Yorkshire’s Benjamin Schmidt knocked out Brandon Dietzel winning 3&2 in the second round of the 2020 Amateur Championship at Royal Birkdale. Picture by THE R&A

YORKSHIRE’S Benjamin Schmidt comfortably advanced in his quest to win The 125th Amateur Championship.

Taking on Germany’s Brandon Dietzel, Schmidt – the highest ranked player in the field at No. 35 on the World Amateur Golf Ranking – recorded a 3&2 victory across the famed Royal Birkdale links.

The 18-year-old, from Rotherham GC, will meet Royal Lytham’s fellow England junior international Callan Barrow in Friday’s third round.

The Lancastrian, who finished runner-up in the English Amateur Championship, defeated Scotland’s Lewis Irvine 2&1.

Schmidt created history last summer by winning the Carris and Brabazon in the same season at the age of just 16, breaking Sandy Lyle’s record from 1975 in the process.

He said: “I feel like the first match is pretty tough. Everyone is wanting to just get through that first stage, so I am very happy.

“I played pretty solid. I had a couple of holes in the middle of the match where I probably went a little flat. But I finished with two birdies which was very nice.

“If you are bad off the tee around here it’s going to be pretty tough. But off the tee I have been pretty good.

“I also hit some good shots into the greens to give myself birdie chances,” said Schmidt, who also won the New South Wales Amateur in February.

There will be disappointment for another Scot Ruben Lindsay, the leading qualifier.

The 16-year-old was knocked out after losing 2&1 to Finland’s Ilari Saulo, who had disposed of Hallamshire’s in-form Sam Bairstow in the morning first round by 3&1.

The Finnish Amateur Champion will now go head-to-head with Denmark’s Victor Sidal Svendsen, who won by 1 hole to end the hopes of Welshman Ben Chamberlain.

Somerset’s Tom Plumb beat Robert Moran 4&3 to move int the last 32 at The British Amtaeur at Royal Birkdale on Thursday. Picture by ANDREW GRIFFIN / AMG PICTURES

Plumb happy to be in the last-32

SOMERSET’S Thomas Plumb, a member of the 2019 Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team, moved into the last-32 thanks to a 4&3 victory over Ireland’s Robert Moran.

Plumb got off to a fast start and was six-up through the turn, but found the going much tougher on Birkdale’s challenging back nine.

“I started really well and was six-up through the turn,” said Plumb.

“I started to stick the brakes on a little bit and got a little bit lazy and lackadaisical. But I was happy to get the job done in the end.

“The back nine is just so difficult once you get past 12. You start going back out towards the sea.

“It’s hard to gauge the wind and the course gets longer. It’s obviously late in the round as well so it definitely plays so much harder than the front nine.

“I’m playing some good golf and I’m confident with how I played in the strokeplay in the bad weather on the first day – and then yesterday,” added Plumb, who qualified in a share of 30th place.

Qualifying was reduced to just one round on Wednesday, after Tuesday’s first round was abandoned because of high winds.

“I just want to stay confident each day and play each match as well as I have today and I should do okay.”

The England international will now face team-mate Callum Farr, from Northamptonshire County, in the third round.

Farr, who reached the semi-finals of the English Amateur in 2018 and 2019, beat Italian Davide Buchi by one hole.

France’s Brabazon Trophy winner David Ravetto has a chance to match the unique feat of Sir Michael Bonallack, who completed the English Strokeplay and Amateur double twice.
Picture by LEADERBOARD PHOTOGRAPHY

Ravetto can match Bonallack’s unique feat

HAVING qualified for the matchplay stage by a single stroke, Frenchman David Ravetto, went head-to-head with Gloucestershire’s English Amateur champion Jack Cope, from The Players Club.

Opening with a birdie, Ravetto – who won the Brabazon Trophy last week – went one-up after the first before comfortably winning the match 5&4.

He will now play Marc Hammer on Friday after the German beat Finland’s Rasmus Karlsson 2&1.

Ravetto said: “It was a tough day yesterday because I knew it was just one round of qualifying.

“I didn’t play a great round. I was maybe a little scared that I would mess it up. But I had plenty of confidence in my game this morning.

“I played pretty solid golf, nothing too crazy, added Ravetto, who has a chance to equal the achievement of Sir Michael Bonallack by becoming just the second player to win the Brabazon and The Amateur Championship in the same season.

Ravetto reflected: “I birdied the first hole to go one-up. I birdied six as well and managed a chip in bogey on seven and birdied 10. I shot two-under through 14 holes – so a solid round of golf.

“Jack played a really good round. He is a really good player. We had a great match. He didn’t make many putts and that was the difference between us.”

Power inspired by Harrington’s heroics in 2008 Open

DRAWING inspiration from Padraig Harrington – who won the 2008 Open at Royal Birkdale – Ireland’s Mark Power won his match against Jannik de Bruyn of Germany thanks to a 2&1 victory.

He advanced to play England’s Jack Dyer in the last-32.

Power said: “At the start of the week we were all watching that video of Harrington hitting that five-wood on 17.

“I was standing on the 17th tee two-up. It was a big moment, as I was considering if I should take it on or not.

“It’s just cool to be playing these type of golf courses that all the greats have played on.

“It’s a magnificent golf course, the back nine is so tough, pars are great scores out there.

“I have played Jannik before and I knew how good he was and that it would be a tough game.

“We both probably didn’t have our best stuff today. But it was a good battle. To know that even when I’m not playing my best, I can win gives me a lot of confidence.”

The famous Art Deco clubhouse at Royal Birkdale – one of the best courses on the R&A’s Open Championship rota – and where Jordan Spieth claimed the Claret Jug in 2017

Birkdale hosting The Amateur for fourth time in 74 years

ROYAL Birkdale is staging The Amateur Championship for just the fourth time in 74 years, having hosted it in 1946, 1989 and 2005.

The matchplay stage continues on Friday with the last-16 and last-eight ties before the quarter and semi-finals on Saturday.

Also through to the third round are Wiltshire’s Scottish Strokeplay Amateur Champion Jake Bolton, Tillman Trophy winner Matty Lamb, from Hexham, former Carris Trophy winner Barclay Brown, from Hallamshire, and Gloucestershire’s England international Joe Long.

