FROM THE R AND A WEBSITE

Ferguson reaches the quarter finals of the Boys' Amateur Championship

Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson claimed two notable victories on his way to the quarter finals of the Boys Amateur Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club (Hoylake) today.
The 16-year-old from Bearsden, who won this season’s Stephen Gallacher Foundation Trophy and came second in the Stephen Gallacher Scottish Boys’ Stroke Play Championship, beat English international, Jack Singh Brar, by one hole in the third round and then defeated Italian, Renato Paratore, on the 19^th hole.
“I’m absolutely buzzing,” said Ferguson, moments after holing from 14-feet for a winning birdie on the first extra hole. “I have played with Renato a couple of times so I knew I had to play well if I was going to beat him.
“I holed a great putt to go one up on the 2^nd and that seemed to settle me down. I felt comfortable on the greens all day and that certainly helped at the 19^th. I can’t wait for tomorrow’s game to start.”
Ferguson’s next opponent is Spaniard Ivan Cantero, who beat Evesham’s Oliver Farrell by one hole in the morning and then ended the hopes of Frenchman, Romain Langasque, with a 4 & 3 win in the afternoon. The winner of the Ferguson - Cantero contest will play Englishman, Bradley Moore (Pictured Below), or his compatriot, Bobby Keeble in tomorrow afternoon’s second semi-final.
Keeble reached the last eight with victories over Spaniard Manuel Elvira and Englishman, Adam Chapman, while 15-year-old Moore, winner of this year’s McEvoy Trophy, beat Carris Trophy winner, Ben Amor, by 3 & 2 in the third round and then Scotsman, Adam Fisher, by 4 & 3 in the afternoon.
“It has been a fantastic day,” Moore said. “I have been playing well coming into this Championship so I knew if I could qualify I had a good chance to get through a couple of rounds.”
“Bobby and I know each other very well so it’s going to be fun to play against him tomorrow.”
The biggest surprise of the day came in the fourth round when German No.1, Dominic Foos, the plus-6 handicapper from St Leon-Rot, lost 2 & 1 to his compatriot, Michael Hirmer. Foos won the last five holes to overturn a three hole deficit in his morning match against 2012 English Amateur champion, Harry Ellis, but there was no late reprieve against Hirmer, who now faces Ben Robinson, from The Vale, who defeated another German, Hurly Long, by one hole.
Frenchman Paul Elissalde, will play Belgium’s Aurian Capart in the first quarter final on the course at 8.00 am tomorrow. The 17-year-old Elissalde, from Biarritz, defeated leading qualifier, Jack Hermeston, from the City of Newcastle, by 2 & 1 in the third round and then followed that up with an impressive 3 & 2 victory over Spaniard, Mario Galiano, the victor over Scottish Schools’ champion, Connor Syme, in the morning.
17-year-old Capart, the Belgian boys and men’s champion, had a comfortable 4 & 3 victory over Frenchman, Jeremy Gandon, in the morning but had to go all the way to the 19^th in the afternoon to edge out English left-hander, Josh Hilleard, from Farrington Golf Club near Bristol. The end came when Capart holed a 35-foot putt across the green on the first extra hole and then watched as Hilleard lipped out from seven feet for a half.
“I can’t believe it,” said the delighted Belgian who is making his first appearance in the Boys Amateur Championship. “Josh holed just about every putt he had until that one but I suppose he was as surprised as I was that mine went in.”
For the quarter final draw and scoring from the Boys Amateur Championship please visit championships.randa.org.