BILL LONGMUIR CLICKETY-CLICKS WITH A 66 IN
JERSEY SENIORS CLASSIC OPENING ROUND

By COLIN CALLANDER
European Seniors Tour Press Officer

Anglo-Scot Bill Longmuir took Route 66 right to the top of the leaderboard during the first round of the Jersey Seniors Classic at La Moye Golf Club today.
The Scot’s flawless six under par round of 66 sees him go into the second round two shots ahead of England’s Carl Mason and Bob Larratt and three in front of Argentina’s Adan Sowa, Englishmen Tony Allen, Gordon Brand senior and Andrew Reynolds and defending champion Guillermo Encina who all carded rounds of 69.
Meanwhile Sam Torrance battled back from five over par after five holes to register a one under par 71 that left him in a large group that also included Jersey’s own Tommy Horton.
Longmuir started his round with a birdie on the 514yd par-5 second. He picked up further shots on the 478yd sixth and par-4 seventh to go out in 33. Bill then cruised home with further birdies at the 11th, 13th and 16th.
“That is the best round I have played all year,” said Longmuir whose last victory on the European Seniors Tour was at the 2005 Scandinavian Senior Open.
“I’ve been struggling on the greens but today I holed a few and also got a bit of luck when I misread a 30-footer on the seventh only to see it curl round and drop into the hole. You know it’s your day when that sort of thing happens.”
Mason and Larratt both played steadily for their 68s but the same cannot be said for Torrance who took 8 at the 416yd par-4 fourth and a bogey 5 at the 437yd fifth but then eagled the sixth and birdied the seventh to get to the turn in two over par 38.
Torrance’s second nine proved to be almost as adventurous. The former Ryder Cup captain got back to one under with three consecutive birdies on the 11th, 12th and 13th, handed them back with bogeys on the 14th and 15th but then bounced back again with birdies on the 16th and 18th.
“The card doesn’t look very pretty but my golf was nowhere near as bad as it might look,” said Torrance.
“I did hit a couple of bad shots on the fourth but the rest was pretty steady and it could have been even better because I left my birdie putt on the 17th literally in the jaws of the hole.”
Jersey resident Tommy Horton missed last year’s Jersey Seniors Classic due to ill heath but bounced back with a fine one under par 71 that leaves him in touch with the leaders going into the weekend.
Horton started on the 10th and proceeded to record 12 successive pars before dropping a shot at the fourth and responding with birdies on the sixth and the eighth.
“I played very well,” said the man who has secured a record 23 titles on the European Seniors Tour. “It’s coming back. Every week seems to be that little bit better than the last.”
English stockbroker, Algie Rice, holds the lead after the second round of the amateur event. In the first round Rice, a 16 handicapper from Thorndon Park Golf Club in Essex, carded an 11 under par 61 in partnership with professional, Angel Fernandez from Argentina.
Twenty four hours later he added a 62 alongside England’s Denis Durnian. His 21 under par aggregate of 123 left him five shots ahead Martyn Ball, Ed Kimber and Stewart Crossby. Ball is a former county cricketer for Gloucester. He now works for Ginn Europe.
66 B Longmuir (Sco).
68 C. Mason (Eng), B Larratt (Eng).
69 A. Sowa (Arg), G Encina (Chi), A Reynolds (Eng), G Brand sen (Eng).
70 M Poxon (Eng), T Allen (Eng), B Cameron (Eng), S Owen (NZ).
71 D. Good (Aus), D Cambridge (Jam), T Horton (Eng), P Leonard (NIr), A Fernandez (Arg), S Torrance (Sco), B Lincoln (SAf).
72 B Shearer (Aus), T Gale (Aus), I Mosey (Eng), M Gregson (Eng), R Drummond (Sco), P Oakley (US).
73 D. Stirling (Eng), C Defoy (Wal), T. Rastall (Eng), H. Carbonetti (Arg), G Ralph (Eng), M Gray (Sco), B. Malley (US).
74 J Bruner (US), G. Levenson (SAf), D.J. Russell (Eng), S. Ginn (Aus), E Rodriguez (Spa), J Benda (US), G Townhill (Eng), B Smit (SAf), G Watine (Fra), J. Mashego (SAf), D Creamer (Eng)
75 D Merriman (Aus), D. Johnson (US), M. Clayton (Aus), J. Heggarty (Ire), C Maltman (Sco). P Terravanian (USA), M. Wolseley (NIr), G Cali (Ita), T Dill (US) , B. Heuchan (Can)
76 M Ferguson (Aus), D. O’Sullivan (Ire), B McColl (Scot), J.P. Sallat (Fr), R Stelton (US) . R Carrasco (USA), H. Woodrome (USA), J Chillas (Sco).
77 A Mew (T & T), D. Durnian (Eng), T. Charnley (Eng), J. Rhodes (Eng)
78 G Wintz (USA), P. Dugenny (Fr), J. Lapsley (NZ), B. Hardwick (Can), M Miller (Sco).
79 N Clarke (SAf), A Garrido (Spa), M. Bembridge (US).
80 S Wild (Eng).
82 B Lendzion (US).