They are in the draw alongside Northampton County’s Ben Jones, a semi-finalist last year, who also reached the last four in this year’s Australian Amateur.

Dubai-based England junior Josh Hill, the youngest amateur to win a professional event on the Mena Tour in 2019, will face Long.

Canterbury’s Joshua Bristow and Dartford’s Mason Essam, who helped Kent win the English County Championship last September, while Essex’s Jack Dyer, and Aaron Edwards-Hill – last year’s North of Ireland Open winner, are also bidding for a place in the last-16.

A total of 17 English players have made it through to the third round with Castle Park’s Stephen Gallacher Foundation Ambassador Connor Wilson – and Peebles Darren Howie – the only Scots left in the competition.

The winner of Sunday’s 36-hole final will gain exemptions into the 149th Open at Royal St George’s next July, and by tradition, an invitation to play in the Masters at Augusta National – as well as an exemption to the 2021 US Open.

•For live scoring, go to www.randa.org as well as on The R&A’s Twitter and Facebook pages.

The post Ben Schmidt on the trail of The Amateur crown and place in Masters and Open appeared first on Golf North.

Walton Heath’s Enrique Dimayuga is tied at the top of the leaderboard with Denmark’s Christoffer Bring in the Brabazon Trophy. Pictures by LEADERBOARD PHOTOGRAPHY

ENRIQUE Dimayuga hopes a “bargain buy” three-iron can help him enjoy some long-awaited success in Friday’s final round of the Brabazon Trophy.

Surrey’s Dimayuga shot to the top of the leaderboard on day three of the English Amateur Strokeplay Championship at Sherwood Forest Golf Club – thanks to a brilliant five-under par round of 66.

Denmark’s Christoffer Bring joined the Walton Heath golfer at the summit. The Dane carded a best-of-the-day round of 65 to match Dimayuga on 11-under.

Yorkshire’s England squad member Sam Bairstow is just one shot further back on 10-under after shooting 67 for a second consecutive day.

France’s David Ravetto and halfway leader Jack Dyer, from Boyce Hill, are still very much in the hunt on nine-under par after 54 holes.

In total, there are 14 players within six shots of the lead teeing up what could be a dramatic final day in the fight to win one of amateur golf’s most prestigious trophies.

However, the bubbly Dimayuga will be the man to beat in the final round if a used club he bought for £50 from his local pro shop continues to behave.

“The shaft on the iron is really whippy so I just keep hitting these long looping draws,” said Dimayuga with a smile after confessing his poor form with the driver has resulted in him using it only once this week.

“The head on my regular three-iron snapped recently. So I went with this one,” said Dimayuga, who was an England junior international until joining the men’s ranks this year.

“But it’s working well. I felt like I’m having fun. I’m not even thinking about what I’m doing.

Iron play key for ex-England junior

Dimuyaga was happy with his play at the Nottinghamshire course.

“My iron play has been really solid and my swing is good,” he said. “And I’m dialled in in terms of yardages and judging the wind.

“I haven’t won anything in a long time and my form over the last calendar year has been pretty good.

“I’m just waiting for an opportunity to be in that final group and be in a position to take the win and I feel like it’s coming, hopefully, tomorrow.

“I can’t guarantee anything and I wouldn’t bet on myself just yet.”

When reminded that Tiger Woods won an Open Championship at Royal Liverpool 14 years ago hitting an iron off every tee, Dimayuga said with a smile: “I won’t go as far as saying I’m Tiger Woods – I’d hope I can play to some of that form.”

Bring’s day included an eagle at the fifth hole and a birdie on the 14^th after he holed from a greenside bunker.

“I feel confident and will go out and see what happens,” admitted the golfer from Naestved, 70 miles south of Copenhagen.

Bring added: “I got off to a slow start and then I made an eagle on the fifth and that kind of got me into the round.

“I made a lot of putts from the fifth through to the 12^th and holed a bunker shot on 14 – so that was great.”

Essex’s Jack Dyer is still in touch with the leaders at the English Amateur Strokeplay Championship at Sherwood Forest, trailing Dimayuga by two shots

Moving day for Carris winner Brown

IT was a classic “moving day” at the Brabazon, with the entire field of 68 players harbouring hopes of going low.

Many of them did – no fewer than 27 golfers shot rounds under-par.

Yorkshire’s Barclay Brown certainly made a move – a round of 66 taking him to seven-under for the championship and into a tie for sixth.

Yet Hallamshire GC’s former England junior international will look back on his third round with a mixture of quiet satisfaction and total disbelief.

The Stanford University student was disarmingly honest about a day that saw him eagle the fifth with a putt that was charging 10 feet past.

A fluke hole-in-one on the 131-yard seventh hole best summed up the 2018 Carris Trophy winner’s day.

Brown laughed: “I’d like to say it was a great shot but I knifed it.

“It’s my sixth hole in one, but not the prettiest. I wasn’t playing my best and had to grind it out.”

Only nine players have ever won the Carris and Brabazon Trophy – including Rotherham’s Ben Schmidt.

Twelve months ago, the England international became just the fourth to complete the double in the same year.

The winner of the 2020 New South Wales Amateur also became the youngest player to win the Brabazon, at Alwoodley, in 2019.

The 16-year-old broke Sandy Lyle’s record set in 1975 in the process.

Cope climbs leaderboard after making cut on the mark

ANOTHER player emerging from the pack to give himself a slim hope of victory is newly-crowned English Amateur champion Jack Cope.

The Gloucestershire ace made the cut right on the number thanks to a birdie on the 36^th hole. He then shot a third round of 66.

When asked to compare his last two rounds, Players Club member Cope said: “Black and white – not just golf, but in terms of attitude as well.

“I’m very pleased to shoot 65 and get up the leaderboard.”

•For live scoring in the final round of the Brabazon Trophy click here.

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Danny Willett receives the Green Jacket from Jordan Spieth with Augusta National Golf Club chairman Billy Payne (right) after the Yorkshireman won th 2016 Masters.

DANNY Willett’s Green Jacket will always take pride of place in his locker, but an England team blazer remains dear to his heart.

