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Tight matches test players in English amateur
Nerves
were thoroughly tested in the English amateur championship today as
players battled for places in the quarter-finals at The Alwoodley Golf
Club, Leeds.
There was much drama as two matches this afternoon went into extra time and two others were decided on the 18th. Rob Burlison (Enville) secured his place in the final eight with an eagle three on the 21st where he holed a 20-footer. He’d already made a great par on the last, getting up and down from 40 yards, to take the match into extra time.
Burlison
(image © Leaderboard Photography) and his opponent, Dan Wasteney
(Bondhay), had been level pegging since the 12th. “It was a bit tense
and we were both having to knock in a couple of nervy 5/6-footers. I
thought it was going to keep going for ever!”
He
added: “I’m normally quite good under pressure. You just have to accept
it means a lot and while you might be nervous, enjoy it as much as you
can.”
Yorkshire’s
Joe Dean (Lindrick) continued his run of good form with a 20th hole win
over Todd Clements (Braintree). Meanwhile, back at the clubhouse
spectators were treated to two grandstand finishes.
Derbyshire’s
George Bloor was the first player to claim his quarter final place when
he birdied the 18th to beat England international Adam Chapman.
The
19-year-old from Cavendish said: “The birdie just topped it off. We had
both played well and I knew one of us was going to have to do something
special.”
There
was never more than a hole between the two throughout the match and
they came down the last all square after Bloor lost the 17th, where he
found the gorse.
Yorkshire’s
Jamie Bower (Meltham) pulled off a similar feat from an unlikely
situation to beat boy international Marco Penge (Golf at Goodwood).
He
was one-up playing the last but looked odds on to lose the 18th. Both
players decided to drive down the first and Penge was safely on the
green in two, but Bower took three to reach the green, having tangled
with a bunker en route.
However,
he holed a 35-footer to grab his place in the quarter finals. “I can’t
tell you how relieved I am, it was really close,” he said. “Marco is a
fantastic player and made a really good fight of it.”
There
were more comfortable wins for Tom Robson (Weymouth) who went through
4/3 and Jake Storey (Alnmouth) who was a 5/3 winner. Storey has proved
himself to be a very tough match player, having had just three bogeys in
the knockout rounds, and this afternoon he was four-under par when he
closed out his match.
Hampshire’s
Scott Gregory (Corhampton) was last year’s runner-up and reached the
quarter finals with a 3/2 win over Yorkshire’s Dan Brown. “I tend to
make a lot of birdies and if the course is tight it plays into my
hands,” he said, and true to his word, he birdied the first three holes
to get to two up and never fell behind.
“One
of my aims was to do well in this tournament. I’ve got the belief and
the confidence because I did it last year, I’ve done everything except
win and I’ll just keep plugging away, one match at a time.”
The
final match of the day brought together two in-form players: Alfie
Plant (Sundridge Park), who has just returned from a successful spell
representing England in French events, and international Paul Kinnear
who played in The Open at St Andrews.
Plant
won 3/1 and commented: “It was nip and tuck all the way. Paul had a few
lip-outs coming in which just kept me in front.” Crucially though,
Plant made a good birdie on 16 to get to two up and, when Kinnear found
trouble on the 17th, the match was his.
Click here for full scores.
Lyndsey Hewison Press Officer England Golf pr@englandgolf.org 07825 752 193 |
Labels: Amateur Men
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