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Brown and Bloor to meet in friendly English final at Ganton
Yorkshire’s
Dan Brown and Derbyshire’s George Bloor will meet tomorrow in what will
be the friendly final of the men’s English Amateur Championship at
Ganton Golf Club.
The
two players are good friends and have been rooming together all week,
while at the championship. “There was six of us to start with in the
apartment but only me and George made the cut,” said Brown (pictured
top).
“Neither
of us have been in the final before and obviously we both want to win,
but it’s nice to know that one of us will come out on top.”
Brown
(Masham) had his nerves thoroughly tested in his semi-final against
Jack Gaunt (Drayton Park). The Yorkshireman got off to a flying start
and was 7 up after nine holes – but had to go to the 18th to close out
the match 2 up.
Bloor,
pictured below, (Cavendish) was also quick off the mark against Jamie
Mist (Hayling) and was five up after 11. He went on to win 3/2 to take
his place in the final.
The
20-year-old has a string of solid results behind him this season and
has been targeting a good performance in this championship, aiming to
better last year when he reached the quarter finals. He achieved that today, first beating Jack Singh Brar (Remedy Oak) 4 and 2 and then carrying his good form into this afternoon semi-final. “I got off to a dream start,” said Bloor, who had an eagle two on the par four 3rd as he moved towards a lead of 5up after 11.
He
lost the next two holes as Mist applied pressure with a winning par,
birdie combination, but Bloor responded by driving the par four 14th to
set up his own birdie and get back to 4up. Mist came back again, winning
the 15th and was in the driving seat on 16 when Bloor’s approach found a
greenside bunker.
But
Bloor delivered when it counted: “I played probably the best bunker
shot of my life, in the circumstances, to get up and down from 4ft and
win the match.”
Meanwhile,
Brown, 21, was locked into a match which provided plenty of tense
excitement for the mainly Yorkshire spectators but, as he commented: “It
was a little more stressful than I would have liked.”
He
was on fantastic form over the opening holes, refusing to give Gaunt a
look in as he rattled off five birdies over the front nine, reaching the
turn at 7 up. But the tide turned with Gaunt’s birdie two on 10 and the
Staffordshire player steadily reduced the deficit with a string of
pars, as Brown visited the rough and found too many bunkers.
Brown
stopped the run with a half on the 16th which kept him at two up. But
Gaunt’s challenge was not over and he holed a 20-footer for birdie on
the 17th to get back to one down. He tried for another birdie on 18 but
ended up three-putting and conceding the hole and the match to Brown.
Afterwards
Brown commented: “I was really relaxed and I kept myself calm, but
obviously it got a little bit tense. But now I’m putting it behind me
and looking forward to the final.”
Earlier in the day he defeated Tom Gandy (Rowany) 7 and 5 in their quarter final.
The
other quarter final results were:
Jack Gaunt (Drayton Park) bt Tom
Robson (Weymouth) 5 and 4.
Jamie Mist (Hayling) bt Charlie Strickland (Ham
Manor) 2 and 1.
Tomorrow’s 36-hole final starts at 8.30am. Spectators are welcome.
Click here for full scores
Images copyright Leaderboard Photography
Lyndsey Hewison Press Officer England Golf |
Labels: Amateur Men
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