In fact, the 2016 Masters champion rates playing as an amateur in the Home Internationals for England as his favourite team golf experience.

But given his experiences as a member of Darren Clarke’s team at the 2016 Ryder Cup, when he was at the centre of a media storm created by a magazine interview given by his brother, that might not be such a surprise.

But there were several more surprises in a wide-ranging, open and honest online Q&A session, which Willett conducted with England Golf coaches and players.

Willett was the toast of world golf four years ago when he came from three shots back.

He carded a brilliant final round 67 to win the Masters by three shots from defending champion Jordan Spieth and Lee Westwood.

To date, it remains the greatest achievement of the Yorkshireman’s career although his first victory on home soil – in last year’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth – was another major milestone.

And it was a hot topic for discussion during another lively webchat hosted by England performance director Nigel Edwards.

Willett, Lowry, McIlroy, Wood and Edwards featured in elite contests

BOTH Willett and Edwards share more than an England Golf connection.

In 2007, they were part of the GB&I Walker Cup squad – also featuring Rory McIlroy – which narrowly lost out to a star-studded American side including Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson and Webb Simpson, at Royal County Down.

The pair were also in the same European team that won the Michael Bonnallack Trophy in 2008, beating Asia- Pacific at Valderrama, alongside Gloucestershire’s future Ryder Cup player Chris Wood, and last year’s Open Champion Shane Lowry.

Willett – currently based in Florida’s Isleworth, as he waits for the tours to start on both sides of the pond – talked through his amazing work ethic, his attention to detail and the processes he has followed all his career.

And he recalled with fondness an amateur career during which he won the Australian Strokeplay, the Spanish Amateur and English Amateur en route to becoming No. 1 on the World Amateur Golf Rankings.

Willett said: “I loved everything about team golf with England when you had a group of guys taking on Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

“You maybe had 40-50 of the best players from the UK there and you were trying to impress for Walker Cup places and Jacques Leglise teams.

“You wanted to beat everyone, you certainly didn’t want to lose to a rival country. But there was still a great camaraderie.

“Yorkshire normally had quite a good bunch and we were well represented.

“But you caught up with people you hadn’t seen since the last event and I was good pals with Oliver Fisher and Tom Sherrard among others and it was great to get everyone together.”

Danny Willett (back row right) in the European team that won the 2008 Michael Bonallack Trophy, playing alongside Shane Lowry, Nigel Edwards and Chris Wood.

Danny has not been back to Royal St George since English Amateur victory in 2007

WILLETT, who was a junior at Rotherham GC, has won seven times on Tour and, at 32 years of age, has arguably yet to reach his prime.

As a youth, Willett was always earmarked for a great career – and his English Amateur win at Royal St George’s in 2007 remains a landmark moment.

“It was a great week,” recalled Willett who beat Matt Cryer 3&2 to lift the silverware.

“I played a lot of good players that week and then beat Matt in the final.

“It was the end of a pretty exceptional summer and the culmination of lot of good golf that I played at that time.

“To win any event is brilliant – to win on home soil in front of England officials and organisers it was a really special one to get it under your belt.

“It was a great golf course to win on too – and I’ll now need to wait until next year to go back with this year’s Open postponed.

“Oddly enough I haven’t played there since I won the English Amateur.

“I was looking forward to going back – but it’s more just looking forward to The Open as an event.

“For an Englishman, The Open in England is truly special just as it is for a Scotsman in Scotland or the Irish boys last year at Portrush.

“You take Opens wherever they are – they are always phenomenal, but it’s great to get a home crowd.

“I have fond memories of that place and it’s been a helluva long time since I played it. To go back as professional with a different golf game would have been a lot of fun.”

Willett has seven victories on the European Tour to his name – he also claimed the biggest cash prize in 2018 by winning the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

Danny Willett during the Q&A session with England’s national squads

Rotherham still producing top teenage talents

AS a Yorkshireman, Willett remain fiercely proud of his home county and still keeps one eye on the amateur game.

The rise of Rotherham’s Ben Schmidt in the last year has caught his attention.

Willett added:”I still chat to Graham Walker about the lads coming up through Yorkshire and different bits and bobs.

“There are a couple of players in Yorkshire – Ben being one – and I keep track even though life is busy.

“I’ve tried to help him out for a few things here and there. He’s young, but he has to keep working hard and see where he gets.

“It’s good and well winning, but the scores he was posting were the thing to look out for. That’s the impressive part.

“He’s also won in Australia and if you have a game that travels, then that’s a good thing.”

Fellow Rotherham GC member Ben Schmidt, the youngest-ever winner of the Brabazon Trophy, has been given advice by Danny Willet. Picture by LEADERBOARD PHOTOGRAPHY

•Next in line for the England squads is a Q&A with Ryder Cup player and European Tour winner Chris Wood.

Matt Wallace, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, Meghan MacLaren and Bronte Law have all hosted similar sessions.

The post Willett says England Home Internationals win in 2009 was his best team experience appeared first on Golf North.

Matt Wallace spoke about his time in the England Golf Elite squad to current members – and his years struggling on the Alps Tour before winning three European Tour events

EUROPEAN Tour stars Matt Wallace and Matt Fitzpatrick have gone back to their roots to encourage, inspire and advise the next generation of English golfers.

The former England Golf graduates took part in separate online Q&A sessions with current players, coaches and staff and captivated their audiences with tales on their careers and anecdotes from life on tour.

Ex-Hertfordshire Men’s and Colts player Wallace expressed his hopes that his unconventional route to the top can inspire England Golf’s current performance squads.

Speaking from his base in Florida, World No. 43 Wallace relived his amateur days, his trials and tribulations grinding away on the Alps Tour and then his breakthrough with victory at the Portuguese Open in 2017.

Among the many questions posed were some from players such as Farnham’s England Girls international Lottie Woad, who was also a promising footballer on Southampton Ladies’ books.

Current Portuguese Amateur Champion Harry Goddard – who also plays for Hertfordshire, Wiltshire’s Scottish Amateur Strokeplay winner Jake Bolton and Yorkshire’s Ben Schmidt, the youngest-ever winner of the Brabazon Trophy at 16, nearly a year ago, also fired off questions.

