Jonathan "Ace" King leading Scot at Forest of Arden

MOUL AND FRENCHMAN BECHU
SHARE BRABAZON TROPHY
AFTER TIE ON SEVEN-UNDER 281
England international Jamie Moul and Frenchman Romain Bechu finished joint winners of the Brabazon Trophy yesterday at Marriott Forest of Arden, the first time since 1995 that the title has been shared.
The pair ended on seven-under-par 281 with Moul closing with a 72 and Bechu with 67. They finished just a shot ahead of another Frenchman, Kenny Le Sager and four ahead of David Horsey and Sam Hutsby.
The win will boost Moul’s place at the top of the R&A World Amateur Golf Rankings and should cement his selection for the GB&I Walker Cup team for the Royal County Down match against the United States in the autumn.
Moul put himself in the driving seat with a morning 67 one ahead of Le Sager. But he was unable to shake off the French connection as Bechu came surging through with a 67 of his own. “I’m delighted to have finished as joint winner but I should have scored better in the afternoon to have won outright,” said Moul.
“But I started badly with four bogeys in the first six holes and although I played nicely on the back nine I had chances on 12 and 16 but couldn’t convert them.”
He had another chance on the long 17th but chipped poorly. “I found out what the situation was on the 17th fairway, but that chip was about four inches short of where I wanted it,” he added. With Bechu having already set the target, Moul came to the 211yd 18th, needing a birdie 2 for an outright win ... but his 25ft putt rolled just wide.
“I would have like the chance of a play-ff to win the title on my own but I’m delighted to add the Brabazon to my list of successes.”
Bechu, the reigning French amateur champion from Biarritz, was equally pleased,especially with his morning 67.
“That is the first time I’ve ever had a bogey-free round,” he said. “I have been coming back after being away from the game for three years as I was sick. Being nine under for the day got me to the title.”
There were four Frenchman in the leading 12 positions at the end of the tournament.
Horsey, who went into the final day at the top of the leader board, suffered with a morning 75 that dropped him back to eighth place. But he bounced back with a closing 70 for 285 alongside teenager Hutsby, who won the George Henriques Salver for the leading GB&I under-20 player.
Another to celebrate was Glasgow Golf Club member Jonathan King who holed his five-iron tee shot at the last in the third round for his first ever hole-in-one (See Tom Ward Photography image above).That helped Jonathan to finish as the leading Scot on 293.
Pre-tournament favourite Lloyd Saltman from Craigielaw failed to make it five 72-hole open tournament victories in a row, having already won the Scottish Champion of Champions' tournament at Leven, the Craigmillar Park Open in Edinburgh, the Lytham Trophy and the Irish open amateur stroke-play championship. After starting with a 77, Lloyd finished on 296 - 15 shots behind the joint winners.

Full details of all the results, daily news reports and photos of the event can be found Championships Section of the EGU website, www.englishgolfunion.org.

FINAL TOTALS

Par 288 (4 x 72). CSS 76 75 73 74.
281 R Bechu (France) 71 75 68 67, J Moule (Stoke by Nayland) 72 70 67 72 (no play-off, title shared).
282 K Le Sager (France) 74 71 65 72.
285 D Horsey (Styal) 70 70 75 70, S Hutsby (Liphook) 71 71 70 73.
286 F De Vries (Netherlands) 73 73 71 69, R Kilpatrick (Banbridge) 73 68 71 74.
287 A Kaleka (France) 76 69 72 70.
288 B Parker (Royal Birkdale) 73 77 72 66, R Enoch (Truro) 71 72 69 76.
289 S Piaget (Switzerland) 72 77 69 71, J Freeman (Worksop) 76 67 73 73, C Scotto (France) 71 71 71 72 75.
290 A Johnston (North Middlesex) 74 72 75 69, A Bernadet (France) 71 74 74 71.
291 B Grace (South Africa) 75 723 73 71, J Parry (Harrogate) 75 74 70 72, G Blainey (Berarwood Lakes) 76 72 70 73, J Caldwell (Clandeboye) 71 77 70 73.
202 M Thistleton (Hayling) 77 73 71 71, S Uzzell (Hornsea) 74 75 71 72.
293 M Haines (Rochester & Cobham) 78 70 73 72, J King (Glasgow) 77 73 70 73, G Wolstenholme (Kilworth Springs0 71 76 73 73, G Evans (Northcliffe) 74 73 72 74, N Edwards (Whitchurch) 74 73 71 75.
294 S Lewton (Woburn) 74 76 73 71, C Wood (Long Ashton) 73 76 74 71, K McNicoll (Carnoustie) 72 75 76 71, I Urquizu (Spain) 75 74 71 74.
295 J Abbott (Fynn Valley) 76 74 72 73, N Kearney (Royal Dublin) 79 71 71 74.
296 G Boyd (Cherwell Edge) 75 74 74 73, L Saltman (Craigielaw) 77 73 71 75, S Haywood (Rothereham) 72 75 74 75, S Benson (Wentworth) 76 71 74 75, B Westgate (Perranporth) 76 72 72 76, L Matthews (Southerndown) 74 73 73 76.
297 E Dubois (France) 76 73 76 72.
298 J-J Wolff (France) 74 75 75 74. S Grant (Birr) 73 77 73 75, S Foster (Coventry Hearsall) 72 75 76 75.
299 B Hebert (France) 73 73 74 79, J Robinson (Southport & Ainsdale) 73 76 69 81.
302 L Garcia del Moral (Spain) 73 75 69 75.
304 P Cutler (Portstewart) 73 76 80 75, A Hodkinson (Hallowes) 74 76 77 77. R Neil-Jones (Rochester & Cobham) 73 77 70 84.