Wednesday, August 16, 2006

FIVE SCOTS IN LAST 32 AT BALGOWNIE

JORDAN THE MAJOR CASUALTY ON DAY 3

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Four members of last week’s triumphant Scotland team in the boys’ home internationals at Lossiemouth – Shaun McAllister, Ross Kellett, Michael Stewart and Gordon Stevenson – had something more to celebrate today.
They and late finisher Robby Anderson are the only Scots to have won their way through to the last 32 of the British boys’ amateur golf championship over the Royal Aberdeen links at Balgownie.
The major casualty of the third day was Jordan Findlay, the Fraserburgh 18-year-old with the best accumulative record (played 19 ties, lost only two) in this and the past two championships. He won the title in 2004, was beaten in the final last year … but bowed out in the third round today, mastered on the last green by a very good Belgian player, Hugues Joannes.
And so Jordan’s dream of becoming the first player ever to reach three successive finals in this 85-year-old tournament -was shattered..
Joannes - metaphorically speaking - rubbed salt into the wound by saying later that he felt he was a better stroke player than he was at match-play!
Findlay took his defeat in the best possible spirit – even though he must have bitterly disappointed inside. But it did not show.
“He is a very good player and made very few mistakes the whole way round. He had terrific up and downs at the 17th and 18th to get halves,” said Jordan who will return to the United States shortly for his second year at East Tennessee State University..
“I just couldn’t get the putts to drop. But I don’t have any divine right to win matches. I didn’t play well enough to win. It’s as simple as that.”
Joannes, a 17-year-old from a town south of Brussels, has never been in Scotland before. He led last month’s English boys’ open stroke-play championship for the Carris Trophy by five shots with two rounds to go before finishing second.
“Beating Jordan Findlay was a very good win for me. He has a great record in this championship. I had to play very well to beat him,” said Joannes who was two under par for the match which was all square after 11 holes.
Findlay drove into the ditch to go one down at the 12th and was in the rough off the tee at the 15th to lose that hole as well.
Jordan has been in tight corners before in this championship over the past three years – and got out of them. But not this one. The Buchan boy did win back the 16th where the Belgian was bunkered but Joannes salvaged a half in par 3 at the 17th with a great recovery.
Joannes, only one up, looked as if he had left the door open for Findlay when he missed the plateau green at the last on the right and found his ball nestling down in short rough. But he played a brilliant, high wedge recovery from about 20 yards to within 2ft of the cup.
Jordan’s only hope of taking the tie down the 19th was to hole a 25ft putt for a birdie … but his putt, like so many earlier ones, was never on the right line.
The Belgian victor plays another Scot in the round of the last 32 this morning – Shaun McAllister, the Craigielaw youngster who burst on the scene three or four weeks ago by winning the Scottish boys’ open stroke-play championship at Alloa.
McAllister beat Matt Kippen (Enmore Park) by 6 and 5 with roughly one over par figures.
“I didn’t play as well as I did on Tuesday – but I didn’t have to,” said Shaun.
Another Scot through to the fourth round is Ross Kellett from Colville Park, Motherwell. He was too good for Sam Torrance’s son Daniel, beating the Wentworth player by 4 and 3.
Kellett lost only one hole, the 10th, and had things made easier for him when Torrance was in trouble at the sixth and eighth and had to concede both holes.
Ross finished his man off with a birdie at the 13th and a par at the 15th. He was one or two under par at the finish.
Deeside Golf Club’s 17-year-old junior champion, California-born Sean Stevens, ran into a barrage of birdies from Niall Kearney (Royal Dublin), Ireland’s most successful player in last week’s boys’ home internationals at Lossiemouth.
Niall won by 6 and 5 with a five-under-par display which saw him turn in three-under-par 33 with a three-hole lead. The Irish teenager, who has been signed up by Jordan Findlay’s US college – East Tennessee State, then wrapped up the match with birdies at the 10th and the 11th and a par at the 12th.
“I didn’t expect to get into the championship with a handicap of 4.3 but I entered anyway and was placed on the stand-by reserve list. I got a late call into the field on Tuesday. I won a couple of ties – and then I lost to a very good player in peak form, so I’ve a lot of good memories from this week,” said Sean who lives at Bieldside and is a pupil at the International School at Milltimber.
Sean, whose father works for Chevron Oil, learned to play golf while the family were staying in Thailand after they had had a spell in Indonesia. He came to Aberdeen three years ago but has played very little competitive golf outwith Deeside and Royal Aberdeen, where he is also a member.
A week or so, Stevens was the leading qualifier in the St Andrews Boys’ Open and got as far as the semi-finals over the Old Course before losing. His stroke-play rounds were good enough to bring his handicap down from four to three.
Michael Stewart (Troon Welbeck) holed his second shot for an eagle 2 at the 409yd par-4 seventh to go two up on his way to a 4 and 3 win over Thailand’s Napat Pattamasing.
David Morrison (Duff House Royal), recent winner of the Paul Lawrie Junior Match-play Challenge at St Andrews Bay, lost by 4 and 3 to Scotland junior rugby cap Gordon Stevenson (Whitecraigs).
Stevenson won by 4 and 3 after establishing a three-hole lead by the 12th tee.
Robby Anderson, 18-year-old Duddingston player has never played for any junior Scotland golf team but, with darkness falling just after 9pm, he joined McAllister, Kellett, Stewart and Stevenson in the last 32.
Robby, four up after four against Pontus Widegren (Sweden), eventually came to the 18th tee one up – and managed to halve the last in the murky light to earn himself a fourth-round tie against Gordon Stevenson.

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