Glencorse pair through to Lothians' last eight

FROM THE LOTHIANS GOLF ASSOCIATIONWEBSITE

Glencorse duo Sean McGarvey and Derek Thomson both won on the last hole to reach the quarter-finals of the Lothians Championship at Musselburgh this evening.

McGarvey hit a great pitch to around three feet and was generously conceded a match-winning par by his opponent, Longniddry teenager Jack Rogan.

Thomson held on to beat namesake Ross from Gullane after his opponent had holed from 20 feet at the 17th to keep the match alive.

Rogan's fellow teenager and clubmate David Rudd surrendered an early two-hole lead in losing to Broomieknowe's Sean Marc.

But the host club's Lewis Bain is still in the title hunt, the 19-year-old winning the last, then beating West Linton's Scott Walker with a par at the 19th.

SECOND-ROUND RESULTS

Stephen Smith (West Linton) bt Calum Burgess (Musselburgh) 3 and 2.

Derek Thomson (Glencorse) bt Ross Thomson (Gullane) 1 hole

Ricky Moffat (Turnhouse) bt Keith Wilson (Deer Park) 2 and 1.

Sean McGarvey (Glencorse) bt Jack Rogan (Longniddry) 1 hole

Stephen Simants (Dunbar) bt Daniel Eardley (Liberton) 2 and 1

Sean Marc (Broomieknowe) bt David Rudd (Longniddry) 4 and 3

Stuart Thorburn (Newbattle) bt Iain Melville (Glencorse) 1 hole.

Lewis Bain (Musselburgh) bt Scott Walker (West Linton) at 19th

Michael Smyth wins Ayrshire match-play 

title at 21st at Prestwick St Cuthbert

FROM THE AYRSHIRE GOLF WEBSITE
Michael Smyth (Royal Troon) completed a hat-trick of Ayrshire match-play championship titles at Prestwick St Cuthbert GC tonight with an extra holes victory over Stuart Miller (Kilmarnock Barassie) in the final.
Smyth, who previously won the title in 2011 and 2013, opened his bid for the 2015 crown with a winning birdie 3 at the opening hole, though Miller squared the match with a birdie at the par five third.
Further birdies but Smyth at the sixth and eighth holes saw him to the turn with a two-hole lead and he increased his advantage to three with a par four at the tenth after Miller found trouble from the tee and was forced to take a penalty drop.
Smyth looked in control of the match at this stage but successive putts at the twelfth and thirteenth which hit the hole but failed to drop saw Smyth surrender both holes to Miller, reducing his lead to a single hole.
A par four at the 15 th was good enough for Smyth to restore a two- hole advantage with three to play and a half at the 16th left Smyth dormie two.
Smyth had the opportunity to close out the match at the 17th but a missed putt by Smyth allowed Miller to pull one back and a closing birdie 4 from the Barassie player, who bravely holed from six feet after Smyth's attempt for birdie had slipped past, saw the match finish all square after the scheduled 18 holes.

2015 finalists Michael Smyth & Stuart Miller
with Ayrshire Golf association and match referee James McMurdo

At the first extra hole, both players saw birdie putts narrowly miss and the match went on to the 20th hole, where Smyth was hampered by a tree following his tee shot  whilst Miller had a clear shot to the green. Smyth, however, produced a superb recovery shot to reach the green and again the hole was halved in par and the players went on to the 21st hole of the match, the third extra hole.
With both players safely in play from the tee at the par five third hole, Smyth hit an excellent wood for his second which just ran off the left side of the green, while Miller pulled his second a little, leaving him a tricky approach over a greenside bunker.
Miller played a good chip but the ball ran some 15ft past the hole  and Smyth piled on the pressure with a good approach putt from the fringe to within a couple of feet of the hole.
Miller's effort for birdie failed to drop and Smyth finished off the match, holing his short putt for a winning birdie 4 and the 2015 Ayrshire match-play championship.

At the conclusion of the match, Ayrshire Golf Association President James McMurdo paid tribute to both players and the greens staff of Prestwick St Cuthbert GC for the excellent condition in which the course was presented all week, before presenting vouchers to both finalists and handing over the trophy to the 2015 winner, Michael Smyth

 McIlroy tees off Players Championship
 with solid 69, Spieth struggles to a 75

FROM SKYSPORTS.COM
Rory McIlroy believes his patient approach to tackling TPC Sawgrass paid off after he opened the Players Championship with a solid three-under 69 today. 

+SCROLL DOWN TO READ AN END OF PLAY SUMMARY
 
The world No 1 plotted his way cautiously around the Stadium Course and was "pretty pleased" with his score, despite missing a number of mid-range birdie putts.
McIlroy started at the 10th and had to settle for five pars until getting a putt to drop at the 15th, and he followed with a sublime seven-iron from 205 yards to seven feet at the 16th which he converted for eagle.
He gave a shot back at the first after a wayward approach, but he steadied himself with a good run of pars until nailing a 15-foot putt for birdie at the eighth to get within two shots of early clubhouse leader Hideki Matsuyama.
"I think anything under par, and definitely anything in the 60s is a very good start today so I am pretty pleased with that," McIlroy told Sky Sports 4. "You just have to be very, very patient. I have a lot of pars on my card there.
"A lot of patience and picking up the birdies where you can. The first time I got here I felt it was a course where if you are playing well you should shoot 67 or 68 every time, but it's not really like that.
"It can jump up and bite you very quickly and you have to know sometimes that par is a good score and you move on."
But Masters champion Jordan Spieth admitted he needed to "find something" on the range after struggling to a 75 which he believed could have been several shots worse had it not been for some excellent putting.
Spieth played the final round alongside Kaymer last year before eventually finishing fourth, the 21-year-old having played his first 58 holes without a single bogey on his card.
But the Texan bogeyed his first two holes this year, and although he made good putts for birdie at the 13th and second holes, he also dropped three further shots.
"Sometimes you have bad breaks and have a bad day," he said. "This wasn't one of them, I really struggled out there."

TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES

CLICK HERE 

later report

Four-way tie for Sawgrass lead on 67

FROM THE WASHINGTON TIMES WEBSITE
By DOUG FERGUSON (Associated Press)
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida - Rory McIlroy finally figured out that playing conservatively would be the best way to attack the TPC Sawgrass.
It was boring by his standards - 14 pars, a pair of birdies, an eagle and a bogey.
Compared with all the other high-wire acts during the opening round at The Players Championship, that wasn’t all bad. McIlroy pieced together a 3-under 69 that left him two shots behind a four-way tie for the lead.
Tiger Woods hit a tee shot into water he didn’t know existed. He shot 73, the fifth straight tournament that he failed to break par in the opening round.
Jordan Spieth was 40 yards from the green and hit a wedge three straight times before getting there. He shot 75, matching his highest score of the year.
Brooks Koepka played the last two holes in 15 shots - a quadruple bogey on the 17th, another one on the 18th. He played the other 16 holes in 1 under.
The entertainment was endless.
One of the leaders was Charley Hoffman. He made history Thursday on the Stadium Course with a 5-under 67, the lowest score ever by someone who had a triple bogey on his card. Hoffman made his 7 after playing the entire back nine in 31 strokes. He also had eight birdies in his round, so it was easy to go over how he made his triple bogey.
“Pardon my French,” Hoffman began before using an English word (code name: expletive) to describe each shot. A bad drive. A bad punch shot that didn’t make it to the fairway. A bad approach. It adds quickly. He did have one good shot - his 4-foot putt that kept the 7 from being an 8.
“Obviously, you don’t ever want to take a triple, double, quad, whatever it is,” Hoffman said. “But at least I gave myself time to get them back. It’s better than doing it on the 72nd hole, I can guarantee you that.”
Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, David Hearn of Canada and Kevin Na also had a 67 by making only one bogey each and none with a score higher than 5 on the card.
The large group at 68 included Derek Fathauer, who played a six-hole stretch in 3 under despite making only one par - eagle-birdie-eagle-bogey-par-bogey.
McIlroy is coming off a victory in the Match Play Championship, and while the formats are nothing alike, he was able to carry over one aspect. He didn’t give away many holes at Harding Park. He didn’t give away many shots at TPC Sawgrass.
“Being able to limit your mistakes and make pars and not make many mistakes, that’s something that I need to do around this golf course,” McIlroy said.
He was part of the feature group, even with Woods and Phil Mickelson (73) playing in back-to-back threesomes in the afternoon.
The world’s No. 1 player McIlroy played with Spieth, the No. 2 player after his dominant Masters victory. Joining them was no slouch - Jason Day, the No. 7 player and part of a big youth movement in golf.
McIlroy and Day held their own at 69, which for Day included a 25-foot putt to salvage double bogey on the 18th. Day didn’t mind being looked upon as the third wheel.
“I’ve got to beat those guys, but I think the biggest thing is not beating myself,” Day said.
That’s a good recipe for anyone at Sawgrass.
Spieth, who also had a 75 when he missed the cut at Torrey Pines, felt something wrong with his alignment when he arrived Monday, and he still hasn’t sorted it out. He got behind quickly, and that didn’t help. Most telling of his day was No. 11.
His second shot was left of the green in a grass bunker, the ball sitting so far down in the grass that Spieth walked up to it and said, “You’ve got to be kidding me.” With a full, powerful swing, he advanced it some 50 feet - from a regular lie, the shot would have gone 110 yards - to just under the lip of a bunker. It was another bad lie, and he only advanced the next one 18 feet to the collar.
“It’s just one of those days where I started maybe looking into it a little too much rather than just accepting it and going forward,” he said. “Just going to have to find some answers.”
Woods, meanwhile, brings a certain level of curiosity with him. He sat out two months trying to fix his game - particularly his short game - and then tied for 17th in the Masters. This was his first event since Augusta National, and he was irritated by a 73.
“Probably the highest score I could have shot today,” he said.
It ended on a wild note. He used the belly wedge to roll in a birdie on the 17th after his ball came within a foot of going in the water. And then he walked over to 18 and hit his tee shot into the water for a double bogey.
Around every corner, there is a surprise. That’s the beauty - and the pain - of Sawgrass.

Royal Dublin first-day summary and scoreboard

IRISH MEN'S OPEN AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP
Royal Dublin Golf Club
ROUND ONE SCORES
Par 72  CSS 75
+scroll down past the scores for a summary of the day's play.
69: Thomas Mulligan (Co. Louth), Colm Campbell Jnr (Warrenpoint), Gavin Moynihan (The Island), Colin Fairweather (Knock), Alexander Culverwell (Sco), Evan Griffiths (Wales), Luke Trocado (South Africa), Richard  James (Wales), Jack Hume (Naas)
70: William Enefer (England), Jeff Hopkins (The Royal Dublin), John Ross Galbraith (Whitehead), Gary Collins (Rosslare), Dermot McElroy (Ballymena), Robin Dawson (Faithlegg/MU), Lukas Lipold (Austria)
71: Connor Syme (Sco), Craig Ross (Sco), Tom Gandy (Isle of Man), Kevin LeBlanc (The Island), Marco Penge (England), Tim Harry (Wales), Gary Hurley (West Waterford/MU), Seamus Cullen (Slieve Russell), Ollie Roberts (Hong Kong)
72: Mark Morrissey (Mount Wolseley), Cormac Sharvin (Ardglass), Vitor Lopes (Portugal), Jack McDonald (Sco), Greig Marchbank (Sco), Marco Iten (Switzerland), Tomas Bessa (Portugal), Rowan Lester (Hermitage), Markus Habeler (Austria), Stuart Grehan (Tullamore/MU), Kyle McCarron (North West/MU), Marc Nolan (Delgany), John Hickey (Cork), Jonathan Yates (Naas), Christian Braeunig (Germany)
73: Scott Gibson (Scotland), Jack Mc Donnell (Forrest Little/MU), Michael Hirmer (Germany), Shaun Carter (Royal Dublin), Richard Bridges (Stackstown), Jamie Savage (Scotland), Conor O'Rourke (Naas)
74: Kevin Reints (Netherlands), Stuart Bleakley (Shandon Park), Matthew Jordan (England), Caolan Rafferty Dundalk), Jack Pierse (Portmarnock), Marcel Zillekens (Germany), Michael Ludwig (Austria), Barry Anderson (Royal Dublin), Ryan Symington (Lisburn), Michael Sinclair (Knock), James Allan (England),
Eanna Griffin (Waterford)
75: Jarand Ekeland Arnoy (Norway), Adam Wilson (Wales), Andy Borg (Malta), Shaun O'Connor (Carton House), Damon Coulson (England), Claudio Consul (Germany), Eoin Arthurs (Forrest Little.), Aaron Grant (Dundalk), Stephen Coulter (Warrenpoint), Simon Bryan (Delgany), Christopher MacLean (Sco), Anthony Blaney (Sco)
76: Jake Whelan (Newlands/MU), Edward Richardson (England), Ewen Ferguson (Sco), John Morris (Rosslare), Alex
Gleeson (Castle), Gary McDermott (Carton House), Sean Flanagan (Co. Sligo/MU), Ronan Mullarney (Galway/MU), Sean Ryan (Royal Dublin), Robert Cannon (Balbriggan), Ian O'Rourke (Royal Dublin), Jan Szmidt (Poland)
77: Declan Loftus (Castlebar/MU), Mathias Eggenberger
 (Switzerland), Axel Boasson (Iceland), Declan O'Neill (Carton House), Colin Baird (Sco), Stephen Healy (Carton House), Eugene Smith  (Ardee), Eoin Leonard (Wentworth), Nick Macandrew (Sco), Nicholas Poppleton (England), Ben Best (Rathmore), Gianmaria Rean Trinchero  (Italy), Sigot Lopez (Spain)
78: Tiarnan McLarnon (Massereene), Michele Cea (Italy), Gordon Stevenson (Sco), Michael Hegemann (Germany), Michael Reid (Galgorm Castle), James Smedley (England), Richard Knightly (Royal Dublin)
79: Johannes Lube (Germany), Gavin Fitzmaurice (Balcarrick), Mark Shanahan (Castlemartyr), Jack Bush (Wales), James Fox (Portmarnock)
80: Roy Connolly (Palmerstown Stud), Cedomir Ilic (Serbia)
81: Petr Dedek (Czech Republic), Mel Loetscher (Switzerland), Shane McGlynn (Carton House)
82: Murray Naysmith (Sco), Ashley Mason (England), John McGinn (Laytown and Bettystown)
83: Seve Prins (Netherlands), Paul Coughlan (Moate)
84: Thomas Hackett (USA)
85: Casper Simberg (Finland)

