The Florida-based teenager wins by two from James Ashfield and Spain’s Luis Masaveu. Here he speaks to golfnews24 editor Mark Flanagan minutes after his round.
For all the scores visit https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/3940016
The Florida-based teenager wins by two from James Ashfield and Spain’s Luis Masaveu. Here he speaks to golfnews24 editor Mark Flanagan minutes after his round.
For all the scores visit https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/3940016
Lancashire’s Callan Barrow earned himself Challenge Tour status after finishing in a tie for 51st at Q-School today.
The 24-year-old, who is expected to turn professional shortly, was the only amateur to make the 72-hole cut at the gruelling six-round event where the top 28 gained their full DP World Tour cards at The Infinitum Club near Barcelona.
The other 44 players making the cut were guaranteed a full Challenge Tour card with Barrow, who had club-mate Jamie Van Wyk caddying for him once again, finishing five shots behind those in a tie for 23rd.
Although at one point today the former Scottish Open champion looked well placed for a late surge into the top 28 at Q-School having got to four under par for his final round.
However back-to-back bogeys on the 17th and 18th – he started on the tenth – effectively ended his hopes of achieving his dream goal.
The considerable achievement represents a huge high for the former England international, who endured a battle with his driver in the first half of the season.
But in the Autumn things started to turn his way, noticeably at the first stage of Q-School last month at Mottram Hall, where a closing 67 saw him make it through in 12th.
And then Barrow maintained that great form when it really mattered at Infinitum, comfortably making the cut on eight under thanks to rounds of 68, 67, 73 and 70.
Yesterday he moved up the leaderboard and into 42nd thanks to a three-under-par 68 before finishing off with a 70 this morning.
There was not such good news for Welsh international Luke Harries. The Tenby player’s second round 77 gave him a mountain to climb in terms of making the last two days and, on Sunday and Monday, he would close with a 70 and 71 to finish seven shots adrift of the 72-hole cut mark.
At the top of the leaderboard there was a stunning effort from 2016 English Amateur champion Dan Brown. The Yorkshireman earned his tour card by finishing third overall, just three shots behind leading qualifier Simon Forsström. The experienced Swede closed on -29 for his six rounds while Frenchman David Ravetto was two shots further back in second.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
Wales’ Emily James defeated the highest-ranked player in the field to progress to the last 32 of the Girls’ Amateur Championship at Carnoustie today.
FORMAT: 36-hole stroke play / 6 rounds of matchplay
In glorious conditions over the famous links on Tayside, James shone in the opening round of matchplay stage to secure a 4&3 win over Sweden’s Meja Ortengren, placed 22nd in the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR®).
The 17-year-old from Royal Lytham certainly took her opportunity to oust Ortengren, who upset the professionals on the Ladies European Tour Access Series back in May when she won the PGA Championship Trelleborg. James, who recently reached the semi-finals of the Welsh Women’s Amateur, lost the opening hole before surging to victory.
“I knew that I was going to have to play well and Meja birdied the first,” said James, who now meets Spain’s Andrea Revuelta for a place in the last 16 tomorrow morning. “But I played really well from there on. I went bogey free so that’s nice.
“This is my first time playing here. It’s a great course, tough, but really nice. I’ve played alright this season but I’ve not really had the finishes that I’ve wanted so I’m glad that I’m finally starting to come into a bit of form for this week.”
It’s a notable week in Angus with the matchplay stages of the Girls’ and Boys’ Amateur Championship being played simultaneously at one venue for the first time. The Boys also play the first round of their matchplay ties tomorrow, starting at 10am.
The leading stroke play qualifier, Paula Martin Sampedro from Spain, impressed too in becoming the first player into the last 32. The reigning Spanish Amateur Champion, 16, triumphed 5&3 against Canada’s Elise Liu.
While there was home disappointment as Scotland’s Grace Crawford, the R&A Girls’ U-16s champion, bowed out 4&3 to Adeliina Virtanen from Finland, Lottie Woad (Farnham), Maggie Whitehead (Close House) and Amelia Wan (Sherwood Forest) were among the English players to progress. Woad, who finished second in stroke play qualifying, came through by two holes against Cloe Amion Villarino from Spain.
Woad said: “It was definitely playing a lot easier and shorter today. I had a lot more wedges into greens. I had to adjust a few of my shots off the tee but it was definitely easier on some holes than yesterday in the afternoon wind.
“I was two down through eight and then I got a few birdies, got to one up and then back to all square. I went one up on 17, thought that might do it, and then managed to birdie the last. It was quite tight. Quite a stressful match.”
