made up of exempt players and has been reduced to 264 players – 312 normally compete. The entry fee for the U.S. Amateur Championship is $175.

Exemption categories, largely based on the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), were established by the USGA with the aim of creating a field that most closely resembles those of a typical Championship.

Based on the main exemption categories originally announced 28 GB&I players earned a spot in the field – see Appendix below for more details. However, due to international travel restrictions many of these players have not been able to take up this opportunity. This in turn opened the door to six other GB&I players who were ranked lower in the WAGR but were based in USA.

On 30th July 14 GB&I players were confirmed by the USGA as being in the field. Barclay Brown, Tom McKibbin and John Murphy subsequently withdrew on travel grounds leaving us with 11 starters. They are: –

Dan BRADBURY (ENG)
Archie DAVIES (WAL)
Alex FITZPATRICK (ENG)
Angus FLANAGAN (ENG)
John GOUGH (ENG)
Jamie LI (ENG)
Connor MCKINNEY (SCO)
Rhys NEVIN (ENG)
Daniel O’LOUGHLIN (ENG)
Joe PAGDIN (ENG)
Sandy SCOTT (SCO)

There were 11 GB&I players at Pinehurst last year, 7 in 2018 at Pebble Beach, 9 in 2017 at Riviera and 11 in 2016 at Oakland Hills.

Sadly it will not be possible for any of the above GB&I entrants to play in the Brabazon Trophy (18-21 August) or the Amateur Championship (25-30 August) this year due to the current quarantining rules.

The par-4 fifth hole at Bandon Dunes (Photo: USGA/Steven Gibbons)

Most of the leading USA players will be competing at Bandon Dunes and I expect the following to feature strongly: –

John AUGENSTEIN (USA) – 2019 runner-up
Pierceson COODY (USA)
Quade CUMMINS (USA)
Austin ECKROAT (USA)
Cole HAMMER (USA)
Meissner MCCLURE (USA)
Maxwell MOLOVAN (USA)
Andy OGLETREE (USA) – 2019 champion
John PAK (USA)
Tyler STRAFACI (USA)
Preston SUMMERHAYS (USA)
Davis THOMPSON (USA)

Click here to view the – USGA’s 2020 U.S. Amateur Information PDF

Click here to view the – USGA’s 2020 U.S. Amateur Exemptions List

Click here to view the – 2020 U.S. Amateur Stroke Play Qualifying Draw Sheets

With Oregon being 8 hours behind the UK play will start in our late afternoon and proceed through the night.

Competition Format

On Monday 10th and Tuesday 11th August all of the competitors will play 36-holes of stroke play, one round on the Dunes Course and the other on the Trails Course.

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 the Dunes Course between Wednesday 12th and Saturday 15th, culminating in a 36-hole Championship Final on Sunday 16th August. Extra holes will be played to resolve any halved games.

Host Courses

Bandon Dunes Course
7,218 yards (maximum), Par 72
Opened in 1999.
Designed by David McLay Kidd.

Bandon Dunes Course Video (Photo: bandondunesgolf.com)

Bandon Dunes Course Scorecard (Photo: bandondunesgolf.com)

Bandon Trails Course
6,883 yards (maximum), Par 71
Opened in 2005.
Designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw.

Bandon Trails Course Video (Photo: bandondunesgolf.com)

Bandon Trails Course Scorecard (Photo: bandondunesgolf.com)

The Bandon Dunes Golf Resort is the realisation of a dream by golf-mad owner Mike Keiser, a greetings card millionaire. It now incorporates six courses, including a spectacular 13 hole par 3 set up, all built on sand dunes 100 feet above the Pacific Ocean.

The Resort has previously hosted the 2006 Curtis Cup Match, 2007 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship and 2011 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship.

Weather Forecast

The weather forecast (as at 9th August) is positive for Championship week. Bandon Dunes in Oregon is on the north west pacific coast so temperatures will be cool and winds will be a factor.

Stroke Play Qualifying
Mon 10th August – Sunny / Wind 21 mph N / Temp. Min. 21°C, Max. 9°C.
Tues 11th August – Sunny Intervals / Wind 17 mph N / Temp. Min. 19°C, Max. 8°C.

Match Play Stage
Weds 12th August – Sunny / Wind 19 mph N / Temp. Min. 20°C, Max. 9°C.
Thurs 13th August – Sunny Intervals / Wind 19 mph N / Temp. Min. 21°C, Max. 10°C.
Fri 14th August – Sunny / Wind 21 mph N / Temp. Min. 22°C, Max. 10°C.
Sat 15th August – Sunny / Wind 15 mph N / Temp. Min. 23°C, Max. 13°C.
Sun 16th August – Sunny Intervals / Wind 11 mph NW / Temp. Min. 19°C, Max. 12°C.

UK Television Coverage

In recent years the Sky Sports Golf channel has taken the U.S. television feed, via the Red Button, over the final match play weekend.

Prizes

The 2020 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 2021 U.S. Open to be staged at [Winged Foot Golf Club or Torrey Pines];

and assuming they remain amateur,

c) An exemption to play in the 2021 Open Championship at Royal St. George’s Golf Club;

d) An invitation to play in the 2021 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club;

e) An exemption to play in the 2021 – 2030 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.

Bobby Jones Receives the Original U.S. Amateur Trophy in 1924

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.

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2019 U.S. Amateur Championship

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

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.

Alex FITZPATRICK (ENG) was for the second year running GB&I’s leading performer in the Championship. He eventually lost in the Round of 16 to Cohen TROLIO (USA) 5&4. Trolio recorded five birdies on his front nine to take a 4Up lead and eventually saw out the game with another birdie on the 14th.

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

Brandon WU (USA) won the Stroke Play Qualifying competition with rounds of 65 -5 (No. 4) and 72 +2 (No. 2).

Brandon Wu (Photo: @USGA)

Tom SLOMAN (ENG) was one of six players one shot back of Wu on -2. Thomas FORSTER (ENG) and Alex FITZPATRICK (ENG) -1 also qualified in the top 20.

11 GB&I players competed in 2019 with just five progressing to the Match Play Stage. Ben JONES (ENG), who finished tied 62nd, missed out after a 27-for-3 sudden death play-off on Course No. 4.

Here are the full GB&I Stroke Play Qualifying Results: –

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

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

U.S. Amateur Championship History

The U.S. Amateur is the oldest golf championship in America and 2020 will see its 120th 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).

Matthew Fitzpatrick (Photo: U.S.G.A.)

