WALES AND FRANCE LEAD THE WAY AT HILLSIDE
Wales finished with a share of the honours on the first qualifying
day of the European Men’s Amateur Team Championship
at Hillside, Southport.
Scotland and England are also in the leading eight teams
and if they finish that way after tomorrow’s second
stroke play round, they will qualify for the top flight match
play stage.
Wales finished sharing the lead on 359, one under par, with
France, while England, Scotland and Spain are joint third
on 362.
The Welsh were the only team with three sub par rounds. Walker
Cup man Nigel Edwards shot an equal best of the day 69, James
Williams 70, and Gareth Wright 71.
Until the late finishers it looked as if the Welsh would
hold a comfortable lead from the French. But Michael Lorenzo
Vera produced a 69 to hoist his side alongside Wales.
That plus a 70 from Sebastien Clement and 72 from Julien
Foret saw the French come up fast on the rails.
Gary Lockerbie, the former English champion, led England’s
charge, returning the lowest score with 70.
He was back by solid performances from Gary Wolstenholme,
playing his sixth European Team Championship, Matthew Richardson,
16 year old Oliver Fisher and Steve Tiley.
Lockerbie got to three under at one stage but three putted
the 17th, while Fisher, just back from helping England finish
third in the World Boys Team Championships in Japan, dropped
two shots in the final three holes for a 73.
However, his card contained an eagle on the par four 14th
when he sank a seven iron approach from around 155 yards.
Scotland, many people’s favourites for the title, also
boasted a 69 from their champion George Murray, with Andrew
McArthur shooting 72 and Lloyd Saltman 73.
But it was a disappointing day for Ireland, who finished
on 18 over par 378.
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