Fitzpatrick – a five-time winner on the European Tour and a member of the 2016 European Ryder Cup team – was keen to stress how important it is for players to take nothing for granted.

They need to realise that hard work can be the key to success said the 2012 winner of the Selborne Salver, a competition won 12 months earlier at Hampshire’s Blackmoor GC, by Ryder Cup team-mate Andy Sullivan.

Matt Fitzpatrick talking to England Golf squad members in the online Q&A

Matt’s unconventional rise to top

WALLACE explained just why he was happy to meet the request of England performance director Nigel Edwards to speak to the rising stars of the English game.

“I feel it’s important for the players to realise there can be more than one way to reach the top,” said Wallace from the renowned Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound.

“I was in the England Golf set-up, but kind of on the fringes of it and always pushing for attention.

“The year prior to my involvement with England, the squad was amazing.

‘Then a number of guys turned pro at the same time – Tom Lewis, Andy Sullivan and Steven Brown included – and I came in from nowhere to the elite squad.

“I maybe didn’t feel as if I’d earned my stripes and didn’t back myself as a golfer as much as I should.

“But I gave it everything, was proud to be in the set-up and enjoyed good experiences in places such as Argentina and the Czech Republic.

“When I didn’t get picked for and England v France match and knew that my chances of Walker Cup were slim, I decided to turn pro.

“I was then grinding away on the Alps Tour for four years with people saying you can’t be that good if you are four years on the Alps Tour.”

Hallamshire GC’s Matt Fitzpatrick on his way to victory in the Selborne Salver in 2012. Picture by ANDREW GRIFFIN / AMG PICTURES

US Amateur win sealed Walker Cup place

FITZPATRICK enjoyed a terrific amateur career – the highlight being when he won the US Amateur Championship in 2013, just 12 months after being crowned British Boys Champion.

Victory at Boston’s Brookline Country Club – with his brother Alex on the bag – meant the Hallamshire GC member was picked for the GB&I Walker Cup team that lost heavily at Long Island’s National Golf Links of America later that month.

Alex also ended up on the losing side against the USA at Hoylake, in September.

Both brothers took up golf scholarships in America.

But Matt cut short his stay at Chicago’s NorthWestern University – where NCAA champion Luke Donald had spent four years from 1997-2001 – after just one term.

He turned pro after appearing in the 2014 US Open at Pinehurst No. 2 as the reigning US Amateur Champion.

Matt had also won the Silver Medal as the top amateur at the 2013 Open Championship at Muirfield.

Twelve months earlier he had been a member of the England Boys team.

The 25-year-old – currently No. 25 in the world rankings – admitted: “It was great to be a part of the England Golf set-up as an amateur, and I wanted to be able to give a little back in terms of advice.

“I worked with some great coaches – Steve Robinson, Graham Walker and John Jacobs among them – and the structure and focus of the England Golf sessions were great for me.

Fitzpatrick tells England’s best ‘play smart’

Matt Fitzpatrick won the Selborne Salver in 2012. Picture by ANDREW GRIFFIN / AMG PICTURE

“I remember my first session at Woodhall Spa when Graham told us all we were to be up for a run at 7am the next morning.

“But I liked that discipline and planning that went into every aspect of our coaching.

“The message I wanted to get across to the squads was that golf isn’t easy.

“And to remember that while you can compete at national level, there are kids in Spain, Sweden and all over the world working just as hard to make the top.”

Fitzpatrick’s “play smart” approach to golf was a theme of his session, while his thoroughness in preparation from practice round technique, physical conditioning – through to on course strategy – was strongly evident.

During a detailed and insightful interactive session, Fitzpatrick fielded plenty of questions.

England Girls’ squad member Rosie Belsham, Cornwall’s Women’s Amateur Champion Emily Toy quizzed the Sheffield star, who won his maiden pro event at Woburn, in the 2015 British Masters.

And another Selborne winner – Sussex’s Charlie Strickland – Fulford’s Charlie Thornton and Jack Brooks, from Cheshire, who was runner-up in last year’s Lytham Trophy, also posed questions.

Matt Wallace at the Hampshire Hog in 2012 – the England Elite squad member turned pro a year later but then spent several years struggling before his career took off in 2018. Picture by ANDREW GRIFFIN / AMG PICTURES

From Elite squad for four years struggling on Alps Tour

DURING his frank Q&A session, Wallace spoke with real honesty about the memory he had of one day sitting on the couch at his parents’ home – and reflecting on where his career was heading at the age of 24.

His friends had good jobs and houses and he was living at his parents “winning 50p on the Alps Tour.”

Having asked himself if he still wanted this sort of life aged 27, Wallace set about changing into a player “who would stop at nothing” to reach the top.

Wallace went on to win six times on the Alps Tour in 2016, including a remarkable five victories in a row.

That earned promotion to the European Challenge Tour – his breakthrough win came in the Portugal Open in May 2017, followed by three European Tour victories in 2018.

His Made in Denmark win in front of European captain Thomas Bjørn was not quite enough to gatecrash the 2018 Ryder Cup.

But it was one hell of a ride from those days of struggling on mini-tours.

Matt, who started as a junior at Batchworth Park, in Rickmansworth, said: “My dad always encouraged me to act like a sponge with information – knowing that at any time you could squeeze out things that you didn’t like or which weren’t appropriate.

“It was great to do this Q&A and I hope some of the things I said were of use to the England players.”

Wallace, who grew up in Pinner, claimed the Peter Benka Trophy at the South East Qualifier at Stoneham GC, in 2010.

He then headed to Jacksonville State University where he played for the Gamecocks – the same Alabama college where Danny Willett had spent two years on a golf scholarship before winning the English Amateur in 2007.

In 2018, he returned to Moor Park, where he was also a member and held a clinic for juniors at the Rickmansworth club’s First Degree Golf Academy.

•Tommy Fleetwood, Chris Wood, Danny Willett, Bronte Law and Meg McLaren are lined up among a host of professionals ready to pass on knowledge to England’s class of 2020, as they continue to learn during a restricted period of lockdown.

The post Fitzpatrick and Wallace put down the welcome Matt to England’s stars of tomorrow appeared first on Golf North.

