DINWIDDIE CRASHES OUT TO TEENAGER TAVERNER
The seeds generally held sway on a glorious third day of
the English Amateur Championship at Bromborough.
Only two of the 11 survivors at the start of play, fell by
the wayside but the biggest fall was suffered by Robert Dinwiddie,
a member of next month’s Walker Cup team in America.
The 22 year old from Durham was on the wrong end of a 7 and
6 beating from Middlesex teenager James Taverner.
After hitting his opponent with five birdies in seven holes
from the fifth to secure his place in round four, Taverner
said: “I didn’t realise he was in the Walker Cup
team until I was warming up on the range.”
Many players would have been overawed in facing someone with
such a pedigree and with victories in Scotland and Wales this
year as well as helping England to the European Team title
earlier this month. “I was probably more relaxed than
I’ve been in my two previous ties,” added the
19 year old who is off to the University of South East Louisiana
in two weeks.
The other casualty was David Horsey, beaten finalist a year
ago. He lost 4 and 3 in the second round to Somerset’s
Ross Jones, who then reached the last 32 with a one hole victory
over Adam Lockwood from Essex.
Despite Dinwiddie and Horsey’s reversals, other seeds
progressed safely. Gary Wolstenholme, who is facing his sixth
Walker Cup in Chicago, eased through 3 and 2 over Hertfordshire’s
James Ruebotham, while Steve Tiley and Ross McGowan had even
more emphatic victories.
Tiley, who has yet to progress past the 13th hole, dismissed
Exeter’s Lewis Clarke 7 and 6 while McGowan was seven
under par when he shook hands with Burnley’s Ben Scott
on a 5 and 4 win.
The host club still has a major interest in the championship
with club members Paul Waring and Alex Evans progressing to
the fourth round.
Waring, another seed, got home 2 and 1 against Matthew Mills,
a college student in the States, while Evans beat Cambridge-based
Anthony Richardson by the same margin.
Oliver Fisher, the Walker Cup wonder boy, needed 19 holes
to beat Hampshire’s Jonathan Watt in the morning but
when he faced Chris Paisley from Northumberland in round three
he exploded from the blocks. The 16 year old from Essex, who
will become the youngest Walker Cup player ever when the matches
get underway in Chicago next month, started eagle-par-eagle-birdie
to be five under par after four holes and four up.
He eventually won 3 and 1 to join four more seeds, James
Ruth, Adam Gee, Lawrence Dodd and Matthew Cryer, in round
four.
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