Three share lead in English Senior

Men's Championship

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ENGLISH GOLF UNION
A pair of internationals, Chris Reynolds and Andrew Carman, and a potential one in Andrew Stracey, share the lead after a contrasting opening day to the English Men’s Seniors Championship.
All three carded one-over-par 72s at Old Fold Manor where scoring was much easier than at Moor Park, which proved a sterner test, reflected in the returns from the High Course.
Reynolds, an England senior international since 2006, has finished runner-up and third in this championship so has put himself in a position to improve on that.
“I would have taken 72 before the start so I’m happy,” he said. “I kept the ball mostly in play and got out of position on the greens only a couple of times which made it difficult to two putt. The greens were excellent and I had five birdies but looking at the scores, Moor Park will be a different proposition tomorrow.”
Carman, who has only just qualified as a senior following his 55th birthday, was equally happy with his lot. “I played well off the tee where I hit a lot of three-woods and irons,” he said. “I had a practice round at Old Fold a couple of Saturdays ago which paid off. However, I also missed a lot of birdie chances so it could have been a whole lot better.”
Carman, who was an England international in 1979 and ’80 and Chairman of Selectors for five years, felt his seniors debut last week in Ireland was good preparation.
“The greens there were good and that helped a lot,” he added.
Stracey, another newcomer to the seniors game – this is his third over-55s tournament – is a clubmate of Reynolds at Littlestone. His 72 came despite an indifferent start.
“I four-putted the first green which I feel was because the practice putting green was completely different to those on the course,” he said.
“But it is nice to be playing competitive golf again. Between the ages of 40 and 55 you seem to be in the doldrums but everyone is serious about seniors golf.”
Stracey is certainly the man in form. He won the Irish Open Seniors last week and having reached three President's Putter finals, he could be the man to beat. The three front-runners at Old Fold Manor lead by a shot from Stewart King, another seniors international , and by two from the rest of the field.
The best score at Moor Park, where the greens seemed to catch everyone out, was 76 from Robert Head of Brockett Hall. “I putted well but I had a few three putts which is inevitable on those greens,” he said.
“I used to live locally so I know this course pretty well but you can easily come unstuck here where the slopes and borrows are so tricky.”
Play starts at 8.30am each day and admission is free. Live scoring and news updates will available on the Championships Section of the EGU website, www.englishgolfunion.org.