Craig Howie toppled by 64th qualifier at
Carnoustie but five Scots in last 32
Top seed Craig Howie (Peebles) was sent tumbling out of the British Amateur championship when the match-play stages began over the Carnoustie championship links today.
Former Scottish boys champion Howie was beaten 2 and 1 by the last of the 64 qualifiers, Michele Cea from Italy.
Greig Marchbank (Thornhill) and Craig Ross (Kirkhill) enjoyed better luck.
Marchbank bt Ryan Stovash (United States) 3 and 2 and Ross bt Cameron Davis (Australia) 2 and 1.
The all-Scottish clash of former native champions from Lothians between Grant Forrest (Craigielaw) and Alexander Culverwell (Dunbar) proved a one-sided affair with Forrest winning by 6 and 4.
Former British boys champion Ewen Ferguson (Bearsden), winner of the Scottish champion of champions' tournament at Leven and the Craigmillar Park Open in Edinburgh earlier this seasonh, went down by 2 and 1 to Stanford University student David Boote (Walton Heath) by 2 and 1.
But there were victories for Robert MacIntyre (Glencruitten), by one hole over D J Loyput (Australia) and Jack McDonald (Kilmarnock Barassie), by 6 and 5 over American Frederick Wedel.
SCOTS' RESULTS
FIRST ROUND
Michele Cea (Italy) bt Craig Howie (Peebles) 2 and 1.
Greig Marchbank (Thornhill) bt Ryan Stovash (USA) 3 and 2.
Craig Ross (Kirkhill) bt Cameron Davis (Australia) 2 and 1.
Grant Forrest (Craigielaw) bt Alexander Culverwell (Dunbar) 6 and 4.
Jack McDonald (Kilmarnock Barassie) bt Frederick Wedel (USA) 6 and 5.
David Boote (Walton Heath) bt Ewen Ferguson (Bearsden) 2 and 1.
Robert MacIntyre (Glencruitten) bt D J Loypur (Australia) 1 hole.
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SCOTS AT HOME IN THE WIND
RandA NEWS RELEASE
Gusting winds greeted the players in the first match-play round of the
120th Amateur Championship at Carnoustie today and the home players
demonstrated their mastery of the blustery conditions to record some
notable successes.
Scots Greig Marchbank, Craig
Ross, Jack McDonald and Robert MacIntyre all achieved good wins against
opponents from overseas while Grant Forrest defeated fellow Scot
Alexander Culverwell by 6 and 4.
The University of San Diego student was
one-under-par for his round and never behind in the match.
The Scots didn’t have it all
their own way, however, and Italy’s Michele Cea won the first match of
the day by 2 and 1 against Craig Howie, who was joint leader after the
qualifying rounds.
The Italian was two down at the turn but recovered to
win the next three holes. Howie drew level again at the 14th but Cea
won the next two holes and halved the 17th to clinch the match.
Welshman David Boote also saw
off the challenge of Ewen Ferguson with a 2 and 1 win.
Boote, who was
named in the initial 20-man Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup squad
for the match against the USA at Royal Lytham in September, won the
first two holes and led for the remainder of the match before sealing
the win with a par at the 17th.
Norway’s Vetle Maroy upset
Sweden’s Marcus Kinhult, the highest-ranked player in the field at
number three in the World Amateur Golf RankingTM with a
one-hole victory. Kinhult, who won the recent Lytham Trophy, was never
behind in the match until the last hole where Maroy calmly holed out
from four feet for a par to win the hole and the match.
Two-time European Amateur
champion Ashley Chesters defeated Australian Taylor MacDonald 3 and 2.
Chesters’ fellow Englishmen Jack Yule and Jimmy Mullen enjoyed wins over
Ireland’s Dermot McElroy and Jeremy Gandon of France.
Ireland's Gavin Moynihan beat Tom Gandy from Rowany by 2 and 1.
Elsewhere, America’s John Oda
won with a par at the first extra hole against Jaime Lopez Rivarola from
Argentina.
Germany’s Yannik Paul won by two holes against Spain’s Mario
Galiano and, while his brother Jeremy was edged out 2 and 1 by
Iceland’s Andri Bjornsson, his compatriot Max Mehles ended the hopes of
American Walker Cup player Jordan Niebrugge by 2 and 1.
The final match between New
Zealand’s Ryan Chisnall, who was joint leader after the qualifying
rounds, and Alejandro Tosti from Argentina went to the 22nd hole with
Tosti edging a close match with a birdie 3 to take his place in
tomorrow’s second round.
Key quotes
Grant Forrest
“The first round of the match
play is always tough because you don’t know what to expect,” said the
21-year-old. “I have played Zander before and I know what he is capable
of but he just maybe never had his best day today. I played well and
just focused on hitting solid golf shots and keeping the ball in play
and I came out on top.”
Michele Cea
“It was a tough match against
the winner of the qualifying. I had lots of fun out there. I started
pretty well. I was two up after two holes and then I started making some
birdies. I was one down at the 10th then I made three birdies in five
holes and a really good par at 16 which helped me to win the match. I
putted very well today and it was a really close match.”
Vetle Maroy
“With four to play I was
actually three down. Marcus struggled a little bit on the last few holes
and I did actually play a bit on his mistakes. I made a birdie on 15
which was pretty good because he made a par there and on the last few
holes he just didn’t play as well. It’s a tough last four holes and I
played them one under so I played pretty well.”
Ashley Chesters
“It was so windy out there I
was just making pars which were good enough to wins holes. I putted well
and holed a lot of 10 footers which was important at some good times in
the match.”
For the full list of results and the draw for tomorrow’s second match play round please visit championships.randa.org.
Labels: Amateur Men