The Arnold Palmer Cup will now be played in December after being swtiched from Lahinch to Bay Hill Club, in Florida, because of the coronavirus pandemic. Picture by PETER LOCKLE

THE Arnold Palmer Cup – the annual match between the best American and international college golfers – is the latest casualty of the coronavirus pandemic.

The 2020 Arnold Palmer Cup was originally scheduled to be played at Lahinch GC, in Ireland, from July 3-5.

Because of the COVID-19 outbreak sweeping across the USA and Europe, it will be rescheduled to take place at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge, on December 21-23, 2020.

The matches will return to the PGA Tour venue at Bay Hill, host of the inaugural playing of the Arnold Palmer Cup in 1997.

Surrey’s Angus Flanagan winner of the Carris Trophy in 2016. Picture by LEADERBOARD PHOTOGRAPHY

Surrey’s former Carris Trophy winner Angus Flanagan, from St George’s Hill, who is in his third year at University of Minnesota, is one of two English players who will now play at Bay Hill, just before Christmas.

The other is Hallamshire’s Alex Fitzpatrick, the younger brother of European Tour winner Matt Fitzpatrick, who played in last year’s Walker Cup defeat for Great Britain and Ireland against the USA, and is at Wake Forest.

The two teams were selected – using the Arnold Palmer Cup rankings based on US college results and picks by each selection committee and the two sets of coaches.

Three Irish players have been denied the chance to play on home soil at Lahinch – Arizona State’s Olivia Mehaffey, Wake Forest’s Mark Power, and Maynooth University’s Caolan Rafferty.

The University of Washington’s Alan Murray is the head coach of the men’s team, who was looking forward to leading the Internationals in the Irishman’s homeland.

Maynooth’s Barry Fennelly is Murray’s assistant coach, while Mehaffey’s team-mates are being led by University of Virginia’s Ria Quiazon-Scott, from the Philippines.

Lahinch Golf Club – which hosted last year’s Home Internationals which was won by defending champions England – will now host the Arnold Palmer Cup in 2024.

Amy Palmer-Saunders – the daughter of legend Arnold Palmer – said in an online statement. “Mindful of the difficult and challenging time for everyone coping with the effects of this pandemic, it is hoped that rescheduling to December will allow the matches to be played in 2020.

“The guidance of leading public health authorities will dictate any further changes to the schedule, with this competition only taking place if it is safe and responsible to do so.”

Palmer’s daughter Amy added: “We look forward to welcoming the top men and women collegiate golfers to Bay Hill.

“My father would have wanted to find a way to honor their excellence in these unprecedented times and hosting the rescheduled Arnold Palmer Cup at Bay Hill will be a fitting way to do so.

“While we are disappointed not to visit Lahinch this summer, we are thrilled that Lahinch has agreed to host in 2024.

“The Arnold & Winnie Palmer Foundation, which carries on the legacy of my parent’s philanthropic initiatives, and conducts the Arnold Palmer Cup with the GCAA, WGCA and foundation partners Rolex and Nike, is so appreciative of their support during these trying times, as well as The R&A and USGA.

“We are also especially grateful for our collaboration with Lahinch Golf Club, its members and the Lahinch community, and their collective support for the Arnold Palmer Cup. We anticipate a wonderful Palmer Cup in 2024.”

Lahinch will become the third Repubic of Ireland course to stage the Arnold Palmer Cup

Lahinch follows great Irish hosts

LAHINCH Golf Club is fully committed to staging the Arnold Palmer Cup in 2024 when it returns to Europe.

Padraig McInerney, tournament director at Lahinch Golf Club, said: “The postponement of this year’s Arnold Palmer Cup is perfectly understandable amid this current pandemic.

“While it is a great disappointment for Lahinch Golf Club, its members and the entire local community, we remain fully committed to the event – and the wonderful concept of honouring young, talented golfers and, in doing so, providing them with the opportunity to experience international competition over some of the world’s great courses.

“We offer our congratulations to those honoured with selection in 2020 and look forward to continuing our relationship with the Arnold & Winnie Palmer Foundation, college golf and to hosting the 2024 Arnold Palmer Cup.”

Lahinch Golf Club was founded in 1892 and is consistently ranked in the top 50 golf courses in the world.

Originally laid out by Old Tom Morris, Dr Alister MacKenzie was retained in 1926 to redesign the course.

MacKenzie declared: “Lahinch will make the finest and most popular golf course that I, or I believe anyone else, ever constructed.”

Lahinch will become the third course in the Republic of Ireland to host the tournament after Doonbeg, in County Clare, in 2002, and Ballybunion, in 2004.

Bay Hill is renowned as the winter home of Arnold Palmer, combining world-class golf in an exclusive club setting.

The par 72, 7,381-yard Championship course sweeps across 270 acres along the shores of the Butler Chain of Lakes.

Since 1979, Bay Hill has been home to the Arnold Palmer Invitational – one of the most popular tournaments on the PGA Tour.

Arnold Palmer Cup alumni Francesco Molinari (2019) and Matt Every (2014-15) have claimed victory at Arnie’s tournament.

The 18th hole at Bay Hill has seen plenty of drama in the Arnold Palmer Invitational

How the Arnold Palmer Cup evolved

THE Arnold Palmer Cup was co-founded by Arnold Palmer and the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA).

It began at Orlando’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge in 1997.

The event is a Ryder Cup-style tournament featuring the top men’s and women’s university/ college golfers matching the United States against a team of international players.

The Arnold Palmer Cup has been played at some of the world’s greatest courses including St Andrews’ Old Course, Whistling Straits, which is set to the Ryder Cup in September, Royal Liverpool’s Hoylake, Baltusrol, The Honors Course, and Cherry Hills.

The United States leads the series with 12 wins to 10 – just one of the 13 matches has been tied.

The 2018 matches at Evian Resort Golf Club, the French club which hosts the LPGA Major annually, became the only major tournament which features men and women playing side-by-side as partners.

And in 2019 the event became truly global with the Americans taking on an International team for the first time.

The Internationals claimed 13 of the 24 points in the Sunday singles matches at The Alotian Club, in Arkansas to become the first visiting team to win on US soil since 2009.