Culverwell in nine-way tie for lead on three-under 69

he early birds made the most of a benign morning to set the pace at the top of a congested leaderboard on day one at the Irish Amateur Open Championship.

• 07 May 2015
• -

 0  0 Google +0  0

Nine players are tied together at the top as 69 proved a popular number on a day when Royal Dublin yielded more than expected. Calm conditions were a welcome change for the first round and five Irish players are among the leading group at three under.

CLICK HERE FOR LIVE SCORING

Louth teenager Thomas Mulligan led the way, posting the first 69 of the day as well as setting the clubhouse target having teed off first at 7am. The 16-year-old came home in 33 (four under) thanks to four birdies on the back nine.

Mulligan, who was the first to arrive at Royal Dublin this morning after a 5am wake-up call, made a spectacular start with an eagle on the second from 10 feet having reached in two with a seven iron. Three bogeys followed however as Mulligan's early momentum stalled but he reached the turn at one over and got back on track with a birdie on the par-five 11th.

"It's easy to keep patient when you know there are birdie chances out there," said Mulligan. "I knew I was putting well."

He came close to a second eagle on 14 when his pitch hit the flag but unluckily for Mulligan, his ball ran down the flag and ricocheted off the hole before coming to rest 15 feet away from the pin. His frustrations were quickly forgotten when he drained the putt and he followed up with further birdies on 15 and 16.

His 69 was matched by Walker Cup panellists Jack Hume and Gavin Moynihan, the 2012 Irish Amateur champion. Hume got to four under with his fifth birdie of the day on the 11th but a three-putt bogey on 16 left him in a share of the lead.

"Apart from that (bogey on 16) it was pretty solid today," said the Naas player, who came close to winning at Royal Dublin in 2013. Moynihan picked up three shots in his last five holes thanks to an eagle three on 14. Knock's Colin Fairweather and Warrenpoint's Colm Campbell also made the most of their early starts to reach the clubhouse at three under while South African, Luke Trocado, the lowest man in the field, also posted 69. Welshman Richard James, who finished second in the Lytham Trophy last week, is also in the mix and would have taken a one-shot lead were it not for a bogey on the final hole.

Faithlegg's Robin Dawson had the cleanest card of the day, making two birdies and 16 pars during a bogey-free round. The Waterford man, who is also a Paddy Harrington golf scholar at Maynooth University, was two under at the turn and came home with nine straight pars.

"Normally you're trying to make birdies downwind and trying to save it coming back into the wind. There was opportunities coming back into the wind today. Unfortunately I didn't take any," said Dawson, who was tied 14th last year, eight shots behind the winner Jamie Savage. The defending champion got off to a slow start with a round of 73, which leaves him in the middle of the pack.

John-Ross Galbraith, Dermot McElroy, Jeff Hopkins and Gary Collins are among a seven-strong group at two under while Gary Hurley and Kevin LeBlanc are well placed at one under. Cormac Sharvin made a good recovery on the back nine having dropped to three over through 12. Birdies at 13, 14 and 16 saw him finish level alongside Stuart Grehan, John Hickey, Mark Morrissey, Rowan Lester, Marc Nolan and Kyle McCarron. 2013 champion Robbie Cannon is seven shots back after a 76. As things currently stand the cut would fall at two over.

- See more at: https://www.golfnet.ie/news/gui/264/LIVE%20-%20Hume,%20Moynihan%20lead%20at%20Royal%20Dublin#sthash.XKbXM8VP.dpuf

 FROM THE IGU WEBSITE
The early birds made the most of a benign morning to set the pace at the top of a congested leaderboard on day one at the Irish Amateur Open Championship .