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

09-15 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

09-15 August 2027 – Oak Hill Country Club, Pittsford, New York

11-17 August 2031 – Honors Course, Ooltewah, Tennessee

Appendix – GB&I Players Eligible For The 2020 U.S. Amateur

Based on the main exemption categories originally announced by the USGA 28 GB&I players earned a spot in the field.

However, due to international travel restrictions many of these players were not able to take up this opportunity. This in turn opened the door to six other GB&I players who were ranked lower in the WAGR but were based in USA.

Here’s a list of the relevant exemption categories, the GB&I players initially caught by them and confirmation of the 11 who will be competing.

Round of 64 from the 2019 U.S. Amateur Championship
Alex FITZPATRICK (ENG) ENTERED
Sandy SCOTT (SCO) ENTERED
James SUGRUE (IRL)

From the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, winners in 2016-2019; runners-up in 2018-2019 and quarterfinalists in 2019
Joe PAGDIN (ENG) ENTERED

Playing members of the United States and Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup Teams, four year exemption once appointed to the team (2017 & 2019)
Alex FITZPATRICK (ENG)
Conor GOUGH (ENG)
Thomas PLUMB (ENG)
Caolan RAFFERTY (IRL)
Sandy SCOTT (SCO)
James SUGRUE (IRL)

Winners of The Amateur Championship (five year exemption) (2016-2019).
James SUGRUE (IRE)

From the current Men’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) the top 225-ranked players as of 24th June 2020
Sandy SCOTT (SCO) #9
Caolan RAFFERTY (IRL) #17
James SUGRUE (IRL) #19
Joe PAGDIN (ENG) #20
Ben SCHMIDT (ENG) #27
Ben JONES (ENG) #30
Conor GOUGH (ENG) #43
Alex FITZPATRICK (ENG) #63
Jake BOLTON (ENG) #69
Angus FLANAGAN (ENG) #73 ENTERED
Mark POWER (IRL) #81
Tom MCKIBBIN (IRL) #116
John MURPHY (IRL) #127
Charlie STRICKLAND (ENG) #136
Matty LAMB (ENG) #145
Joe LONG (ENG) #147
Robin WILLIAMS (ENG) #151
Thomas PLUMB (ENG) #153
Peter O’KEEFFE (IRL) #157
Sam BAIRSTOW (ENG) #158
Keith EGAN (IRL) #160
Harry GODDARD (ENG) #167
Max MARTIN (ENG) #173
Arron EDWARDS-HILL (ENG) #178
Callum FARR (ENG) #188
Jamie LI (ENG) #205 ENTERED
Connor MCKINNEY (SCO) #224 ENTERED

From the current Men’s WAGR, the top 25-ranked players using the WAGR Age Filter as of 24th June 2020. Players must be age 25 on or before August 10, 2020. Player’s WAGR profile must include date of birth to be considered for this exemption category
Caolan RAFFERTY (IRL) #17 (2nd)
Peter O’KEEFFE (IRL) #157 (8th)
Colm CAMPBELL (IRL) #399 (24th)

[Matthew Clark (SCO) #319 – date of birth not added to WAGR biography so excluded]

Remaining spots in the championship field will be filled using the World Amateur Golf Ranking
Dan BRADBURY (ENG) #298 ENTERED
Barclay BROWN (ENG) #353
Archie DAVIES (WAL) #244 ENTERED
John GOUGH (ENG) #239 ENTERED
Rhys NEVIN (ENG) #346 ENTERED
Daniel O’LOUGHLIN (ENG) #326 ENTERED

ME.

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.

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

Posted on 03/09/2019 by Golf Bible

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.

Screenshot 2019-09-13 at 18.01.42

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

Posted on 09/08/2019 by Golf Bible

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.

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.

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.

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 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) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

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) 🇮🇪

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) 🇺🇸

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) 🇺🇸

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) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

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).

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.

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.

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

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

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Friday 9th August 2019

The 119^th 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. 2, Hole 17 (Photo: Pinehurst.com)

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)

Pinehurst Resort, Course No. 4, Hole 6 (Photo: Pinehurst.com)

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).

Bobby Jones Receives the Original U.S. Amateur Trophy in 1924

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.

Viktor Hovland (Photo: USGA)

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.

Matthew Fitzpatrick (Photo: U.S.G.A.)

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.

The European Amateur Championship – 2019 Preview, Reports & Results

Posted on 25/06/2019 by Golf Bible

29th June 2019

Matthias SCHMID (GER) finished the job off at the European Amateur today. A final round 70 took him to a 273 (-15) total and a comfortable 3 shot victory. Well done Matthias !

Matthias Schmid (Photo: European Golf Association)

Euan WALKER (SCO), confirming his status as Great Britain & Ireland’s No. 1 player, shot a 66 (-6) in the final round to move up to solo 2nd on -12.

Euan Walker’s Scorecard (Photo: EGA / Golfbox)

Ben JONES (ENG) 68 and Joe LONG (ENG) 74 finished the Championship on -9 tied for 3rd place. Jones collected the bronze medal based on last 36 holes count back.

It was also another good week for Caolan RAFFERTY (IRE) 69 who finished tied 6th on -8.

Lytham Trophy winner Josh MCMAHON (ENG) -5 finished tied 13th which may help push him in to the next Walker Cup squad.

Harry HALL (ENG) will be disappointed with his tied 16th finish on -4. After a superb front nine of 31 (-5) he looked like pushing Schmid all the way home but sadly a returning 43 (+7) destroyed much of his excellent work over the preceding three and half days.

The ever consistent David LANGLEY (ENG) was the seventh and last GB&I player to finish in the top 20. A late double bogey on the 16th took the edge off his closing 70 today.

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European Amateur Championship Leading Results (Photo: EGA / Golfbox)

Victor VEYRET (FRA) recorded the lowest round of the day with a 65 (-7) which included an outward 29 (-7) with 7 successive birdies on holes 2 – 8.

Click here to view the full – 2019 European Amateur Championship Results

ME.

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28th June 2019

Matthias SCHMID (GER) jumped to the head of affairs after posting a 63 (-9) on Day 3. His round was the best of the week so far and three shots better than the two opening round 66’s. The Louisville University player has been showing up regularly on leaderboards in recent weeks so to see him leading now on 203 (-13) is no surprise.

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Matthias Schmid’s Scorecard (Photo: EGA / Golfbox)

Joe LONG (ENG) is tied 2nd on 205 (-11). His 68 today included an impressive front nine of 31.

Euan WALKER (SCO) moved through the field with his own 68 in Round 3 and is now tied 5th on -6. Harry HALL (ENG) struggled a bit but contained the damage to a 74 and sits alongside the Scotsman well placed to attack tomorrow.

