Dear's conqueror Saxton beats Hutsby in final of Spanish amateur title

British amateur champion Reinier Saxton (Netherlands), pictured right by courtesy of the Royal Spanish Golf Federation after receiving the trophy, conqueror of Gavin Dear (Murrayshall) by 2 and 1 in Saturday's semi-finals, beat England's Sam Hutsby by 2 and 1 in the 36-hole final of the Spanish men's open amateur golf championship at Royal Seville Golf Club today.
Saxton, the No 5 seed, took a grip on the destination of the King's Cup when he birdied five of the first eight holes to surge six holes up. The Dutchman was seven up after 21 holes but Hutsby, the No 10 qualifier who won the Spanish title in 2006, staged a late rally which saw him win the 31st, 32nd, 33rd and 34th to cut his deficit to two holes with two to play.
A half at the 35th gave a relieved Saxton a 2 and 1 victory and another international victory.
Dear, ninth of the 32 qualifiers for the match-play stages, had beaten No 1 seed Pontus Widegren (Sweden) by one hole in the morning quarter-finals.
But, in the afternoon, the Perth man, who helped Scotland win the Eisenhower Trophy world amateur team championship in Australia, never recovered from another brilliant start by Saxton who birdied the first three holes to be three up on the fourth tee.
The Dutchman also won the sixth with a par to increase his advantage to four.Dear did win back the seventh and eight with pars but fell three down again to a birdie by his opponent at the 12th. The Scot, who won the Dixie Amateur championship in Florida over the Festive period, birdied to 15th to cut his deficit to two holes but halves at the next two holes ended the match 2 and 1 in favour of Saxton.
Hutsby, still only 19 and a live candidate for a Walker Cup team place, actually won the Spanish title in 2006 when he beat the then US amateur champion, Italy's Edoarda Molinari, convincingly in the two-round final.

Later results:

Quarter-finals - G Dear (Sco) bt P Widegren (Swe) 1 hole, R Saxton (Net) bt T Lewis (Eng) 5 and 4, V Dubuisson (Fra) bt E Pepperell (Eng) 4 and 3, S Hutsby (Eng) bt M Haines (Eng) 7 and 5.
Semi-finals - Saxton bt Dear 2 and 1, Hutsby bt Dubuisson at 20th.
Final (36 holes) - Saxton bt Hutsby 2 and 1.