Nine players, including former Scottish amateur champion Alexander Culverwell (Dunbar), pictured, are tied together at the top as three-under-par 69 proved a popular number on a day when Royal Dublin yielded more than expected. Calm conditions were a welcome change for the first round and five Irish players are among the leading group at three under.
Louth teenager Thomas Mulligan led the way, posting the first 69 of the day as well as setting the clubhouse target having teed off first at 7am. The 16-year-old came home in 33 (four under) thanks to four birdies on the back nine.
Mulligan, who was the first to arrive at Royal Dublin this morning after a 5am wake-up call, made a spectacular start with an eagle on the second from 10 feet having reached in two with a seven iron. Three bogeys followed however as Mulligan's early momentum stalled but he reached the turn at one over and got back on track with a birdie on the par-five 11th.
"It's easy to keep patient when you know there are birdie chances out there," said Mulligan. "I knew I was putting well."
He came close to a second eagle on 14 when his pitch hit the flag but unluckily for Mulligan, his ball ran down the flag and ricocheted off the hole before coming to rest 15 feet away from the pin. His frustrations were quickly forgotten when he drained the putt and he followed up with further birdies on 15 and 16.
Walker Cup panellists Jack Hume and Gavin Moynihan, the 2012 Irish Amateur champion and last year's Scottish open amateur stroke-play title-winner at Panmure,  joined the throng on 69.
 Hume got to four under with his fifth birdie of the day on the 11th but a three-putt bogey on 16 left him in a share of the lead.
"Apart from that (bogey on 16) it was pretty solid today," said the Naas player, who came close to winning at Royal Dublin in 2013. Moynihan picked up three shots in his last five holes. thanks to an eagle 3 on 14.
Knock's Colin Fairweather and Warrenpoint's Colm Campbell also made the most of their early starts to reach the clubhouse at three under while South African, Luke Trocado, also posted 69. Welshman Richard James, who finished second in the Lytham Trophy last Sunday, is also in the mix and would have taken a one-shot lead were it not for a bogey on the final hole.
Faithlegg's Robin Dawson had the cleanest card of the day, making two birdies and 16 pars during a bogey-free round. The Waterford man, who is also a Paddy Harrington golf scholar at Maynooth University, was two under at the turn and came home with nine straight pars.
"Normally you're trying to make birdies downwind and trying to save it coming back into the wind. There was opportunities coming back into the wind today. Unfortunately I didn't take any," said Dawson, who was tied 14th last year, eight shots behind the winner Jamie Savage.
The defending champion got off to a slow start with a round of 73, which leaves him in the middle of the pack.
John-Ross Galbraith, Dermot McElroy, Jeff Hopkins and Gary Collins are among a seven-strong group at two under while Gary Hurley and Kevin LeBlanc are well placed at one under. Cormac Sharvin made a good recovery on the back nine having dropped to three over through 12. Birdies at 13, 14 and 16 saw him finish level alongside Stuart Grehan, John Hickey, Mark Morrissey, Rowan Lester, Marc Nolan and Kyle McCarron. 2013 champion Robbie Cannon is seven shots back after a 76. As things currently stand the cut would fall at two over.
Which means that Ewan Ferguson (76), Colin Baird(77) and Nick Macandrew (77) will need to pull their shocks up in Round 2.

he early birds made the most of a benign morning to set the pace at the top of a congested leaderboard on day one at the Irish Amateur Open Championship.

• 07 May 2015
• -

 0  0 Google +0  0

Nine players are tied together at the top as 69 proved a popular number on a day when Royal Dublin yielded more than expected. Calm conditions were a welcome change for the first round and five Irish players are among the leading group at three under.

CLICK HERE FOR LIVE SCORING

Louth teenager Thomas Mulligan led the way, posting the first 69 of the day as well as setting the clubhouse target having teed off first at 7am. The 16-year-old came home in 33 (four under) thanks to four birdies on the back nine.

Mulligan, who was the first to arrive at Royal Dublin this morning after a 5am wake-up call, made a spectacular start with an eagle on the second from 10 feet having reached in two with a seven iron. Three bogeys followed however as Mulligan's early momentum stalled but he reached the turn at one over and got back on track with a birdie on the par-five 11th.

"It's easy to keep patient when you know there are birdie chances out there," said Mulligan. "I knew I was putting well."

He came close to a second eagle on 14 when his pitch hit the flag but unluckily for Mulligan, his ball ran down the flag and ricocheted off the hole before coming to rest 15 feet away from the pin. His frustrations were quickly forgotten when he drained the putt and he followed up with further birdies on 15 and 16.

His 69 was matched by Walker Cup panellists Jack Hume and Gavin Moynihan, the 2012 Irish Amateur champion. Hume got to four under with his fifth birdie of the day on the 11th but a three-putt bogey on 16 left him in a share of the lead.

"Apart from that (bogey on 16) it was pretty solid today," said the Naas player, who came close to winning at Royal Dublin in 2013. Moynihan picked up three shots in his last five holes thanks to an eagle three on 14. Knock's Colin Fairweather and Warrenpoint's Colm Campbell also made the most of their early starts to reach the clubhouse at three under while South African, Luke Trocado, the lowest man in the field, also posted 69. Welshman Richard James, who finished second in the Lytham Trophy last week, is also in the mix and would have taken a one-shot lead were it not for a bogey on the final hole.

Faithlegg's Robin Dawson had the cleanest card of the day, making two birdies and 16 pars during a bogey-free round. The Waterford man, who is also a Paddy Harrington golf scholar at Maynooth University, was two under at the turn and came home with nine straight pars.

"Normally you're trying to make birdies downwind and trying to save it coming back into the wind. There was opportunities coming back into the wind today. Unfortunately I didn't take any," said Dawson, who was tied 14th last year, eight shots behind the winner Jamie Savage. The defending champion got off to a slow start with a round of 73, which leaves him in the middle of the pack.

John-Ross Galbraith, Dermot McElroy, Jeff Hopkins and Gary Collins are among a seven-strong group at two under while Gary Hurley and Kevin LeBlanc are well placed at one under. Cormac Sharvin made a good recovery on the back nine having dropped to three over through 12. Birdies at 13, 14 and 16 saw him finish level alongside Stuart Grehan, John Hickey, Mark Morrissey, Rowan Lester, Marc Nolan and Kyle McCarron. 2013 champion Robbie Cannon is seven shots back after a 76. As things currently stand the cut would fall at two over.

- See more at: https://www.golfnet.ie/news/gui/264/LIVE%20-%20Hume,%20Moynihan%20lead%20at%20Royal%20Dublin#sthash.XKbXM8VP.dpuf

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Dubois flying with the eagles in Turkey
 
