BOYS' AND GIRLS' AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIPS

 

HEAD TO NORTHERN IRELAND

 

R and A NEWS RELEASE

Almost 400 of the world’s leading young golfers will tee it up in Northern Ireland when two of the sport’s most prestigious amateur championships get underway this week.

The Boys' Amateur Championship will take place at Royal

Portrush and Portstewart from Tuesday to Sunday while the Girls' British Open Amateur Championship will be staged at Ardglass from Tuesday  to Saturday.

The Boys' Amateur Championship

Players from 28 countries will compete for the Boys'

Amateur Championship trophy, won last year by Portugal’s Pedro Lencart who defeated defending champion Falko Hanisch 5 and 4 in an enthralling final at Nairn.

Lencart returns for the 92^nd staging of the championship and

will compete in the 252-strong field, which includes some of

the best young golfers from Europe as well as players from

as far afield as Australia, Canada, Japan, India and Vietnam.

Fresh from playing alongside the best in the world at The

147^th Open, 2018 European Amateur Champion Nicolai

Hojgaard features as the highest ranked player in the field.

The 17-year-old Dane holds the 12^th spot in the World Amateur Golf Ranking^TM (WAGR^TM) and will look to take

another title in what has already been an impressive year for the teenager. His twin Rasmus, ranked 49^th in the world, joins

him in Northern Ireland.

The home hope comes in the shape of Ireland’s Mark Power.

The 18-year-old former Irish Amateur Champion comes into

the event on an encouraging run of form, finishing second in

the stroke-play qualifying rounds at the European boys' team

championship last month and third at the South of Ireland amateur open championship.

Power, who represented Great Britain and Ireland in the

2017 Jacques Leglise Trophy, will be joined by another

member of that team in England’s Robin Williams. Both

competed in the Boys' Home Internationals last week at

Royal Dornoch, where Power won 6pts from six matches.

The 64 lowest scores over 36 holes, plus ties for 64th place,

will progress to the match-play stage which culminates in a

36-hole final on Sunday.

The Girls' British Open Amateur Championship

The Girls 'Amateur Championship will be contested by 144

competitors from 24 countries. Players from as far afield as

Australia and Canada, as well as a strong group from Europe

and Great Britain and Ireland will compete in the

championship.

The highest ranked player in the field, Italy’s Alessia Nobilio

(WAGR^TM 19), heads into the championship on an exciting

spell of form. The 2018 German Girls runner-up topped the

leaderboard in the stroke play qualifying rounds at the

European Girls Team Championship in Sweden in July.

The 16-year-old followed that up with a tie for third at the

European Ladies Amateur Championship in Slovakia.

Nobilio’s national team-mate and 2016 Girls Amateur

Champion Emilie Paltrinieri returns and will 'be targeting

another title after a strong showing at the Ladies British Open

Amateur Championship in June.

The 16-year-old Italian reached the quarter-finals at Hillside before being knocked out by England’s Hollie Muse. In recent weeks, Paltrinieri chalked up a fourth-place finish in the stroke-play qualifying rounds at the European girls' team championship and a top ten at the European ladies' amateur championship.

On the home front, Lurgan’s Annabel Wilson will be ready to

make an impact at Ardglass. With a pair of top ten finishes under her belt at the beginning of the year – 8^th at the

Portuguese International Ladies Amateur Championship and

9^th at the Spanish Ladies Amateur Championship – the 2017

Great Britain and Ireland Vagliano Team member will relish

playing in front of local support as she bids to capture her

first Girls British Amateur trophy.

Girls Under-16 Open Champion, Scotland’s Hannah

Darling, will tee it up at Ardglass as she looks to follow up her win at Fulford with another title.

Runner up to Darling, Beth Coulter from Ireland, and third placed Switzerland’s Elena Moosman will also make their way to the Co Down course in a bid to go one better.

The first stage of the championship comprises two qualifying

rounds of stroke-play before the leading 64 players progress

to match-play. Each match will consist of one round of 18

holes including Saturday’s final.

Admission and parking is free at both venues. Scoring from

each championship will be available at

www.randa.org/Championships

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