The first six editions of the Arnold Palmer Cup were played between the USA and Great Britain Ireland, before it became a European team in 2003 for the match at Kiawah Island, with the visitors winning at the the 1991 Ryder Cup venue in a reverse of the professionals’ match’s outcome.

The USA won at Royal Portrush, in Northern Ireland, in 2010, with the Europeans gaining the upper hand at Royal County Down, another superb course in the six counties, two years’ later.

The hosts also won when the Arnold Palmer Cup was played at Walton Heath – another Ryder Cup venue – in 2014, and Formby GC, in Lancashire, in 2016.

The winning International team at the 2019 Arnold Palmer Cup with former US president Bill Clinton at the Alotian Golf Club, in Arkansas.

Arnold Palmer Cup’s famous alumni

SINCE its inception, more than 100 Arnold Palmer Cup alumni have gone on to earn cards on either the PGA Tour, European Tour or LPGA.

Twenty-nine have represented Europe or the USA in the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup, and more than 60 have claimed in excess of 240 victories on the PGA or European Tours.

Among the Europeans to feature were Graeme McDowell, Luke Donald, Jon Rahm, Andrea Pavan, Alex Noren, Alejandro Canizares, Joost Luiten, Jorge Campillo, Justin Walters, Paul Dunne, Richard Ramsay, Scott Jamieson, Thomas Pieters and Norway’s Viktor Hovland, who won the Puerto Rico Open in February.

Hovland played in the 2017 Arnold Palmer Cup alongside Hampshire’s Harry Ellis, who went on to claim the Amateur Championship two weeks later.

Surrey’s Ben Taylor, who graduated from the Korn Ferry to earn his PGA Tour card for 2020, played in 2013, while Woburn’s Steve Lewton, who is on the Korn Ferry Tour this season after coming through its Q-school, played back in 2006 at Prestwick, when a European team won 191/2-41/2.

The American teams have featured Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler, Webb Simpson, Bryson DeChambeau, J B Holmes, Matt Kuchar, Patrick Cantlay, Brandt Snedeker, Ryan Moore, Lucas Glover, Charles Howell III, Hunter Mahan, Ben Curtis, and Nick Watney.

•The Arnold Palmer Cup is supported by Arnold & Winnie Palmer Foundation.

It provides a platform for perpetuating the legend – who won seven Majors – and his commitment to youth development plus the growth of amateur and collegiate golf. 

For more information visit ArnoldPalmerCup.com

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In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, England Golf has today announced a number of key decisions relating to all of our championships and wider golfing activities.

• All championship and performance events have been postponed until 7 June.
• With the health and wellbeing of all golfers, staff and volunteers paramount in our thinking, we have issued a comprehensive guidance document to clubs and golfers on how best to proceed in these unprecedented times
• England Golf’s AGM and national participation events scheduled for the spring have been postponed
• New working practices for staff have been adopted to ensure we remain fully operational and available to assist counties, clubs and golfers in the weeks and months ahead

For full details on all these important announcements please click below:

Championships and Performance

Guidance for Golf Clubs and Golfers

Event Postponements and How to contact England Golf

These remain extremely difficult and unprecedented times for the game of golf as well as the country in general.

England Golf remains committed to helping our golfing community adapt to the necessary changes and for golfers to continue to play the game in a safe environment and according to government and public health guidelines.

The pace of change and the constant updating of government and medical advice means that a continual process of re-assessment of decisions and guidelines must be undertaken.

England Golf will continue to communicate any changes through our website, social platforms and via direct correspondence to our affiliated counties, clubs and golfers.

It is vital that everyone continues to follow best practice when it comes to dealing with the current outbreak of coronavirus.

For expert medical advice please refer to the following websites:

World Health Organisation: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019

Public Health England: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/public-health-england

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England Golf Statement Regarding Coronavirus

England Golf  – in light of the developing situation with the COVID-19 outbreak – has today issued the following guidance to all our affiliated golf clubs and golfers.

We fully recognise the need to adhere to the expert advice available and as such we would point all our clubs in the direction of the guidelines set out in detail by Public Health England via their website.

Details on how best to cope with the virus can also be found via the World Health Organisation website which will provide rolling updates and the best ways to mitigate against the spread of the infection.

NHS England also provide updated and expert advice via their website.

All golf clubs should note, act upon and continually monitor the advice and guidance issued by these expert authorities in relation to the current coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

It is important that we all work together, following the advice of qualified professionals, in controlling the spread of COVID-19.

This remains a very fluid situation and England Golf will continue to take their lead from the government and public health authorities when it comes to safeguarding our clubs and members and offering practical and necessary steps to ensure the health and wellbeing of golfers and golf club staff.

England Golf chief executive Jeremy Tomlinson said: “The expert practical advice that is available from the health authorities and national government should remain the first point of reference for all our golf clubs and golfers.

“This is clearly a fluid and developing situation and we will continue to monitor events as they progress and pass on the relevant information to our stakeholders.

“By working in alignment with those who are specialists in this field, we will be able to take the necessary precautions and provide the correct measures to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak.”

Where do you want to go next?

• Scottish Golf statement
• Wales Golf statement
• Golfing Union of Ireland statement

More information

• NHS website
• Public Health Service

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David Hague (left) with Chris Garrity, general manager of the host club and Saud Al Sharif, the low amateur in the MENA Tour’s Royal Golf Club Bahrain Open

ALL the days of self-doubting are over for Yorkshire’s David Hague as he put together a brilliant back nine to secure his maiden professional win at the Royal Golf Club Bahrain Open – in only his fourth start in the paid ranks.

The 24-year-old, from Malton and Norton Golf Club, who rose to No. 76 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking before turning pro in January, shot a one-under par 71 on another windy day.

Hague’s nine-under par total after 54 holes proved to be one better than France’s former European Tour star Victor Riu, who shot 70, and earned the former England Amateur international the first prize of $13,500.

“This is amazing and very satisfying,” said David Hague. “I have been thinking of turning professional for more than a year now – and always had my doubts about it.

“I felt I was on a good run when I played the MENA Tour Qualifying School, and thought it was a good time to make the decision. This win definitely validates it,” added Hague.

“I drove consistently well this whole week and that really was the key to my winning. I struggled with my putter from inside six feet and made several three-putts – something I need to work on.