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Edouard Dubois carded two eagles on the way to a six under par 66 and the first round lead at the Turkish Airlines Challenge, as the Frenchman chases a third career European Challenge Tour title.
The 26 year old opened his first round with a three at the par five first after firing a hybrid approach to 30 feet and holing out for the perfect start to his week.
While he couldn’t build on that fine start immediately, following it up with seven pars, a birdie at the ninth meant he reached the turn in three under. Dubois picked up another shot at the 12th hole before that was cancelled out by a bogey at the 15th, but he rallied to a strong finish with an eagle at the par five 17th and a birdie at the last.
The two-time Challenge Tour winner was delighted with his round on a Gloria Golf Resort lay-out which he believes suits him down to the ground.
“I had a great start and then I just played really solid,” he said. “I didn’t make any mistakes, my putting was good and then I had a really good finish.
"There are five par fives and on all of them we can reach them in two shots so if you play well on the par fives this week you will do well.
“Its’ a really good course and I really enjoy playing it. You need to keep it straight with the driver and I’m good at that so it’s a good course for me.”
One shot back from Dubois are former European Tour winner Fredrik Andersson Hed and Denmark’s Mads Søgaard, with the Swede looking to make a return to the top tier, where he has played 15 full seasons.
The 43 year old opened with a birdie at the ninth – where the back nine starters are beginning this week – before carding two sets of back-to-back birdies at the 12th and 13th and the 17th and 18th.
His only bogey of the day at the fourth was put right straight away with a birdie at the fifth and the 2010 Italian Open winner was happy with how he negotiated the tricky tree-lined course in the golf resort town of Belek.
“I got off to a good start with the birdie on and went five under after four more birdies,” said Andersson Hed, who also has a Challenge Tour title to his name. “I didn’t play fantastic in any way but I didn’t hit any bad shots either.
“I kept the ball in play and took my chances when I got them, especially on the par fives. I hit a few really good shots and then I kept it going with a good save for par at the sixth, after going into the trees from the tee.
“I always liked tree-lined courses and I really like this one. It’s tough off the tee and you need to keep it on the fairway to get a decent shot in, but if you hit it into the trees normally it just comes straight down and you have some kind of shot in, maybe around another tree.”
Andersson Hed was joined on five under par by Søgaard, who started poorly with a bogey six at the first before bouncing back in impressive fashion with four birdies and an eagle to card a 67.
There were five players in a share of fourth place on four under, while former European Tour-winning Welshman Rhys Davies was among those a shot further back on three under.

FIRST-ROUND SCORES
par
66 E Dubois (Fra) 
67 M Søgaard  (Den) , F Andersson Hed (Swe)
68 H Joannes  (Bel) , J Guerrier  (Fra) , R Coles (Eng) , P Figueiredo  (Por) , A Korinek (Cze) 
69 S Walker (Eng) , G Murray  (Sco) , D Stewart (Sco) , R Davies (Wal) , S Griffiths (Eng) , J Sjöholm (Swe) , J Glennemo (Swe) , E Saltman  (Sco) , C Arendell (USA) ,
70 J Harrison (Eng) , C Berardo (Fra) , A Bernadet  (Fra) , D Ulrich (Sui) , S Jeppesen  (Swe) , N Kimsey (Eng) , R Gouveia (Por) , A Bruschi  (Ita) , G Porteous (Eng) , C Hanson (Eng) , P Archer (Eng) , B Åkesson (Swe) , P Widegren  (Swe) , B Stone (RSA) , D Palm (Swe) ,
71 J McLeary  (Sco) , M Röhrig (Ger) , C Mivis  (Bel) , P Relecom  (Bel) , P Doherty (Sco) , N Geyger (Chi) , S Manley (Wal) , B Etchart  (Esp) , N Bertasio (Ita) , S Hodgson (Eng) , J Stalter (Fra) , D Law (Sco) , J Hansen  (Den) , S Thornton (Irl) , R Enoch  (Wal) , W Harrold (Eng) , J Rask (Swe) , M Schneider (Ger) , C Shinkwin (Eng) , R Kellett (Sco) , A Snobeck  (Fra) ,
72 P Whiteford (Sco) , F Bergamaschi (Ita) , J Makitalo  (Fin) , T Sinnott (Aus) , A Saddier (Fra) , L Gagli  (Ita) , O Stark (Swe) , A Gee  (Eng) , N Ravano (Ita) , S Tiley (Eng) , J Winther (Den) , T Tree (Eng) , G Lockerbie  (Eng) , S Einhaus (Ger) , J Dantorp (Swe) , T Bakker (Fin) , E Cuartero Blanco  (Esp) ,
73 A Björk (Swe) , J Doherty  (Sco) , C Gloet  (Den) , D Gaunt (Eng) , C Ford (Eng) , R Kakko  (Fin) , D Coupland (Eng) , M Ruiz (Par) , R McGee (Irl) , D Im (USA) , S Fallon (Eng) , B Paolini (USA) , T Gornik (Slo) , S Henry  (Sco) , J White (Eng) , A Rota (Ita) , J Huldahl (Den) , A Guedra (Swe) ,
74 J Girrbach (Sui) , J Fahrbring (Swe) , J Lima  (Por) , N Elvira  (Esp) , S Wakefield (Eng) , A Ahokas (Fin) , J Senior (Eng) , A Hartø  (Den) , P Tarver-Jones (Eng) , J Elson  (Eng) , A Hortal  (Esp) , T Elissalde  (Fra) , M Stieger (Aus) , A Altuntas (am) (Tur) ,
75 N Lemke (Swe) , X Ruiz Fonhof  (Ned) , D Kemmer (USA) , M Lafeber (Ned) , D Suchan  (Cze) , J Robinson (Eng) , H Bacher (Aut) , C Brazillier  (Fra) , M Jonzon (Swe) , S Piaget  (Mon) , T Sluiter  (Ned) , S Heisele (Ger) , P Dwyer (Eng) , G Maybin (Nir) , G Pinto (Por) , S Soderberg (Swe)
76 M Delpodio  (Ita) , S Grant  (Irl) , J Watts (Eng) , A Eckhardt (Fin) , S Brown (Eng) , S Kim (USA) , R McNamara  (Irl) , J Billing (Swe)
77 K Subregis  (Fra) , H Satama (Fin) , N Quintarelli (Ita) , E Bertheussen (Nor) , R Kind (Ned) , H Yamac (Tur) , M Kramer  (Ger) , A Romano  (Ita) , S Gros (Fra) , N Raymond (Eng) ,
78 U Karatas (Tur) , J Gonnet  (Fra) , W Booth  (Sco) , C Aguilar  (Esp) , A Halvorsen  (Nor)
79 T Linard (Fra) , E Kemaloglu (am) (Tur) ,
80 O Aydin (Tur) , J Shim (am) (Tur) , S Akarsu (am) (Tur) ,
81 A Rajmont  (Cze) ,
83 S Ajster (Slo) , B Karatas (Tur) ,
84 B Kara (Tur) , M Guner (am) (Tur) , A Afsar (am) (Tur) ,
86 C Kaya (Tur) ,
89 S Isik (Tur) ,
91 E Demirci (Tur) ,
92 M Ceylan (Tur) ,


EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

Three share lead on 65 in Mauritius Open

Domaine de Bel Ombre, Mauritius: Korean teenager Jeunghun Wang, who has not missed the cut in his last 21 starts on the Asian Tour, shared the first round lead with Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen and Spaniard Carlos Pigem after jointly establishing a new course record of six-under-par 65 at the inaugural AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open today.