Ben JONES (ENG), Caolan RAFFERTY (IRE) and Charlie STRICKLAND (ENG) are all placed on -5 in tied 8th.

Other GB&I players to make the cut included Josh MCMAHON (ENG) -4 tied 13th, Jamie STEWART (SCO) -2 tied 18th, Sandy SCOTT (SCO), Jake BOLTON (ENG), David LANGLEY (ENG), Connor MCKINNEY (SCO) all -1 tied 21st, Robin WILLIAMS (ENG) +1, Tom PLUMB (ENG) both +1 tied 36th, Tom SLOMAN (ENG), Ben HUTCHINSON (ENG), Conor PURCELL (IRE) all +2 tied 49th and finally Tom MCKIBBIN (N.I.) and Tom THURLOWAY (ENG) both +3 tied 55th.

Daniel HILLIER (NZL) showed his class bouncing back with a 68 to make the cut after yesterday’s freak 85.

61 players, 19 of whom are from Great Britain & Ireland (GB&I), made the top 60 and ties cut which fell at +3.

The average score in Round 3 was 73.67 (+1.67), better than yesterday but still higher than on Day 1.

ME.

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27th June 2019

Harry HALL (ENG) now leads the European Amateur after second 68 moved him onto -8 for the Championship.

Harry Hall’s Scorecard (Photo: EGA / Golfbox)

Jerry JI (NED), Joe LONG (ENG) and overnight leader Blake WINDRED (AUS) are all tied 2nd on -7.

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Joe Long’s Scorecard (Photo: EGA / Golfbox)

Tiarnan MCLARNON (IRE), now tied 19 on -2, and David LANGLEY (ENG), now tied 32 on -1, matched Hall’s best of the day 68.

Other GB&I players going well include Jamie STEWART (SCO) -5 tied 5th, Charlie STRICKLAND (ENG) -3 tied 10th, Caolan RAFFERTY (IRE), Connor MCKINNEY (SCO), Euan WALKER (SCO), Ben JONES (ENG) and Josh MCMAHON (ENG) all -2 tied 19th.

Rasmus NEERGAARD-PETERSEN (DEN) produced the shot of the day. A hole-in-one on the 185 yard par 3 2nd hole.

The other Round 1 leader Daniel HILLIER (NZL) shot an 85 (+13) today, the worse score of Day 2 by 4-shots and 19 shots higher than his first effort. He is now up against it to make the 54 hole cut.

The average score in Round 2 was 74.30 (+2.30), 1.33 shots higher than in Round 1 due to stronger winds. The players found the back nine much harder on Day 2 with the average score rising to 37.43 from 36.30.

ME.

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26th June 2019

Blake WINDRED (AUS) and Daniel HILLIER (NZL) lead the European Amateur Championship in Austria after first round 66’s (-6). Windred had 6 unblemished birdies whilst Hillier had seven offset by a single bogey on the 206 yard par 3 14th.

Joe LONG (ENG), Mark POWER (IRE), Conor MCKINNEY (SCO) and Caolan RAFFERTY (IRE) are tied 3rd alongside Germany’s Matthias SCHMID (GER) on 67 (-5).

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GB&I Round 1 Leading Scorecards (Photo: EGA / Golfbox)

Harry HALL (ENG), Jamie STEWART (SCO), Joshua MCMAHON (ENG) and Charlie STRICKLAND (ENG) are in a group of 12 players on -4 in tied 8th. Hall matched Long’s sparkling 30 on the back nine to more than recover from a slow start.

The average score in Round 1 was 72.97 (+0.97); 36.67 (+0.67) on the front nine and 36.30 (+0.30) on the back. There were 10 eagles on Day 1 including a 2 from Tim WIDING (SWE) on the 338 yard par 4 13th. Harry Hall and Takumi KANAYA (JAP) both had 8 birdies in their opening rounds.

ME.

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25th June 2019

The 32nd European Amateur Championship starts tomorrow at Diamond Country Club in Austria.

This prestigious Championship is run by the European Golf Association (EGA), assisted each year by the host nation; this year, the Austrian Golf Federation.

Diamond C.C. Aerial View (Photo: golfbreaks.com)

Competition Format

The European Amateur is a 72-hole stroke play competition. 18-holes are played daily over four days.

A cut will take place after 54 holes with the 60 lowest scores and ties qualifying for the final round on Saturday 29th June.

A 3 hole aggregate score play off will decide the winner in the event of a tie. If this doesn’t separate the players then a sudden death play-off will commence over the same holes.

Entries

144 players will contest the Championship this week.

All of the players must have handicaps of 0.0 or better with an entry ballot applied based on the World Amateur Golf Rankings (1st-1,600th only).

Exemptions were also available to the defending champion, a single nomination from each EGA member nation, four nominated players from the host nation, Austria, competitors in the most recent Bonallack Trophy, St. Andrew’s Trophy and Jacques Léglise Trophy matches, the 2019 South American Amateur champion and the 2019 European Mid-Amateur champion.

There are 39 GB&I players competing in Austria. Amateur champion James SUGRUE (IRE) was originally entered in the Golf Union of Ireland squad but withdrew late last week. Alex FITZPATRICK (ENG) had also entered but again was a late withdrawal.

In total there are 27 of the current Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking’s Top 100 in the field. These are Euan WALKER (SCO) #7, Caolan RAFFERTY (IRE) #12, Jayden SCHAPER (RSA) #13, Conor PURCELL (IRE) #14, Daniel HILLIER (NZE) #15, Blake WINDRED (AUS) #18, Takumi KANAYA (JAP) #22, Harry HALL (ENG) #25, Ben JONES (ENG) #28, Jake BURNAGE (SCO) #29, Tom PLUMB (ENG) #30, TOM SLOMAN (ENG) #31, Sandy SCOTT (SCO) #36, David LANGLEY (ENG) #39, Matthias SCHMID (GER) #42, Keita NAKAJIMA (JAP) #43, Bailey GILL (ENG) #45, Ronan MULLARNEY (IRE) #48, Koen KOUWENAAR (NED) #49, Ben HUTCHINSON (ENG) #55, Luca FILIPPI (RSA) #67, Matty LAMB (ENG) #69, Jannik DE BRUYN (GER) #80, Adrien PENDARIES (ENG) #85, Jack THOMPSON (AUS) #86, Michael HIRMER (GER) #89 and Nathan BARBIERI (AUS) #99

Diamond Country Club

The 2019 Championship is being staged at the Diamond Country Club in Atzenbrugg, near Vienna in Austria.

Diamond C.C. Boathouse (Photo: golf.at)

The course was designed by Jeremy Pern and plays to 6,766m and a par of 72 off the back tees. It is an American-style parkland course set around a large central lake.

