Alfie Plant wins Lytham Trophy by seven shots
 

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
 Alfie Plant, pictured above, from Sundridge Park Golf Club, Bromley, runner-up in several big amateur events in 2015 made it past the winning post today in the prestigious Lytham Trophy 72-hole tournament at Royal Lytham St Annes Golf Club, Lancashire.
Plant, who led by two shots after an opening round of three-under-par 67, spreadeagled the field in the end, heading a class field by SEVEN strokes with a four-over-par total of 284, made up of subsequent rounds of 73, 74 and 70 in sometimes, harsh cold conditions.
Jamie Savage (Cawder) shot 73, 71,73 and 74 for a total of 291, ttieing for second place with Bradley Moore (Kedleston Park) (72-68-72-79) and Ugo Coussard (France) (74-70-76-71).
Walker Cup player Grant Forrest (Craigielaw) and Stirling University student Mathias Eggenberger tied with James Walker (Oaks) for fifth place on 292.
Forrest had four steady rounds of 73, 72, 73 and 74.
Eggenberger scored 70, 78, 71 and 73.
Other Scots just outside the top 10 were Christopher Maclean (Balmore), tied 12th on 295 with rounds of 75, 69, 76 and 75.
Nairn teenager Sandy Scott, well placed after opening rounds of 70 and 72, was not at his Sunday best with rounds of 78 and 76 to finish tied 14th on 296.
Scott Gibson (Southerness) finished joint 24th on 301 with scores of 71,76, 80 and 74.
Michael Smyth (Royal Troon) shot 76, 73, 81 and 76 for 306 and a share of 37th place.
Ewen Ferguson (Bearsden), Calum Fyfe (Cawder) and Connor Syme (Drumoig) all missed the cut the 149 cut mark by one shot.

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  FROM LYTHAM

 LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 280 (4x70)
284 A Plant (Sundridge Park) 67 73 74 70
291 J Savage (Cawder) 73 71 73 74, B Moore (Kedleston Park) 72 68 72 79, U Coussard (Fra) 74 70 76 71
292 M Eggenberger (Swi) 70 78 71 73, J Walker (Oaks) 74 66 79 73, G Forrest (Craigielaw) 73 72 73 74
SELECTED SCORES
293 A Turner (Kenwick Park) 76 73 73 71 (T7)
295 C Maclean (Balmore) 75 69 76 75 (T12)
296 S Scott (Nairn) 70 72 78 76 (T14)
301 S Gibson (Southerness) 71 76 80 74 (T24) 
306 M Smyth (Royal Troon) 76 73 81 76 (T37)
MISSED THE CUT (149 and better qualified)
150 E Ferguson (Bearsden) 77 73, C Fyfe (Cawder) 77 73, C Syme (Drumoig) 72 78.
151 C Howie (Peebles) 80 71, B Hume (Haggs Castle) 77 74
152 K Godsman (Moray) 73 79, C Ross (Kirkhill) 73 79
154 L Johnston (Dumfries and Co) 79 74, J Wright (Forres) 74 80
155 R MacIntyre (Glencruitten) 79 76
159 M Clark (Kilmacolm) 80 79, C Low (Tantallon) 80 79.
Field of 144 players


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 REPORT BY ALISTAIR TAIT
Alfie Plant took a step closer to his dream of playing in this year’s World Amateur Team Championships with an impressive victory in the Lytham Trophy.
Plant handled the tough conditions the Open Championship layout presented better than anyone else. He fought his way through strong winds and persistent rain to post scores of 67, 73, 74 and 70 for a 4-over-par 284 to win by seven shots.
Bradley Moore, Scotland’s Jamie Savage and Ugo Coussaud of France finished joint second on 11-over.
Plant posted three seconds and a third last year, including runner-up in the English Amateur Championship. Those experiences helped him conquer a strong field over one of the world’s hardest courses.
“I had a few seconds last year which builds your experience up, and I took all that in today,” Plant said.
“My long irons were great all week. I was really good at hitting it pin high, which is always helpful around here.”
Plant’s opening 3-under-67, 10 strokes better than the average first-round score, set him up for the next three rounds.
“I’ve been working to try to lead from the front because I’ve always struggled the first two rounds and had to drag myself back into tournaments. All the work I’ve been putting in is finally working.”
Despite his opening round, Plant began the final round trailing fellow England teammate Moore by two shots. The turning point came at the par-5, 11th hole.
Plant birdied the hole while Moore took a double bogey after blocking his tee shot into dense undergrowth to the right of the fairway. Subsequent bogeys followed at the next four holes to give Plant breathing space down the stretch. Moore’s collapse was complete when he added a bogey at 17 and double bogeyed the 18th to limp home in 44 strokes for a 79.
Moore’s score was pretty close to the average over the four rounds. The Royal Lytham scorecard reads par 70 but bears no resemblance to reality. Average scores for the four rounds were 77, 76, 77 and 76. Strong third round winds made scoring particularly tough. “It was brutal,” Plant said. “It was like a war out there.”
There were 63 scores of 80 or worse over the four rounds. The cut fell at 9-over-par. Plant’s opening 67 was one of only seven sub-par scores, with a 4-under 66 from England’s James Walker the lowest score of the week. In other words, the golf course was the winner in yet another Lytham Trophy.
Moore and Plant will contend for spaces in England’s three-man team to travel to Mexico for the World Amateur Team Championships September 21-24. Plant’s impressive showing over the testing Royal Lytham links puts him in pole position to take one of the spots.