Bradley Moore’s 69 leads the Carris Trophy by one stroke
International
Bradley Moore shot three-under par 69 at Little Aston today to take the
first- round lead in the English boys’ open stroke-play championship for
the Carris Trophy.
He
fashioned his score on a tricky day, with a strong wind, playing firm
fairways and fast greens, and declared: “It’s a good start, it’s been a
good day of solid golf.”
The
17-year-old from Kedleston Park in Derbyshire, is a shot ahead of
Portugal-based Nathan Brader and Yorkshire’s Alex Fitzpatrick.
Three
players are grouped on one-under and three more on level par, including
Denmark’s John Axelsen who won last year’s U16 McGregor Trophy.
Moore
(image © Leaderboard Photography) made an impressive start, with three
birdies in the first four holes, but gave them back with a bogey on
eight and a double on 11. However, he again forged ahead with three more
birdies, including 16 and 17 where he holed testing putts.
“It gets
tough around the turn here, you’ve just got to get through there and
then go again for the finish,” he remarked.
This is a
rare outing in a boys’ championship for Moore, who is concentrating more
on men’s golf and will play next week’s English men's amateur championship, followed by
the European amateur.
The early
pace was set by Nathan Brader (Vilamoura) who began his round in style
when he holed out from a bunker beside the second green for a birdie. He
went on to return a bogey-free score of two-under 70, having notched up
another birdie on the long 12th.
“I’m very
pleased with how I played,” said the 17-year-old English player, who is
based in Portugal. “I could have been a couple of shots better – some
putts shaved the hole – but overall I feel very pleased with my
performance.”
He’s had good results in Portugal this season, with second places in a national youths’ championship and in a PGA event.
His
70 was matched by Alex Fitzpatrick (Hallamshire), who made an untidy
start to his round – but quickly put things right and was rewarded with a
back nine of five-under par 32.
He
was three-over through four when he decided to put away his driver,
rely on his three wood and target fairways and greens. “It wasn’t the
best start, I was hitting my driver everywhere!” he said. But his new
approach was immediately successful and, helped by a hot putter, he
didn’t drop another shot. “I holed two from 38ft and a lot from inside
12ft, it was a confidence booster,” he said.
Fitzpatrick,
16, is playing in the Carris for the first time, having taken fifth
place in last week’s English U16 boys’ championship for the McGregor
Trophy. He equalled the course record at Wallasey in his final round,
shooting six-under 66.
Harry
Goddard (Hanbury Manor) was disappointed when he missed the cut in the
McGregor Trophy but made up for it today with a score of one-under 71,
which included six birdies.
“I’ve worked on a few things and had a nice
round today,” he said.
“It’s
early days but I’m happy to shoot under par and hopefully I can move
on. It would be exciting to play for the rest of the week,” added the
15-year-old, who is making his debut in the Carris.
Alexander
Frances joined him on one-under thanks to an excellent finish with a
run of three birdies from the 15th, followed by a par on the last. “I
had a bit of a slow start on both nines but came back really well both
times. My putter was good, it went my way today,” he said.
Frances,
18, has lived all his life in Denmark, where his father is a
professional, and is a member of the national boys’ team and a past
winner of the Danish junior championship – but his family hails from
Yorkshire.
Another Danish player, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen is also in
the group on one-under 71.
There are no Scots in the field because the Carris Trophy clashes with the Scottish U18 boys open stroke-play in Edinburgh.
Lyndsey Hewison
Press Officer
England Golf
pr@englandgolf.org
07825 752 193
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