It hosted a European Tour event between 2010 and 2018. In 2018 it held the Shock Clock Masters, where every shot was timed for the first time. Tom MCKIBBIN (IRE) played as an amateur invite in this tournament and returns this week.

It has staged a number of EGA competitions most recently the 2017 Men’s European Team Championship which was won by Spain.

Weather Forecast

A hot and sunny week is forecast for Austria and conditions should be very good over the four competition days.

Weds 26th June – Sunny. Wind 7 mph (SE). Min. 23°C / Max. 36°C.
Thurs 27th June – Sunny. Wind 10 mph (NW). Min. 18°C / Max. 32°C.
Fri 28th June – Sunny. Wind 9 mph (NW). Min. 16°C / Max. 28°C.
Sat 29th June – Sunny. Wind 6 mph (NW). Max. 17°C / Min 29°C.

Prizes

Gold, silver and bronze medals are awarded to the Top 3 finishers.

More importantly the champion receives an exemption into this year’s Open Championship being played at Royal Portrush G.C. in Northern Ireland in July.

The Championship Trophy is held by the winning player’s national golf authority.

2018 European Amateur Championship

Nicolai HOJGAARD (DEN) won the 2018 European Amateur Championship at Royal Hague in The Netherlands.

Robin Dawson (Silver), Nicolai Hojgaard (Gold) and Jerry Ji (Bronze)
(Photo: European Golf Association / Ronald Speijer)

Robin DAWSON (IRE) and Jerry JI (NED) pipped Viktor HOVLAND (NOR) and Mitch WAITE (ENG) to the silver and bronze medals respectively, based on a last 36 and then 18 hole count back, after all four finished on 282 (-6).

Click here to view the – 2018 European Amateur Championship Results

Click here to view the – 2017 European Amateur Championship Results

Click here to view the – 2016 European Amateur Championship Results

History

The competition was first contested in 1986 at Eindhoven G.C. Initially it was held biennially before moving to an annual fixture from 1990.

2019 will be the second occasion Austria have hosted the Championship. To date it has been held in 18 different countries in total.

Former winners who have gone on to enjoy very successful professional careers include Stephen GALLACHER (1994), Sergio GARCIA (1995), Gregory HAVRET (1999), Carl PETTERSSON (2000), Rory MCILROY (2006) and Victor DUBUISSON (2009).

In addition to Gallacher and McIlroy other GB&I past winners include Jim PAYNE (1991), Paddy GRIBBEN (1998), Stephen BROWNE (2001), Brian MCELHINNEY (2003), Matthew RICHARDSON (2004), Rhys PUGH (2012) and Ashley CHESTERS (2013 and 2014) and Alfie PLANT (2017).

Ashley Chesters is the only two-time winner and the only player to have retained the trophy.

Click here to view the – European Amateur Championship Past Winners and Venues

Rory McIlroy – 2006 Champion (Photo: EGA)

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Irish Amateur Open Championship – 2019 Preview, Reports & Results

Posted on 09/05/2019 by Golf Bible

19th May 2019

James NEWTON (ENG), from the Prestbury G.C. in Cheshire, England, has won the 2019 Irish Amateur Open Championship at County Sligo G.C.

James Newton (Photo: Pat Cashman Photography / @GUIGolf)

Entering the event Newton was ranked 1,879th in the SPWAR and 2,710th in the WAGR so a victory of this magnitude has to be considered a major surprise.

He recorded rounds of 66, 66, 69 and 74 for a 275 -9 total.

Not surprisingly he started and finished a little nervously today but having settled down he played very nicely between holes 4 and 14, where he was 4 under par, to ensure he completed the job with some ease. After a triple bogey on the par 3 16th he showed good composure to par his final two holes.

“It’s nice to have a win early on in the season,” Newton said in an interview with the Golf Union of Ireland afterwards. “One of my goals was to win a 72 hole event, I’ve ticked that off quite early. I need to go back and re-evaluate my goals now. I changed coach last October and moved to Peter Barber at Didsbury Golf Club. The good has always been good enough and he has made the bad a lot better”.

James Newton’s Complete Scorecard (Photo: GUI / Golfbox)

Sadly earlier this week he failed to qualify for the Brabazon Trophy at the Lindrick Qualifier and with the above rankings has currently not made the grade for either the St. Andrews Links Trophy or The Amateur Championship. Hopefully a ‘Committee Exemption’ can be found to get him into some or all of these events in the next few weeks.

Conor PURCELL (IRE) 280 -4 finished 2nd 5-shots back. It was another excellent result for GB&I’s number 1 player, particularly coming after his missed cut at Lytham.

Josh MCMAHON (ENG), recent winner of the Lytham Trophy, also continued his good form with a tied 7th finish on +2.

The best Round 4 came from the Italian International Amateur champion Brandon DIETZEL (GER) who shot a bogey free 67. He rose 39 places to finish alongside McMahon in the Top 10.

The average score on Day 4 was 74.53 with the majority of the players again going backwards.

The Irish Amateur Open Final Results (Photo: GUI / Golfbox)

View the Full Results here – 2019 Irish Amateur Open Results

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18th May 2019

Overnight leader James NEWTON (ENG) showed no sign of nerves on Day 3. His 69 lifted him to -12 and extended his lead to 5 shots heading into tomorrow’s final round.

Scoring proved to be much tougher in Round 3 with cloudier and windier conditions finally allowing County Sligo to take some revenge on the field. The average score rising to 76.26, nearly four shots higher than in both of the opening two rounds.

With 18 holes to play tomorrow Ronan MULLARNEY (IRE) is 2nd on -7 and Arron EDWARDS-HILL (ENG) -6 3rd.

Mark POWER (IRE) benefitted from an early tee time to post a 68 (-3), the best score of the day. Like Marc Hammer yesterday he finished with an eagle 2 on the short 18th. As a result he rose 65 places to tied 28th on moving day.

Conor PURCELL‘s (IRE) consistent play, rounds of 70, 69 and 69 to date, has seen him creep up the leaderboard each day; he’s now up to tied 4th on -5. He should theoretically be able to play with a bit more freedom than his peers tomorrow so could easily mount a challenge.

Charlie STRICKLAND (ENG) shot a 1-over 72 today to finish the round on -5 for the tournament. He now sits alongside Purcell in tied 4th.

The top 50 and ties cut fell at +6 with 56 players progressing.

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17th May 2019

James NEWTON (ENG) shot a second successive 66 at the Irish Amateur Open to move into the lead on -10. In an almost identical round to yesterday he recorded one eagle (again on the 12th), four birdies and a bogey.