The talented Olesen, who has been out for three months following a hand surgery, mixed eight birdies with two bogeys at the magnificent Heritage Golf Club in the morning before his effort was matched later in the day by Wang, who was bogey-free and Pigem. 

The trio lead by a shot from South Africa’s Oliver Bekker and Terry Pilkadaris of Australia in the €1 million (approximately US$1.1 million) tournament, which is the first ever to be tri-sanctioned by the Asian, European and Sunshine Tours.

India’s Rahil Gangjee, who is half Mauritian, and Thailand’s Panuphol Pittayarat were amongst those bunched on 67. 

The 19-year-old Wang, only one of two players who produced bogey-free cards, overcame windy and rainy conditions to surge up the leaderboard as he chases a maiden Tour victory.

“I’m so happy with my score. The wind was so strong and the rain was very hard. I’m happy that I played like this and my putter was pretty nice today,” said Wang, whose made-cut streak began since the end of 2013. 

“I’m enjoying my week in Mauritius. The weather wasn’t nice but I want to keep my golf going like this. I didn’t think I could play a score like this. I got lucky. I got into trouble a few times but made a few good putts for par.”

Olesen, a two-time European Tour winner, got out of the blocks quickly with four birdies in his first five holes – the first from 40 feet – and picked up further gains at the 16th and 18th holes – either side of a dropped shot on the 17th hole – for an outward 31.

 Another bogey followed on the first, but Olesen birdied the fifth and completed his scoring with a 10-footer on the seventh hole.

“We had perfect conditions on the front nine and I played well on the front nine, then it started getting tricky on the back nine,” said the 25-year-old. “I’ve been waiting a long time for this – three months to play a competition round, so I was excited to get out there this morning. We had great conditions and I hit a lot of great putts, so it was fun.”

Pigem, an Asian Tour regular, was delighted with his opening round’s effort. “This is a lovely place. When I arrived I said ‘this is paradise, I have to play well’ so I’m glad I did,” said the 24-year-old. 

“It’s my target to be on the European Tour in the future and I know if I work hard I will be, but right now I’m enjoying it in Asia and learning a lot.”

Pint-size Gangjee birdied three of his last five holes to give himself a shot of winning in his mother’s home land and a first title in 11 years following his lone Asian Tour triumph in 2004.

“We were battling out there. It wasn’t easy, it was very, very windy and it started raining and it stopped raining and then it started raining again. It was more tiring than a normal day. I was feeling it towards the end but somehow it came together where I made a few putts,” he said

              FIRST-ROUND LEADERBOARD
 

Par 71 65 T Olesen (Den) , J Wang (SKor) , C Pigem (Esp) 66 O Bekker (RSA) , T Pilkadaris (Aus) 67 P Pittayarat (Tha) , J Parry (Eng) , D Woltman (USA) , R Gangjee (Ind) , J Walters (RSA) , M Muthiya  (Zam) , D Burmester (RSA) , N Holman  (Aus)  68 C Del Moral (Esp) , R Karlberg  (Swe) , K Phelan (Irl) , A McArthur  (Sco) , P Edberg (Swe) , M Kawamura (Jpn) , B Virto Astudillo (Esp) , M Fitzpatrick  (Eng) , M Lundberg (Swe)  69 C Nel (RSA), T Aiken (RSA), R Cairns (Zim) , S Barr (Aus) , J Janewattananond (Tha) , S Brazel (Aus) , P Peterson (USA) , T Khrongpha (Tha) , M Mamat (Sin)  70 R McGowan  (Eng) , B Evans  (Eng) , J Roos (RSA) , N Schietekat (RSA) , E Goya (Arg) , S Lewton (Eng) , S Supupramai (Tha) , J Lagergren (Swe) , D Chopra (Swe) , G Coetzee (RSA) , J Hahn (USA) , C Hung (Tpe) , K Horne (RSA) , P Oriol (Esp)  71 S Kapur (Ind) , J Garcia Pinto (Esp) , J Knutzon (USA) , B Ritthammer (Ger) , M Bremner (RSA) , T Wiratchant (Tha) , A Tadini (Ita) , V Riu  (Fra) , J Carlsson (Swe) , A Groom (Aus) , C Bouniol (Fra), C Basson (RSA), J Scrivener (Aus) , J Palmer (Eng) , W Coetsee (RSA) , S Rahman (Ban) , E De La Riva  (Esp) ,  72 M Perera (Sri) , A Da Silva (Bra) , A Dodt (Aus) , R Lee (Can) , C Phadungsil  (Tha) , G Bhullar (Ind) , J Ahlers (RSA) , J Colomo  (Esp) , M Both (Aus), J Kruger (RSA), R McEvoy  (Eng) , U Park (Aus) , D Basson (RSA) , C Paisley  (Eng) , S Hansen (Den) , M Orrin (Eng) , T Levet (Fra) , B Henson (USA) , S Hend (Aus) , P Martin Benavides (Esp) , L Bax (am) (Mus) ,  73 R Khan  (Ind) , E Taylor (RSA) , T Van Der Walt (RSA) , L Jensen (Den) , A Pavan (Ita) , R Lupini (RSA) , A Atwal (Ind) , D Van Tonder  (RSA) , J Hugo  (RSA) , K Richardson (Aus) , J Harding  (RSA), C Lloyd (Eng), A Marshall (Eng) , D Van Den Heever (RSA) , A Velasco (Esp) , U Van Den Berg  (RSA)  74 B Easton (RSA) , R Santos  (Por) , L De Jager  (RSA) , T Ryan (RSA) , S Norris  (RSA) , J Blaauw  (RSA) , R Wannasrichan (Tha) , J Edfors (Swe) , J Higginbottom (Aus) , T Bjørn (Den) ,  75 E Van Rooyen (RSA) , V Groenewald (RSA) , T Thimba Jnr (RSA) , T Moore (RSA) , N Dougherty  (Eng) , P Meesawat  (Tha) , R Van Der Spuy (RSA) , L Weber (Fra) ,  76 D Petersen  (RSA) , M Rominger  (Sui) , H Porteous (RSA) , N Tantipokhakul (Tha) , D Frittelli (RSA) ,  77 K Aphibarnrat (Tha) , L Rowe  (RSA) , G Tian-Lang (Chn) ,  78 P Junhasavasdikul (Tha) , P Maddy (Eng) ,  79 B Stow (Eng) ,  80 H Otto (RSA) ,  81 A Vongvanij (Tha) , S Smith (Bot) ,  82 A Curlewis (RSA) ,