For all the scores click here
OPENS: Monday, June 20th
FORMAT: 72-hole stroke play
Alex James overcame a dreadful start to win a highly-eventful Berkshire Trophy, eventually overturning a four-shot deficit on the back nine to capture the biggest title of his career last night.
The Royal Lytham player, who was five over par for his opening 12 holes, fought back brilliantly into contention but a slow start in the final round meant catching club-mate and long-time leader Jamie Van Wyk looked unlikely.
However the Welsh player went birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie on 14 thru 17 while Van Wyk played the back nine in five over. There was also a remarkable final-round surge from Surrey’s Aadam Syed (Foxhills). He birdied five of the last ten to finish a shot back of the champion.
A conversation with father and caddie Andrew after 12 holes of the opening round on the blue course turned the tide for the Welsh Open Youths champion. That and a chip-in at 14.
“I had a chat wth my dad after bogeying 12 and it was along the lines of ‘start playing or go home’,” said the 20-year-old.
“At that point I thought if I could get it back to par by halfway I might still have a chance. But birdieing three of the last five holes really gave me some momentum.”
James birdied 14, 15 and 17 to open with a two-over-par 73, which left him seven back of the Stoneham’s Alex Talbot and Van Wyk.
And he would end up on two under par at halfway after going bogey free on the Red course on Saturday afternoon which meant he made the cut comfortably, the top 47 making it through.
On Sunday morning he had his first bogey in 33 holes at the ninth but he burst into contention with five straight birdies, starting at the 13th where he took full advantage of the three par fives
“That was some of the best golf I have ever played,” said the Lancashire-based golfer.
“My plan was just to keep finding the middle of the green and if I missed, miss on the low side because if you left yourself above the hole, it was extremely difficult because the greens were so quick.”
A booming drive at the par five 13th left him with just a nine iron in and, although he missed just short, was able to get up and down for his third birdie of the round.
At 14 he pinged a wedge to four feet before finding the putting surface in two at the par five 15th and he made no mistake in getting down in two. The long par three 16th was proving a difficult ask for most of the field but the Lytham golfer fired a four iron to ten feet and rolled it in while at 17 he again got up and down for birdie to get to five under for his round. That left him just two back of Van Wyk while Syed was a shot further back in third.
However the 2021 Surrey champion bogeyed seven and eight to drop back, James was one over for his first eight holes while Van Wyk played the front nine in three under.
The turning point for the eventual champion came at nine where he drained a 25-footer for eagle although once again the closing holes proved highly productive.
A brilliant wedge shot out of the rough on 14 left him 20 feet away and he knocked it in to get under par for his round. He then came close to an albatross on 15 where he put a six iron to a foot.
“After the eagle on 15 I thought I might be back in it. Aadam was in the group behind and I could see he was playing well but to be honest I was surprised about Jamie’s score.”
Van Wyk double bogeyed 11 and then bogeyed 12, 14 and 16 to drop out of contention while once again his club-mate hit a superb approach into 16 to get himself to 11 under.
That became 12 at the very next hole as he executed a brilliant up and down after a poor approach shot into a green-side bunker, holing a fast-breaking 18-footer for another birdie.
At 18 he missed from virtually the same spot as he did in the morning – this time it was for par – to drop back to 11 under but it would prove a winning score, which was confirmed after a wait of 45 minutes.
Royal Lytham and Rossendale GC teenager Alex James got his first points in the Northern Order of Merit open series by winning the eighth fixture of the season at Wallasey.
The 36-hole Frank Stableford Cup was played in a scratch stableford format in honour of the man who invented the scoring system while a member of the Wirral-based club.
And the 19-year-old performed superbly to pile up 78 points with his short game right on it. Critically he only had three bogeys all day and he finished with a six under total to earn himself 25 points in the overall standings.
“I got up and down for a lot of pars,” said the Lincoln Memorial University student (Tennessee). “Any mistakes were backed up by the chipping and putting but I got the odd nice bounce too and you have to take advantage of the nice bounces when they come your way.”
Alex started his morning round on the tenth and it took him a while to get going. However birdies on one and four – his 10th and 13th – got him back into contention. He also did well on the par fives with the fast running fairways giving all the entrants a chance of reaching in two.
In the afternoon he played the course in the conventional order and again performed well on the front nine. By the turn he was three under, aided by an eagle on the par five seventh, where he holed out from 20 feet.
On the back nine he added a further 19 points to eclipse Hallamshire’s Julian Wood, who bagged 40 points in the morning but a 37-point return after lunch left him a point shy.
This weekend Alex hopes for more joy at the ninth Northern Order of Merit event at Manchester GC (Hulbert Trophy, Sunday June 20).