Ronan MULLARNEY (IRE) unsurprisingly found golf a little harder on Day 2 after the heroics of yesterday. His 72 (+1) saw him finishing Round 2 in 2nd place overall.

The best round of the day came from Marc HAMMER (GER) who shot a 7-under 64. The icing on the cake coming with a holed wedge on his final hole. Marc moved to -7 and will start tomorrow in 3rd.

Marc Hammer’s Round 2 Scorecard (Photo: GUI / Golfbox)

Five players are tied 4th for the Championship on -6. Keith EGAN (IRE) 66, Robert MORAN (IRE) 68, Charlie STRICKLAND (ENG) 69, Koen KOUWENAAR (NED) 69 and Arron EDWARDS-HILL (ENG) 69 all played their way into contention in Round 2.

It’s worth recording the consistency to date of both Moran and Edwards-Hill. They have both just bogeyed one hole over the first 36 holes on the testing County Sligo course.

Lytham Trophy winner Josh MCMAHON (ENG) is tied 9th after a 65 (-6) lifted him 50 places up the leaderboard.

Josh McMahon’s Round 2 Scorecard (Photo: GUI / Golfbox)

Cathal BUTLER (IRE) matched McMahon with a blemish free 66 of his own. The Kinsale man jumped 82 spots after opening with a 75 in Round 1.

Cathal Butler’s Round 2 Scorecard (Photo: GUI / Golfbox)

The Round 2 average score was identical to yesterday’s at 72.49 so despite a little more breeze lots of high quality golf was again seen.

By way of reminder the top 50 and ties cut will take place after Saturday’s third round.

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16th May 2019

Ronan MULLARNEY (IRE) shot a course record 62 (-9) to take the Round 1 lead at the Irish Amateur Open.

Ronan Mullarney’s Round 1 Scorecard (Photo: GUI / Golfbox)

Tied for 2nd James NEWTON (ENG), Robbie MUIR (SCO) and Euan WALKER (SCO) all posted 66’s (-5).

The average Round 1 score was 72.49 with 36 players shooting under par on a near perfect day at Rosses Point.

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12th May 2019

The 2019 Irish Amateur Open Championship, sponsored by Flogas, starts on Thursday 16th May at County Sligo G.C. at Rosses Point, in the western province of Connacht.

County Sligo G.C. (Photo: Rossespoint.ie)

Format and Tee Times

A field of 132 golfers from 14 different countries will tee off in what will be the 82nd playing of this competition.

The Irish Amateur Open is a 72-hole stroke play event organised by the Golfing Union of Ireland (GUI).

18 holes are played on the first three days before a top 50 and ties cut is made. A final 18 holes are then played by the leading competitors.

View the Draw for Rounds 1 and 2 here – 2019 Irish Amateur Open Tee Times

In the event of a tie for the Championship the players concerned will play 3 holes of stroke play. The player with the lowest aggregate total being the winner. If a winner still hasn’t been determined then the play-off moves to sudden death over the same holes.

The Irish Amateur Open Champion Golfer is awarded a superb silver trophy (see below). Irish winners are allowed to take the trophy back to their Club for the year whereas overseas winners must return it to the GUI after the prize presentation.

Course

County Sligo G.C.’s championship course was designed by Harry Colt and measures 7,157 yards, playing to a par of 71. The front nine is 3,557 yards long (par 36) and the back nine 3,600 yards (par 35).

Players will tee off between 7.00am and 3.15pm on each of the first three days so changes in the weather and wind speeds can be expected to play a big part in scoring.

County Sligo G.C. (Photo: Golfbreaks.com)

Players

Many of GB&I’s leading amateur golfers will be competing in north west Ireland.

However the field does look weaker than in previous years when Royal County Down was the host. Players finishing the U.S. college season, some taking exams at home and the harder logistics of getting to Sligo have all contributed to this position.

There are nine members of the recently announced 26-man Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup Squad playing; these are (Nationality / SPWAR), Jake BURNAGE (ENG / #114), Kieran CANTLEY (SCO / #450), Ben CHAMBERLAIN (WAL / #508), Jake HAPGOOD (WAL / #372), Euan MCINTOSH (SCO / #242), Mark POWER (IRE / #183), Conor PURCELL (IRE / #22), James SUGRUE (IRE / #220) and Euan WALKER (SCO / #45).

Josh MCMAHON (ENG / #123), the winner of the Lytham Trophy, is in the field as are Harry GODDARD (ENG / #173), Stephen ROGER (SCO / #326) and Laurie OWEN (ENG / #401) who also featured prominently in Lancashire.

Other players who could contend include Jake BOLTON (ENG / #276), Aaron EDWARDS-HILL (ENG / #304), Michael HIRMER (GER / #69), Matias HONKALA (FIN / #352), Jim JOHNSTON (SCO / #494), Matty LAMB (ENG / #332), David LANGLEY (ENG / #126), Peter O’KEEFFE (IRE / #659), Tiarnan MACLARNAN (IRE / #207), Ronan MULLARNEY (IRE / #120), Charlie STRICKLAND (ENG / #606), Charlie THORNTON (ENG / #459), James WILSON (SCO / #358) and Jeff WRIGHT (SCO / #569).

Weather Forecast

The latest weather forecast (as at Sunday 12th May) currently looks very good for all four competition days – mainly sunny with relatively modest winds.

Thu 16th May – Sunny Intervals / Wind 9 mph E / Temp. Min. 8°C / Max. 17°C.
Fri 17th May – Sunny Intervals / Wind 10 mph E / Temp. Min. 8°C / Max. 16°C.
Sat 18th May – Sunny Intervals / Wind 11 mph NE / Temp. Min. 8°C / Min. 16°C.
Sun 19th May – Sunny Intervals / Wind 11 mph E / Temp. Min. 9°C / Max. 17°C.

The 2018 Irish Amateur Open Championship

Robin DAWSON (IRE) completed a wire to wire victory at the 2018 Irish Amateur Open, helped in no small part by a superb 65 (-6) in Round 1.

The Tramore G.C. man started the final round 6-shots clear but after a final round 77 had to settle for a 282 (-2) total.

Robin Dawson (Photo: Cashman Photography)

John GOUGH (ENG) and Alex GLEESON (IRE) tied for 2nd on +2 with Alex FITZPATRICK (ENG) one shot further back on +3, 3rd.

Click this link to view the final – 2018 Irish Amateur Open Championship Result

History, Past Winners and Records

The Irish Amateur Open Championship was first played in 1892 with early winners including the English amateur greats John Ball and Harold Hilton.