65 - Thorbjorn OLESEN (DEN) , Jeunghun WANG (SKOR) , Carlos PIGEM (ESP)

66 - Oliver BEKKER (RSA) , Terry PILKADARIS (AUS)

67 - Madalitso MUTHIYA (ZAM) , Daniel WOLTMAN (USA) , Dean BURMESTER (RSA) , John PARRY (ENG) , Rahil GANGJEE (IND) , Justin WALTERS (RSA) , Panuphol PITTAYARAT (THA) , Nathan HOLMAN (AUS)

68 - Carlos DEL MORAL (ESP) , Borja VIRTO ASTUDILLO (ESP) , Matthew FITZPATRICK (ENG) , Andrew McARTHUR (SCO) , Pelle EDBERG (SWE) , Masahiro KAWAMURA (JPN) , Mikael LUNDBERG (SWE) , Kevin PHELAN (IRL) , Rikard KARLBERG (SWE)

69 - Ryan CAIRNS (ZIM) , Sam BRAZEL (AUS) , Thanyakon KHRONGPHA (THA) , Paul PETERSON (USA) , Jazz JANEWATTANANOND (THA) , Mardan MAMAT (SIN) , Colin NEL (RSA) , Scott BARR (AUS) , Thomas AIKEN (RSA)

 

For more information on the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open:

http://afrasiabankmauritiusopen.com/

Culverwell shares lead on 69 in Ireland

Alexander Culverwell, the former Scottish amateur champion from Dunbar, is sharing the lead on three-under-par 69 in the Irish men's open amateur championship at 2.30pm.

To view the Irish Golf Union's live-scoring service

CLICK HERE

Scots' scores
69 Alexander Culverwell
72 Jack McDonald, Greig Marchbank
73 Scott Gibson, Jamie Savage
75 Chrisopher MacLean

Paul Lawrie Foundation extends its reach

 into the Highlands

Left to right: Fraser Cromarty (chief executive of The Nairn Golf Club and chairman of Highland Golf Links); Paul Lawrie, Sandy Scott (winner of the PLF Junior Open at Nairn) and Michael MacDougall, Paul Lawrie Foundation manager.

NEWS RELEASE

Junior golfers in the Highlands will now have the support of a former Open champion with the Paul Lawrie Foundation (PLF) extending its reach into the area.

The foundation was launched in Aberdeen in 2001, two years after Paul won The Open at Carnoustie, and since then has assisted thousands of juniors to start playing golf, improve their skills and compete in tournaments.

Its mission is to get as many young people playing the sport as possible and, ultimately, produce a tour winner or even a Major champion.

Paul is being assisted in bringing the foundation to the Highlands by Fraser Cromarty, chief executive of The Nairn Golf Club and chairman of Highland Golf Links (HGL), a partnership body which promotes golfing trips to the area.

The first tournament arranged in the Highlands under the PLF banner was held on Sunday when The Nairn Golf Club hosted the Paul Lawrie Foundation Junior Open.

The event was won by Sandy Scott, 16, a Nairn member who also won last year’s PLF Junior Open in Cruden Bay and who has been assisted by the foundation previously.

Paul also met a number of potential sponsors based in the Highlands and is encouraged by the response.

He said: “We have been running the foundation in the North-east since 2001 and it seemed an obvious move for us to do something in the Highlands. I have a connection to the area through my attachment to Skibo Castle and we see great potential in working with youngsters here.

“We have known Fraser Cromarty for a long time and he was the first person we called to help us set up in this area. Our meetings with potential sponsors were very positive. They were very enthusiastic about what we are trying to do, they all bought into the idea and are very keen to help the kids.

“I love being involved in the foundation. It’s allowed me to give something back to golf by getting kids involved in the game and taking the cost away from parents.”

Fraser Cromarty said: “The Paul Lawrie Foundation has done a fantastic job promoting and supporting junior golf in the North-east of Scotland and moving into the Highlands is great news for everyone involved in the sport here.

“Junior golf needs all the encouragement it can get and having the support of such an iconic figure and Major champion like Paul Lawrie gives everyone a tremendous lift.  The help from the foundation will go hand in hand with the work that clubs and other bodies are doing to help young players.

“I strongly believe that sport in general, and golf in particular, can teach young people so much, like discipline and etiquette, which will help them for the rest of their lives.

“With the help of professional coaches, our juniors will get the best opportunity to develop their talent, compete at the highest level and, hopefully, one day we can produce a champion from this area.”

Paul Lawrie Foundation

The Foundation exists, primarily, to introduce more youngsters to the game of golf and to help them to enjoy their experiences of the sport even more, but it has expanded over time to encompass other sports in the North-east, including swimming, tennis, table-tennis and gymnastics.

www.paullawriefoundation.co.uk

Highland Golf Links

HGL consists of three leading golf clubs – Nairn, Royal Dornoch and Castle Stuart – as well as four leading hotels; the Kingsmills and Culloden House, Inverness; the Golf View Hotel and Spa in Nairn and the Royal Golf Hotel in Dornoch and promotes Play and Stay packages to promote golf tourism in the area.

www.highlandgolflinks.com

Nick Faldo and Sandy Lyle become honorary 

members of R and A

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE R and A

St Andrews: Sir Nick Faldo MBE and Sandy Lyle MBE have accepted invitations to become honorary members of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews.
Two of Britain’s finest ever golfers, Faldo and Lyle inspired a generation of players with their wins in The Open Championship and the Masters Tournament and were at the forefront of a new wave of European golfers who rose to prominence in the 1980’s.
They join fellow Open Champions Peter Thomson CBE, Gary Player, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Roberto de Vicenzo, Tony Jacklin CBE, Lee Trevino and Tom Watson in becoming honorary members.
Sir Nick said, “St Andrews frames many of my most treasured memories in golf including those of my second Open win 25 years ago.  I am honoured to receive this invitation and look forward to celebrating nearly 40 years as a professional at the home of golf in July.”
“I am delighted to receive this recognition,” said Sandy. “It was a lifetime ambition for me to win The Open and I will never forget how it felt to lift the Claret Jug. Golf has given me a great deal over the years and I feel privileged to have been invited to become part of this great Club.”

George Macgregor OBE, the Captain of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club, said, “Sir Nick Faldo and Sandy Lyle have enjoyed long and successful careers and are wonderful ambassadors for golf around the world. They were instrumental in leading the resurgence of British golf and have undoubtedly been role models for subsequent generations of golfers. 

"We are extremely pleased that they have accepted invitations to become honorary members of the Club.”

