IT AIN'T HALF HOT, MUM! BUT TEAM GB IS THRIVING

 Ewan Scott shading himself with a towel from the sizzling heat

              Picture from Tegwen Matthews 

From: Kyle Phillpots
with the Team GB golfers in Australia
The story of Day 2 of the Australian Youths Olympic Festival golf tournament at Twin Creeks, Sydney was how well Team GB coped with the intense heat. 
Despite being in the lead or joint lead in each of the three categories, every member of the team was disappointed with his or her  own performance on the opening day  and there was a steely determination about them as they set about their task.
The weather forecast had promised high temperatures and by 8am it was 30C (86F); by 10am it was 40C (104F) and when it reached an area record of 45C (113F) at 12.30, play was suspended for the day. This left players with up to four holes still to play and the round will be resumed at 6.45am on Saturday.
The GB players were not to be deterred. Taking every advantage to find natural shade, many of them also used their umbrellas to block out the direct sun. They also were constantly supplied with cold towels and, of course, plenty of fluids. 
Only five of them completed the round and none of them scored worse than the par of 72.  Three were level par. 
Harry Ellis, who had started with three birdies in the first three holes, finished on the same par mark as the previous day and. Gabriella Cowley and Georgia Hall also finished level.  Chloe Williams made up for her disappointment on day one with a very impressive three under par 69 and Ewan Scott from St Andrews went even better with an outstanding five-under score of 67
Of those still on the course when play was suspended, Jack Singh Brar is one over  with four to play, Bradley Neil from Blairgowrie is on three under with two to play, as is  Lauren White (St Regulus) who was on the 15th tee when play was halted. 
Amber Ratcliffe marked her ball on the 15th green on two under par. The overnight leader, Ashton Turner continued his good form and stands at four under for the round with one hole to play. 
The highlight of another excellent performance from the Kenwick Park player came when he drove the green at the 433yd eighth hole.
"I knew I had hit it well, but not that well. I was looking for my ball from around 100 yards out, and I couldn't believe it when I saw it was on the green. That's certainly my longest drive in competition."
Plenty more to come from this GB team. And the temperatures on Saturday will be much cooler.


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