Abbott and Best share English amateur

qualifying lead with 66s at Rye

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Jamie Abbott isn’t a lover of Rye and wasn’t looking forward to visiting the Sussex links. But he was all smiles after sharing the lead on 66 with Adam Best after the first qualifying round of the English Amateur Championship.
The pair are a stroke ahead of Ross Spurgeon from Essex and Kent-based Matt Haines and two clear of the rest of the field on a day that began wet and swiftly turned windy, presenting a tough test for the 288 competitors.
Despite having five birdies on his card at Rye, Abbott, the Suffolk-based England international, admitted: “I’ve played Rye several times in recent years and shot millions. I wasn’t looking forward to coming here again especially when it was raining on the first tee and then got windy. But I birdied the first two holes, gave them back on four and five, but managed to turn two under. It became relentless tough with the wind so I would have taken 66 before I went out.” Yorkshire’s Best was equally at home over the Sussex links, his 66 contained two birdies and 16 pars.
“We get these conditions at Cleveland so I’m used to playing in the wind,” he said. “I knew people would struggle out there but I’m more than happy with 66 because I feel this is the tougher of the two courses. It’s nice to shoot a good score in round one so that you don’t have to chase a score to qualify.”
Spurgeon, also in action at Rye, was another equally at home in the conditions. “I can keep the ball low in the wind but it was tough,” he admitted. “It is my first low score for a while but I was confident coming into this week. I made a good start with a birdie at the first then made some pars at the tough holes which set me up.”
Haines, with four trophies on his sideboard this year and a runner-up spot in the St Andrews Links Trophy, was as steady as ever with 67 at Rye and would have shared the lead but for a dropped shot at the 17th.
Three players share fourth place on 68 and all were in action at Littlestone where the par is 71. Laurie Canter from Bath, the Midlands Youth champion, came home in 31 with four of his five birdies to be joined by Luke Goddard and Tom Lewis.
Goddard, the England cap from Hendon, had four birdies while Lewis, fresh from his victory in the Carris Trophy last week, found six birdies and was back in 32.
Defending champion Todd Adcock, on the course at 9am, happy with his 70 at Rye. “I’ve been struggling with my game and I just ground it out today,” he said. “The heavens opened on the first tee and didn’t stop until the last few holes. I missed a couple of putts on the back nine but it was nice to finish with a birdie.”
Chris Paisley, whom Adcock beat to win the title at Woodhall Spa last year, shot 69 at Rye, while Jason Palmer, winner of the South of England stroke-play at Walton Heath last week, went round in 73 at Rye.
“I didn’t enjoy that,” he said. “It was tough and it rained for 11 holes. I dropped some silly shots coming home but I think I’ll enjoy Littlestone more tomorrow because it is more open off the tee and there are a few par-5s.”
Admission is free to the event which finishes on Saturday 1st August.
For those unable to attend, live scoring, championship commentary and news updates are available on the Championships Section of the EGU website, www.englishgolfunion.org