Between 1894 and 1901 (6 years) the competition was played as part of the Irish Championship Meeting alongside a professional tournament.

The Championship was not played during both World Wars.

It was also not played between 1960 and 1994, I assume, due to a lack of interest from overseas players amidst concerns over safety.

Prior to 1958 it was a match play event but since returning to the amateur calendar in 1995 it has been 72 holes of stroke play.

To view a list of past winners click here – Irish Amateur Open Past Champions

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Men’s European Nations Championship – 2019 Preview & Results

Posted on 26/03/2019 by Golf Bible

13th April 2019

Defending champions ENGLAND (+14) retained the European Nations Championship in Spain. Their 878 total was 8 shots better than The Netherlands (+22).

Gareth Jenkins (Manager), Tom Plumb, Tom Sloman, Bailey Gill and Ben Jones
(Photos: @EnglandGolf)

IRELAND (+23) were third and WALES (+29), who recorded the lowest final day score (213), were an encouraging 4th. SCOTLAND (+37) had a poor final day and fell to 8th.

Click here to view the – 2019 ENC Men’s Team Results

Tom SLOMAN (ENG) won the Individual competition with a 294 (+6) total. His final round 77 looked like it would cost him the title but an eagle on 14 and three closing pars ended up being sufficient as other faltered on the challenging Sotogrande course.

Tom Sloman (Photos: @Golfing4Life_)

Caolan RAFFERTY (IRE) +8 finished 4th, Euan WALKER (SCO) and Ben CHAMBERLAIN (WAL) +9 tied 5th and Tom PLUMB (ENG), Jake HAPGOOD (WAL), Bailey GILL (ENG) and Conor PURCELL (IRE) +10 tied 11th.

Young Archie DAVIES (WAL) became the first player to shoot in the 60’s during the Championship. His final day 69 (-3) included six birdies.

Click here to view the – 2019 ENC Men’s Individual Results

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8th April 2019

The Men’s European Nations Championship (ENC) starts on Wednesday 10th April at Real Club de Golf Sotogrande in Southern Spain.

RCG Sotogrande is the permanent home of the ENC and this will be the 13th playing of the event.

It is a 72 hole stroke play Team and Individual competition.

Real Club de Golf Sotogrande

Field
This year 15 four-man teams (60) will play for a Team prize whilst a total of 69 players will contest the Individual competition. 9 players have been invited by RCG Sotogrande and the Spanish Golf Federation to complete the field.

This year the following players have been selected to represent the four competing home nations: –

England – Bailey GILL, Ben JONES, Tom PLUMB, Tom SLOMAN

Ireland – Mark POWER, Conor PURCELL, Caolan RAFFERTY, Rob BRAZILL*

*A late replacement for James SUGRUE who was injured in practice.

Scotland – Kieran CANTLEY, Jim JOHNSTON, Euan MCINTOSH, Euan WALKER

Wales – Ben CHAMBERLAIN, Archie DAVIES, Jake HAPGOOD, Matt ROBERTS

Of these just Ben Chamberlain, Jake Hapgood and Caolan Rafferty played in the event in 2018.

A Women’s ENC also takes place alongside the Men’s competition. Three women teams from England and Scotland are both competing.

Scores

Click here to view the – 2019 ENC Tee Times

Click here to view the – 2019 ENC Men’s Individual Scores

Click here to view the – 2019 ENC Men’s Team Scores

Format and Prizes
72 holes of stroke play, with 18 holes played daily, will be contested by all of the players. There is no cut.

In the Team event the best three 18-hole scores from the four players count towards the overall total.

In the case of a tie for 1st place a team member will be nominated and a sudden death play-off will be contested on the 9th hole. Other ties will be determined by a count back of the team score for the last 18, 27, 36, etc. holes.

The Individual prize is awarded to the lowest scoring player. Ties will be broken in line with the Team approach outlined above.

Winning Team members each receive a replica of the Nations Trophy. The Individual champion receives a trophy and a fetching yellow jacket.

Venue and Course
Real Club de Golf Sotogrande was opened in 1964 and was originally designed by Robert Trent Jones. One of the best courses in Continental Europe it first held the Spanish Open in 1966, won that year by Roberto de Vicenzo.

In 1970 The Sherry Cup, the precursor of the European Nations Cup, was established. Former Individual winners of this include Padraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia. (see below for the full list of past Individual winners).

In 1973 a Women’s event started to be played alongside the Men’s.

In 1983 Sotogrande hosted the Spanish Amateur Championship with Jose Maria Olazabel victorious.

Sotogrande was awarded royal patronage by HM King Juan Carlos I in 1994.

Between 1996 and 2001, in tandem with nearby San Roque GC, the course hosted the European Tour’s Qualifying School.

In 2006 The Sherry Cup was rebranded as the European Nations Cup and in 2017 become known as the European Nations Championship played for the Sotogrande Cup.

In 2011, ahead of it’s 50th anniversary, the Club decided to embark upon a major course renovation appointing Roger Rulewich and David Fleury. With the work on greens, bunkering and drainage taking place in 2015 and early 2016 the ENC moved temporarily to the nearby La Reserva Club de Golf for two years. In 2017 the competition returned being played on the renovated course for the first time.

The Black Tee Championship Course at Sotogrande plays 6,492m with a par of 72. The front nine measures 3,163m and the back 3,329m.

Weather Forecast
The forecast looks good albeit as always the winds will be a factor, particularly in the afternoon. This can cause problems given the numerous water hazards on the course.

Wednesday 10th – Sunny Max. 19°C / Min. 10°C; W 16mph
Thursday 11th – Sunny Max. 20°C / Min. 11°C; W 16mph
Friday 12th – Sunny Max. 21°C / Min. 11°C; W 11mph
Saturday 13th – Sunny Max. 23°C / Min. 12°C; SW 10mph

Past ENC Winners / 2018 Results

Team Competition

The home nations have an excellent record in the Men’s Team event.

2018 England 2018 ENC Team Results

The England Team, consisting of Todd Clements, David Hague, Matthew Jordan and Gian-Marco Petrozzi, won the Team competition by an impressive 20 shots with a 853 -11 total.

Of the other competing home nations Ireland finished second on 873 (+9) and Wales 11th on 910 +46. Scotland didn’t play in 2018.