“When I was trailing at the turn, I knew I needed to be patient because the back nine of this golf course has been pretty good to me.

“And yes, that birdie on the 15^th was a key moment for me.”

Hague, who finished runner-up at the NewGiza Open in Cairo, earlier this month, started the final round as leader by one shot.

But last year’s Lee Westwood Trophy winner was trailing at the turn after making a double bogey on the seventh hole.

An eagle on the par-five ninth hole, saw Surrey-based Ryan Lumsden, who qualified to play as an amateur in the US Open at Shinnecock Hills, in 2018, surge ahead.

At that stage, Hague was seven-under with the Royal Wimbledon player – who studied at Chicago’s Northwestern University, the same college NCAA champion Luke Donald attended – playing a group ahead.

But the champion made three birdies on the back nine as against a solitary bogey on the 12^th hole, including a crucial one on the par-four 15^th hole, which was playing very tough into the headwind.

It was a two-shot swing against both Scottish amateur international Lumsden and Riu, his closest rivals, who dropped shots on the same hole with the Scot carding a 71.

Fellow Scot Callum Fyfe (70) joined Lumsden in a tie for third at seven-under, alongside Hague’s former Yorkshire team-mate Ben Hutchinson (67) and Sweden’s European Tour player Henric Sturehed (68).

The latter two returned the best cards on a day when players had to battle through occasional drizzle and steady high wind at the Colin Montgomerie-designed Royal Golf Club.

Saud Al Sharif had to settle for the low amateur prize after a final round 81 sent him tumbling down the leaderbaord at the Royal Golf Club Bahrain Open

Al Sharif: I’ll learn from experience

SAUD Al Sharif could not replicate the stunning performance from the second round.

The member of the Saudi national team and host club slipped down the leaderboard with an 81 in his first experience of playing in the leading group in a pro event.

However, his two-over par total was still good enough to win him the low amateur prize.

Al Sharif was disappointed with his round, but not disheartened with his effort.

“It was a tough day on the golf course, but I wanted to do better than what I did,” said the 19-year-old who finished in a share of 18th place.

“However, this is my first time in a situation like this and I am sure I have learned a lot on how to handle things in the future.

“This experience will make me a better player,” added Al Sharif.

The MENA Tour travels to Aqaba, Jordan, for the $75,000 Journey to Jordan No. 2 next week.

•For final results in the Bahrain Open click here.

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Wentworth’s Harry Ellis has been playing on South Africa’s Sunshine Tour and hopes to repeat the MENA Tour form that brought him 10 successive rounds in the 60s in 2019

A CONFIDENT Harry Ellis returns to the MENA Tour seeking his first career win as a professional at the Royal Golf Club Bahrain Open, which starts Monday.

The 24-year-old, from Southampton, played five events in the 2019 season and was inside the top-12 in all of them.

Those consistent displays over the past few months included back-to-back second place finishes in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.

The former Amateur Champion missed the first three tournaments of 2020 because he was playing on the European Challenge Tour events in South Africa, where he finished tied fourth in the RAM Cape Town Open.

“It’s pretty amazing what happens when you have a bit of confidence in the system,” said Ellis – the youngest-ever winner of the Amateur and English Amateur, three years ago after he won the latter in 2017 at Royal St George’s, aged just 21.

“I feel a lot calmer and I feel in pretty sound place mentally. I am able to hit the shots I want to on the golf course,” revealed Ellis, a member at Wentworth.

“My team and I have put in a lot of hard work and we know it will take some time, but we have built a solid foundation.

“I am in a good golf-playing mode, which is nice not having to work on too many things. It’s a case of putting the rounds together and the results will come hopefully.”

Ellis played the Royal Golf Club Bahrain Open last year and was tied seventh. Interestingly, his 73 in the second round was the last time he was over-par on the MENA Tour – his last 10 rounds have all been in the 60s.

“It would be lovely to keep the streak going, but it is not something I am thinking too much about,” said the former Meon Valley G&CC junior.

“Obviously, it is always healthy for your position on the leaderboard, or your psyche, if you keep shooting in the 60s,” said Ellis, who is coached by Kristian Baker, who took Ross Fisher to the European Tour and his first victory, and has recently fronted the takeover of Sunningdale Heath, the old Sunningdale Ladies Club.

Ellis added: “This week, the course is set up so well that it is possible, but I am just trying to go out and be the best that I can be.

“We will see what happens, but I’d definitely like to be in contention.”

Ellis will have plenty of competition, with Berkshire’s current Journey to Jordan leader David Langley in great form after winning in Jordan and finishing second last week in Ghala.

The Hampshire man shot the lights out to help Hampshire beat Langley’s B.B.&O. team to reach the English County Finals in 2016, when David’s county hosted the South East Qualifer at Reading’s Calcot Park.

Ellis won the Peter Benka Trophy for the lowest 36-hole score – a feat matched by Langley two years later when B.B.&O. reached the English finals by winning at Orsett, in Essex.

Knebworth’s Jamie Rutherford spent two weeks working with his coach back home after finishing runner-up to David Langley in the Journey to Jordan No. 1

Runner-up Rutherford ready to go

FORMER European Tour player Jamie Rutherford is also returning to the MENA Tour this week.

The former Engladnd amateur international took a two-week break after his scorching finish at Ayla Golf Club, where he finished runner-up to Langley.

“I went back home for a couple of weeks, did some work with my coach and practiced as much as I could because the weather is so bad in England right now,” said Rutherford, who turned pro in 2013.

“It is great to come back to Royal Golf Club where I was fourth last year. I just love the challenge of this golf course.

“It is fairly generous off the tee, but you have got to really precise with your irons with how slopy the greens are and all the sections they can put the flag in.

“You’ve got to be in control of your distance and where you put your ball on the green. That, I feel, is a strength of mine.”

Rutherford – who like Ellis was also a promising footballer – fractured his spine in a car accident in 2016, but recovered well enough to earn his European Tour card at that year’s Qualifying School, in Spain.

After losing his card having played 16 events, along with 13 more on the Challenge Tour, Rutherford spent 2018 on the satellite tour and returning to the EuroPro Tour in 2019, four years after his first pro win.

