Ashton Trophy joy for for Royal Lytham ace
FORMAT: 36-hole stroke play
Jamie Van Wyk once again proved his class as he took top spot in a hugely-competitive Ashton Trophy at St Anne’s Old Links yesterday.
The 21-year-old’s two-shot victory was his fourth in the Northern Order of Merit having won the Birkdale Goblet and S&A Bowl last year and before that he got off the mark by taking the Crosby Plate at West Lancashire.
Van Wyk enjoyed a great battle with two of his Royal Lytham clubmates – Harvey Talarczyk and Callan Barrow – while the hugely-consistent Tom Hughes also came close but in the end the trio finished two back of the champion.
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A closing 68 made all the difference for Van Wyk after his putter warmed up after lunch.
“It was a good day to play St Anne’s,” said the Royal Lytham player.
“I thought four, five or even six under might be leading after the morning with the wind dying down. It was certainly gettable.
“It’s a course I have played a lot but my first round was really frustrating. I hit it a lot better than my score suggests. The putter was ice cold but thankfully it warmed up in the afternoon.”
After starting on the tenth in the morning, Van Wyk opened up with a 71. The in-form Andrew Haswell (Ormskirk) was leading at halfway thanks to a 69 but there were a dozen players within four shots of the lead although the eventuall winner thought catching Haswell was going to be a huge ask.
“I had played with Andy for Lancashire the day before so knew how well he was playing and I have seen how well he has done recently. Thankfully for me he just couldn’t maintain that pace.”
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And Van Wyk’s pursuit of the first-round leader did not start well as he drove into sand at the second and then short sided himself with his approach before doing well to come away with just a bogey.
He put things right very quickly though, almost holing in one at the par three third and knocking in a 15-footer for birdie at the fourth.
He missed a 10-footer for another one at the par five fifth and would finish with five successive pars on the front nine.
“I knew one under on the front nine was solid score because you have chances on the back nine and can take it on a bit more.”
He certainly did that at the 10th where his drive finished pin high at the short par four, setting up a comfortable birdie and he got another one at the very next hole where another excellent drive left him just eight yards in for his second. He would almost eagle it before tapping in for birdie.
However, with the wind switching, things were about to get a lot tougher for Van Wyk and other later starters.
A superb up and down from 30 yards at the 12th set the tone for a battling finish, typified by him holing out from 12 feet for par at the 13th.
The 14th was playing straight into the teeth of a rapidly-stiffening breeze and, having missed the target with his second shot, held his nerve by draining a six-footer to stay four under overall.
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At 15 he had the wind at his back and reduced the 392-yard par four to a drive and chip but he missed his six-foot birdie chance.
By the time he played long par three 16th the wind was becoming “brutal” and an excellent par there was followed by some more impressive approach play at the 17th where his 20-footer for birdie came up agonisingly short. That after hitting driver off the deck for his second shot, the ball just coming up short on the left.
However he would get one more birdie at 18 despite heavy rain making playing conditions incredibly tough. Having left himself 40 yards away in two, he pitched to 12 feet and made no mistake with the putter.
He would only have to wait 20 minutes to find out he was victorious while Haswell, winner of two Northern Order of Merit events in recent weeks, would have to settle for fifth after a closing 73.
However the good news for the 19-year-old is he is now just 17 points behind leader Chris Parkinson, who collected just one point for finishing 12th.
With second-placed Jack Brooks (The Mere) not playing, the overall Northern Order of Merit battle is set for grandstand finish with just three event left this month.