Faldo is a six-time Major Champion. He will play in his last Open this year on the 25th anniversary of his win at St Andrews as he celebrates his 58th birthday. He also won The Open at Muirfield in both 1987 and 1992 and finished in the top ten in the Championship on ten occasions between 1978 and 2003. He won the Masters Tournament on three occasions.

Faldo is the all-time leading points-scorer in Ryder Cup history, having played in 11 European Ryder Cup teams before captaining the team in 2008. In addition to his Major wins, Faldo won 24 European Tour events and led the money list in 1983 and 1992. He also won three events on the PGA Tour.

Lyle will this year celebrate the 30th anniversary of becoming Champion Golfer of the Year at Royal St George’s. He went on to win the Masters Tournament three years later. Lyle won a further four events on the US PGA Tour, including the 1987 Players Championship, and 16 events on the European Tour.

The 57-year-old led the European Tour Order of Merit in 1979, 1980 and 1985 and represented Europe in the Ryder Cup on five occasions. He now plays on the European Senior Tour and the Champions Tour and won the ISPS Handa Senior World Championship in 2011.

End

Miller v Smyth for Ayrshire match-play title

FROM THE AYRSHIRE GOLF WEBSITE
The 2015 Ayrshire match-play championship final will be between Stuart Miller (Kilmarnock Barassie) and Michael Smyth (Royal Troon), teeing off at 5pm this evening (Thurday) at Prestwick St Cuthbert Golf Club
 

In the semi-finals at Prestwick St Cuthbert GC on Wednesday evening, played in bright but breezy conditions, both players secured their place in the final with comfortable wins.

In the first semi-final, Stuart Miller got off to a flying start against clubmate Euan Brown (Klmarnock Barassie). After an opening half in par fours, Miller them birdied three successive holes from the second to go three up in the match. 
Brown birdied the par four fith hole to reduce the deficit to two holes but a bogey five at the next from Brown let Miller restore his three hole advantage, which he maintained to the turn. 
In the inward half, Miller proved to be the more consistent of the two, extending his lead early on and closing out the match on the thirteenth green with a 6 and 5 victory, to book his place in the final for the first time.

In the second semi-final Michael Smyth, the 2013 winner, faced John Haggarty (Loudoun). The match proved tight throughout the front nine but birdies from Smyth at both the fifth and eighth holes gave him a two hole advantage at the turn. Haggarty reduced the deficit to one at the tenth but Smyth won both the 11th and 13th to extend his lead to three holes.

The margin was reduced to two holes again at the fourteenth when Smyth found a bunker from the tee and was unable to salvage par, but Haggarty found fairway bunkers from the tee at the next two holes which contributed to him losing both holes  to give Smyth a 4 and 2 victory.

Walker Cup pair Nathan Smith and Todd 

White win first US four-ball, better-ball title

NEWS RELEASE FROM USGA (www.usga.org)

From Pete Kowalski (pkowalski@usga.org)

SAN FRANCISCO – Nathan Smith and Todd White, 2013 USA Walker Cup team-mates, defeated Sherrill Britt and Greg Earnhardt, 7 and 5, in the final match to win the inaugural U.S. amateur four-ball, better-ball pairs hampionship at the Olympic Club’s Lake Course

“Great satisfaction,” said White, of winning “Great satisfaction, knowing that with Nathan here we're national champions.”

“I think Nathan's got such a good short game,” said Earnhardt, an insurance agent who battled blisters on his feet and toes for the final three rounds. 

“You know he's never out of the hole no matter where he is, and he's such a good putter and then Todd hits it so well.”

“If we played them ten times, we might beat them twice,” said Britt, a custom home builder. “But, we'd have to be rested to do it.”
Smith, 36, of Pittsburgh, and White, 47, of Spartanburg, South Carolina, began the match with wins on the first four holes, including a 14ft birdie putt by Smith on the third hole.

“Getting up (ahead) early was a big, big help,” said White, a high school history teacher who won the 2015 Azalea Amateur. 

“It freed us up to not really take chances, because you can't do that here, but just know that we could play steady golf. It's difficult to make birdies out there, so it was going to be tough for them to catch up.”

The North Carolina pair Britt, 49, of West End, and Earnhardt, 46, of Greensboro, won their only hole of the match on the fifth with a 6ft birdie putt by Earnhardt but lost the sixth to a 9ft birdie by White.

The next four holes were halved. Smith and White won the next two holes with pars to extend their lead to six holes. 

The match and the championship were clinched on the par-3 13th where White hit a 7-iron to three feet for a conceded birdie. The 7- and 5 margin was the largest in any round of the championship.

“I just didn't want to let Todd down,” said Smith, a four-time U.S. mid-amateur champion who works as an investment advisor. 

“So if you're just playing for yourself, it's kind of all on you, but I didn't want to let my partner down as we kept advancing. So for me, I felt a lot more pressure playing today than all week.”

White, with 16 past USGA championship appearances and Smith, with 33, played 76 consecutive holes in five rounds of match play without making a better-ball bogey. In 78 holes, their lone bogey, against 19 birdies, was on the second hole of the first round.
“I didn't know it was that many holes,” said Smith. “I was afraid if we made one bogey we were going to make like four in a row, so I didn't want to think about it too much.”
In a “home-town” match, Britt and Earnhardt carried their own bags in defeating Scott Harvey, 36, of Greensboro, North Carolina, and Todd Mitchell, 36, of Bloomington, Illinois, at the 19th in one of the morning’s semi-finals.
In the other semi-final, Smith and White defeated the No.2-seeded and highly regarded side of 18-year-old high school seniors Sam Burns, of Shreveport, Laouisiana, and Austin Connelly, of Irving, Texas. The younger duo, ranked 6th and 10th, respectively in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, lost 2 and 1.
 Connelly captured the Jones Cup in February and will attend Arkansas.

The winners receive custody of the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship Trophy for a year as well as gold medals. Semi-final sides, which must remain intact, are exempt from qualifying for the 2016 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York.

RESULTS

Par 70. Yardage: 6,981

SEMI-FINALS

Sherrill Britt, West End, North Carolina and Greg Earnhardt, Greensboro, North Carolina bt Scott Harvey, Greensboro, North Carolina and Todd Mitchell, Bloomington, Illinois aT 19th.

Todd White, Spartanburg, South Carolina and Nathan Smith, Pittsburgh, bt  Austin Connelly, Irving, Texas and Sam Burns, Shreveport, Louisiana, 2 and 1

FINAL

White and Smith bt Britt and Earnhardt  7 and 5