Lindrick’s Bailey Gill, the champion last week at the Ghala Open in Muscat, and South Africa’s MG Keyser, the reigning Journey to Jordan champion, will miss the tournament but for very good reasons.

Gill got into this week’s Oman Open on the European Tour, courtesy of his win at Ghala, while Keyser qualified for next week’s Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, also on the European Tour, by winning the qualifiers in Doha.

Reigning champion Robin Roussell has also graduated to the European Tour and will also miss the event.

•For first round scores in the Royal Golf Club Bahrain Open click here.

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Bailey Gill receives his trophy from Ziyad Al Zubair, after winning the MENA Tour’s Ghala Open with two Houdini-like efforts to get up and down for birdie on the last two holes

LINDRICK’S Bailey Gill made two stunning birdies from almost impossible positions in his last two holes to claim his maiden pro victory and deny Berkshire’s David Langley a second MENA Tour victory in 2020 at the Ghala Open, in Oman.

The former England amateur international beat roommate and Journey to Jordan No. 1 champion David Langley by one shot, in the Omani capital Muscat.

Gill, who hails from Worksop, in Nottinghamshire, like Lee Westwood – but who is a member at Lindrick Golf Club, just over the Yorkshire border – was one behind leader Scot Craig Ross on the 16th tee.

Gill finished with three birdies in a row, including spectacular chips on the 17th and 18th holes to within a couple of feet for a 16-under par finish.

Gill, who was also a member of England’s Raymond Trophy winning team in Lahinch, in September, was one shot behind the leader going into last week’s final round of the inaugural NewGiza Open, in Cairo, but finished tied 12^th.

But Gill was not to be denied this week as he compiled a bogey-free round, that included five birdies in the last six holes.

The highlights were the ones on the 17th and 18th.

On the penultimate hole of the course, the left-hander pushed his drive and was faced with a difficult chip shot over the bunker with very little space to stop the ball.

On the 18th, he hit his tee shot left again and could barely see the flag from the desert area.

Left-hander Bailey Gill, from Lindrick, produced five birdies in his last six holes to deny David Langley – the winner of Journey to Jordan No. 1 – a spot in next week’s Oman Open

On both occasions, the 2016 Welsh Open Youths Strokeplay Champion hit his chips stone dead.

“This is fantastic,” said Gill. “I have been waiting for some time now for this to happen.

“It did not happen in Cairo, but I am glad I could hang on and win here in Oman,” said Gill.

“Those two were tough shots on the last two holes. I hit a horrible tee shot on the 18th hole and there was a lot of pressure when David holed his putt for a birdie on the last.

“David really played great despite the poor start he had, especially on that back nine.

“I was disappointed last week, but I came here knowing I was playing solid.

“I have been playing good golf for some time now, just struggling to get everything together and I am glad I managed to do that.”

Langley bounce back after bad start

LANGLEY, who was looking for his second win of the season, was two-over par at the turn for the day.

But the Castle Royle ace, who was a member of the same Home Internationals team as Gill at Conwy GC, in 2018, went about his back nine in seven-under to finish second on 15-under.

The overnight leader started with a double bogey, but caught fire on the back nine, where he made a 20-footer eagle putt from the fringe on the 10th after nearly driving the green.

“I am gutted, but after that finish, if I had to lose to someone, I’d rather it be Bailey,” said the 25-year-old, also playing his first full season as a professional.

“I was rooming with him last week in Cairo and I know how upset he was after the finish there – credit to him for getting it done.

“I hit a perfect tee shot on the first and made a poor swing with my second. Obviously, the adrenaline was pumping a bit.

“That double affected me on the fourth hole, which is a par-five and I could not make a birdie there.

“Being two-over after four on an easier stretch was not ideal, but I stayed patient and went on a roll on the back nine.

“A win here would have possibly got me two European Tour starts so there was that pressure.

“Good to see Bailey getting the Oman spot and I am in a nice position to get into Morocco after this.”

Kirkhill’s Craig Ross finished third

Bailey Gill gets into the Oman Open at nearby Al Mouj next week as the Ghala Open while the leader at the halfway stage in the Journey to Jordan Order of Merit earns a spot in the Hassan Trophee II, in Morocco, in early June.

Ross, looking for his first win on the MENA Tour, made a superb par save on the 17^th.

But the EuroPro Tour winner paid the price for a wayward tee shot on the 18th to make a double bogey that dropped him down to 12-under and back into third place.

Ross collected a cheque for $6000 and moved up to sixth on the Journey to Jordan Order of Merit, after the first three events of the season.

Sam Locke – the 2017 Scottish Amateur Champion – was also in the hunt after reaching the turn in four-under. But his challenge faded as he came home in 39, making bogeys at the 12th, 14th and 16th.

•For final scores at the Ghala Open, click here.

Indian Arjun Gupta, who is based in Dubai, produced his best-ever MENA Tour finish

Gupta records best-ever MENA Tour finish

INDIA’S Dubai-based amateur Arjun Gupta recorded his best finish on the MENA Tour courtesy of a bogey-free closing round of 66.

He finished in fourth on 11-under, one ahead of Northamptonshire County’s Ben Jones – the runner-up in last year’s Amateur Championship, who closed with a 66 as well.

Jones was tied fifth alongside Kent’s Alfie Plant (71), Middlesex’s Pavan Sagoo (71) and Essex’s Curtis Knipes (68) along with Ireland’s Walker Cup player Paul McBride (66).

Gupta, who turns 16 in May, showed once again why he is considered one of the brightest prospects in the region as he notched his first top-five on the MENA Tour and came to within one shot of earning his first-ever Official World Golf Ranking points.

“I am happy with my finish. The whole week my short game and my putting was very good,” said Gupta.

“I could have probably driven the ball a bit better, but I can’t complain after such a finish,” added the Dubai-born pro, who is coached by Jamie McConnell at the Claude Harmon Performance Institute.

“I want to win the Amateur Journey to Jordan this year and this is a good step in that direction.

“I also want to win a tournament on the MENA Tour and this gives me confidence that I am close,” said Gupta.

•The MENA Tour moves to Bahrain for the fourth leg of the 2020 season at the Royal Golf Club Bahrain Open from February 24-26.

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