England – l-r Gareth Jenkins (Manager), David Hague, Gian-Marco Petrozzi, Todd Clements, Graham Walker (Coach) and Matthew Jordan (Photo: Graham Walker)

2017 Wales 2017 ENC Team Results

Wales – l-r Josh Davies, David Boote, Jack Davidson and Owen Edwards (Photo: GUW)

2016 Ireland 2016 ENC Team Results

Ireland European Nations Cup 2016

Ireland – l-r Stuart Grehan, Alex Gleeson, Jack Hume and Dermot McElroy (Photo: GUI)

2015 England
2014 Scotland
2013 England
2012 France
2011 England
2010 England
2009 England
2008 Scotland
2007 Denmark

Past Sherry Cup Team Winners (started 1998)

2006 Spain
2005 Spain
2004 England
2003 England
2002 Wales
2001 England
2000 England
1999 Germany
1998 Spain

Individual Competition

2018 Todd CLEMENTS (England) 2018 ENC Individual Results
Todd secured the Individual title with rounds of 69 73 71 and 70 for a 283 total (-5).

Five shots back Ireland’s Alex Gleeson (76 74 69 69 / Ev), Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (72 75 72 69 / Ev) and Gian-Marco Petrozzi (69 71 76 72 / Ev) all tied for second place. Matthew Jordan (71 76 76 68 / +3) finished tied 5th and David Hague (79 73 74 68 / +6) 11th. Ireland’s Caolan Rafferty (72 79 74 71 / +8) was tied 12th and compatriot Jonathan Yates (77 74 72 75 / +10) tied 20th.

2017 Jack DAVIDSON (Wales) 2017 ENC Individual Results
Jack Davidson won the Individual European Nations Cup title by 4-shots last year. Rounds of 70, 70, 70 and 73 (-5), which included 20 birdies and 2 eagles, gave him his second major title in less than a month. He had won the Spanish International Amateur a few weeks before.

2016 Jack HUME (Ireland) 2016 ENC Individual Results
In winning the Individual Jack Hume played one of the best rounds of amateur golf in the world in 2016 at La Reserva. His 64 in Round 2 was an astonishing 8 shots better than any other player in the field.

2015 Mario Galliano (Spain)
2014 Guido Migliori (Italy)
2013 Adrien Saddier (France)
2012 Robin Kind (The Netherlands)
2011 Julien Brun (France)
2010 Nino Bertasio (Italy)
2009 Sam Hutsby (England)
2008 Shane Lowry (Ireland)
2007 Rory McIlroy (Ireland)

Rory McIlroy (Photo: RCG Sotogrande)

Past Sherry Cup Individual Winners

2006 Nigel Edwards (Wales)
2005 Gary Wolstenholme (England)
2004 Francesco Molinari (Italy)
2003 Gary Wolstenholme (England)
2002 Lee Harpin (Wales)
2001 Gary Wolstenholme (England)
2000 Gary Wolstenholme (England)
1999 Marcel Siem (Germany)
1998 Sergio Garcia (Spain)
1997 Sergio Garcia (Spain)

Sergio Gracia (Photo: RCG Sotogrande)

1996 Alvaro Salto (Spain)
1995 José María Zamora (Spain)
1994 Francisco Cea (Spain)
1993 Francisco Valera (Spain)
1992 Frederic Cupillar (France)
1991 Padraig Harrington (Ireland)
1990 Alvaro Prat (Spain)
1989 Diego Borrego (Spain)
1988 Yago Beamonte (Spain)
1987 Yago Beamonte (Spain)
1986 Borja Queipo de Llano (Spain)
1985 José L. Padila (Spain)
1984 John Marks (England)
1983 José L. de Bernardo (Spain)
1982 Borja Queipo de Llano (Spain)
1981 Veit Pagel (Germany)
1980 Jesús López (Spain)
1979 Veit Pagel (Germany)
1978 José L. de Bernardo (Spain)
1977 F. Jiménez (Spain)
1976 Alberto Croze (Italy)
1975 Veit Pagel (Germany)
1974 Veit Pagel (Germany)
1973 Alberto Croze (Italy)
1972 E. de la Riva and J. Gancedo (Spain)
1971 Alberto Croze (Italy)
1970 Henric Adam (England)

ME.

Men’s Home Internationals – 2018 Preview, Reports & Results

Posted on 09/09/2018 by Golf Bible

14th September 2018

ENGLAND won the 2018 Men’s Home Internationals beating IRELAND 9 – 6 in today’s championship match.

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

Here is a summary of the final results from this year’s tournament: –

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

In the ENGLAND v. IRELAND match today the foursomes were shared 2.5 – 2.5 but in the afternoon England pulled away with some impressive singles victories.

The highlights were Andrew WILSON’s 7&6 win over the previously unbeaten Conor PURCELL and Mitch WAITE’s 2 Holes win over Robin DAWSON, both of which set the foundation for their team to build on.

Ireland v. England Results (Photo: Wales Golf / Golfbox Scoring)

David HAGUE (ENG) and Tiarnan 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.

Screen Shot 2018-09-14 at 19.27.37

Host nation WALES once again fell the wrong side of the thin line that sometimes separates winning and losing. Today Scotland edged them out 8 – 7.

Scotland won the foursomes 4 -1 in the morning but were made to work hard for the additional four single wins they needed in the afternoon.

Scotland v. Wales Results (Photo: Wales Golf / Golfbox Scoring)

Whilst it was tough going for SCOTLAND and WALES for most of the week it was possible for some of their individuals to shine.

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

Likewise Paddy MULLINS did well for Wales and can be particularly pleased with his two singles wins.

Screen Shot 2018-09-14 at 18.15.24

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.

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13th September 2018

IRELAND beat WALES 11.5 – 5.5 on Day 2 of the Men’s Home Internationals at Conwy Golf Club.

The morning foursomes went the way of the Irish 3.5 – 1.5 albeit the Robbie CANNON / JAMES SUGRUE pairing needed a birdie on the 18th to secure a half in their match so the overall series scoreline could have been closer.

Ireland won the singles 6 – 4 with Conor PURCELL, Caolan RAFFERTY and Peter O’KEEFFE (all 4&3) enjoying their biggest wins.

However, the best performance of this match arguably fell to Welshman Jake HAPGOOD. He beat in form Robin DAWSON 4&3 with both players blitzing Conwy’s back nine. Jake recorded four birdies and two eagles between the 7th and 15th holes to unsurprisingly take the game.

Ireland v. Wales Results (Photo: Wales Golf / Golfbox Scoring)

In the second match of Day 2 ENGLAND narrowly beat SCOTLAND 8 – 7.

After the morning foursomes, which England won 4 – 1, it appeared the Scots could be in for another heavy defeat.

However, Scotland showed great heart to run out 6 – 4 winners of the singles series. Ryan LUMSDEN, Euan WALKER, Kieran CANTLEY, Stephen RODGER, Jeff WRIGHT and James WILSON were all victorious in the afternoon.

