ALEX RULES THE DAY AS DINWIDDIE BOWS OUT
Nothing is ever certain in match play golf as Robert Dinwiddie
found to his cost as he exited the English Amateur Championship
in the third round at Burnham and Berrow.
Walker Cup man Dinwiddie, winner of the Brabazon and Tillman
Trophies this summer, was considered one of the favourites
for the title but he was knocked out by Alex Rule from Hampshire.
In a close encounter in which Dinwiddie was never ahead and
Rule never more than one hole in front until the 18th where
Dinwiddie bunkered his approach and took five after missing
a 12-foot putt before conceding.
Dinwiddie wasn’t the only seed to tumble. James Ruth
took the same route, the victim of Surrey junior champion
Kieran Lovelock by 2 and 1 after the latter had been three
ahead after 12.
On another day of strong winds along the Somerset coast,
there were few worries for some of the other seeds with Ross
McGowan, Gary Boyd and Jamie Moul advancing to the last 32.
McGowan, this season’s regular runner-up from Surrey,
was involved in a battle royal with Yorkshire’s John
Parry but got home 2 and 1. “I’d never met John
before but he is a very good player, especially his short
game but I managed to hole a few more putts,” said McGowan
who now faces his Surrey colleague Seve Benson, a 2 and 1
winner over last year’s runner-up Steven Capper from
Cheshire.
Boyd, 19, from Northamptonshire, a quarter finalist a year
ago, won the opening three holes against Dale Marmion but
was pegged back only to win three holes in a row from the
12th to seal victory.
Moul, who had to win the last three holes to win his second
round tie with Steven Uzzell, had it much easier against Lancashire’s
Chris Geraghty despite losing the opening hole. But he was
five up at the turn on his way to a 6 and 5 success.
Dinwiddie and Ruth’s defeats proved there is nothing
certain in match play golf and which James Smith and Laurence
Allen also discovered in differing ways.
Smith, the 21 year old former boy cap from Kent, was three-up
through 12 holes against Ben Rickett from Surbiton but saw
his opponent then win four holes in a row, including an eagle-three
at the 13th, to turn the match on its head. Rickett, 19, who
is at college in Chattanooga, Tennessee, also won the 18th
with a par to complete a two hole victory.
Allen, a quarter finalist three years ago, was also three
clear after 12 and he saw Justin Lane from the host club stage
a fightback that took the match to the final hole where both
players finished in a greenside bunker. The Hertfordshire
20 year old had an awkward stance but recovered brilliantly
to eight feet, while Lane fluffed his shot and needed another
to find the green. But Allen then holed his putt for a par
and a one hole victory.
Another to go down to a brave defeat was left-hander David
Cook who went out in round two to Oliver Fisher.
Cook, a 32 year old insurance worker from Bournemouth, hasn’t
played in the English for several years because of family
and work commitments, but with the championship just a county
away this year he was able to make a comeback. But when you
are drawn to face the best prospect to come out of England
in many years your prospects are not bright.
However, Cook had the pleasure of taking the youngest GB&I
Walker Cup player in history to the 19th hole before bowing
out. “I really enjoyed it,” said Cook. “I’m
a bit disappointed to lose but watching Ollie gave me a few
tips.”
It looked as if Fisher would win in regulation when he was
one-up playing the last. But Cook manufactured a two-foot
birdie chance which he took to force extra time only to bow
out at the next. “I suppose a part-timer like me shouldn’t
be challenging the big names but I wasn’t bothered who
I played,” he added before heading home to resume his
insurance duties, while Fisher went on to complete a 3 and
1 win over fellow teenager Joe Favata from Surrey.
To prove that age is no barrier to golfing success, John
Ambridge at 49, the oldest man in the field, reached the last
32 with a 2 hole victory over Max French from Surrey.
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