At the end of the day England won the match and that’s all that matters – unless like last year the two leading nations draw again ! The four single wins they enjoyed were all comprehensive and as such after their dominant foursomes performance there was never really a feeing that an upset might be in the air.

Scotland v. England Results (Photo: Wales Golf / Golfbox Scoring)

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12th September 2018

IRELAND beat SCOTLAND 11.5 – 3.5 in the opening game of the 2018 Men’s Home Internationals at Conwy Golf Club.

Ireland won the morning foursomes 4 – 1. Most of the matches tipping their way due to some exceptional play on the back nine by their four final pairings. Scotland’s Euan MCINTOSH and Ryan LUMSDEN provided the only resistance in game 1.

The Irish carried their momentum into the afternoon series too winning the singles 7.5 – 2.5. Robin DAWSON (5&3), Jonathan YATES (5&4) and Tiarnon MCLARNON (4&3) enjoyed the biggest wins.

Ireland v. Scotland Results (Photo: Wales Golf / Golfbox Scoring)

ENGLAND overcame a stubborn WALES 11.5 – 3.5 in the second match on Day 1. As you can see below the games were generally closer than in match 1 and the margin of victory somewhat flatters England who were made to work hard for many of their points.

The morning foursomes were halved 2.5 – 2.5 with Welsh pairing Matt ROBERTS and Paddy MULLINS enjoying the biggest victory of the series, 5&3.

ENGLAND composed themselves in the afternoon and in the end won nine of the ten singles. Ben JONES won his match 4&3 but otherwise the games were tight affairs. Paddy MULLINS maintained his unbeaten personal record by recording the sole singles win for the hosts.

England v. Wales Results (Photo: Wales Golf / Golfbox Scoring)

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9th September 2018

The 2018 Men’s Home Internationals will be contested at Conwy Golf Club in Wales between 12th and 14th September.

IRELAND will travel to North Wales hoping to win the Raymond Trophy for a fifth consecutive year.

Conwy Golf Club (Photo: Golfing Wales)

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.

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

The 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.

2018 Players

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

I have also included the current Team (total) and Individual Scratch Players World Amateur Rankings (SPWAR) below.

ENGLAND – Team SPWAR 1,432
Jack BURNAGE (93)
Bailey GILL (176)
David HAGUE (99)
Ben JONES (105)
David LANGLEY (169)
Joe LONG (201)
Tom PLUMB (147)
Nick POPPLETON (190)
Tom SLOMAN (64)
Mitch WAITE (40)
Andrew WILSON (148)

IRELAND – Team SPWAR = 3,300
Robbie CANNON (908)
Robin DAWSON (14)
Alex GLEESON (122)
Tiarnan MCLARNON (406)
Ronan MULLARNEY (265)
Peter O’KEEFFE (354)
Mark POWER (240)
Conor PURCELL (37)
Colin RAFFERTY (82)
James SUGRUE (374)
Jonathan YATES (498)

The Raymond Trophy (Photo: Ayrshire Golf Blog)

SCOTLAND – Team SPWAR = 3,620
Kieran CANTLEY (448)
Matthew CLARK (483)
Stuart EASTON (187)
Calum FYFE (259)
Jim JOHNSTON (562)
Ryan LUMSDEN (80)
Euan MCKINTOSH (156)
Stephen ROGER (406)
Euan WALKER (113)
James WILSON (227)
Jeff WRIGHT (699)

WALES – Team SPWAR = 13,944
Oliver BROWN (2,041)
Ben CHAMBERLAIN (976)
Archie DAVIES (981)
Jacob DAVIES (1,438)
Jake HAPGOOD (395)
Kieron HARMAN (1,698)
Paddy MULLINS (1,572)
Matt ROBERTS (797)
Lewys SANGES (1,095)
Gaelan TREW (2,217)
Tom WILLIAMS (734)

Just 14 of the 44 players competed last year at Moortown. England have 8 new players in their 2018 line up, Ireland 6, Scotland 9 and Wales 7.

I think ENGLAND have got to start as slight favourites this year but I certainly wouldn’t bet against IRELAND making it five in a row.

Venue – Conwy Golf Club

Founded in 1890 the Conwy (Caernarvonshire) Golf Club is the third oldest club in Wales.

The course was originally laid out by Jack Harris with more recent alterations completed by Frank Pennink.

One of the best links courses in Great Britain it has hosted many amateur and professional tournaments in the past. It’s next big appointment is the Curtis Cup match which it will stage in 2020.

Conwy Golf Club Scorecard (Photos: Conwy Golf Club)

The courses measures 6,936 yards from the Blue Championship tees, playing to a par of 72. It is relatively flat with it’s exposed coastal position meaning the prevailing westerly wind is always a major factor particularly as the design has holes going in all directions.

Conwy Golf Club Course Map (Photos: Conwy Golf Club)

2018 Weather Forecast (as at 9.00am Sunday 9th September)
Wed. 12th Sept. – Light Rain / Temp. Min 9º / Max 15º / Wind 11mph NW
Thurs. 13th Sept. – Sunny / Temp. Min 10º / Max 16º / Wind 11mph W
Fri 14th Sept. – Cloudy / Temp. Min 11º / Max 16º / Wind 15mph SW

2017 Men’s Home Internationals

IRELAND won the 2017 Men’s Home Internationals at Moortown Golf Club in Leeds.

They secured the Raymond Trophy after halving the deciding match with ENGLAND 7.5 – 7.5. This was good enough for the Irish to pip the home nation by a half point in total match points earned, 26.5 against 26.0.

The win was a record breaking fourth consecutive victory in the event for the men in green.

img_8391-1

The 2017 Ireland Team (Photo: Leaderboard Photography)

WALES beat SCOTLAND 9.5 – 5.5 on the final day to consign the Scots to the wooden spoon.

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

Here is the final Points Table with the ‘Countback’ information at the bottom: –

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2017 Men’s Home Internationals Points Table (Photo: England Golf Event Microsite)

Caolan RAFFERTY (IRE) and Josh HILLEARD (ENG) delivered the best individual records during the week, both winning five of their six games.

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.

Golf Bible

The Home of Great British & Irish Amateur Golf

Tag Archives: James Sugrue

The Masters – 2020 Amateur Results

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

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

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

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

The European Amateur Championship – 2019 Preview, Reports & Results

Irish Amateur Open Championship – 2019 Preview, Reports & Results

Men’s European Nations Championship – 2019 Preview & Results

Men’s Home Internationals – 2018 Preview, Reports & Results

The Open Championship – 2018 Final Qualifying