Carris Trophy - Booth fires record 67 to take over at top
The leaderboard midway through the first round of the Carris
Trophy at Sherwood Forest yesterday showed a distinct continental
bias until home players came charging through with Yorkshire’s
David Booth ending the day on top after a course record 67.
He leads by a shot from Lancashire’s Matthew Nixon
and Dale Whitnell from Essex, who had also beaten the previous
record with 68s, and by two from Hugues Joannes of Belgium
and Dutchman David Van den Dungen.
The magnificent but sun-baked Sherwood Forest course, as
usual, proved a stern test requiring accuracy from the tee,
a good slice of patience, and a resistance against pulling
the driver from the bag on too many occasions.
However, this didn’t bother Booth, who was confident
of returning a good score. “I shot under par yesterday
in practise and knew I could shoot low,” he said.
“You’ve got to trust your swing and if you hit
the fairway it runs forever. I didn’t really get into
any trouble and my two bogeys came when I failed to get up-and-down
from bunkers. If I can do the same for the rest of the week
I’ll be fine.”
The continental pair set the early pace, both having returned
from representing their countries in the European Boys Team
Championships in Sweden. But they didn’t share the lead
for long.
Nixon, who has had two runners-up finishes in county events
this year and reached the Open final qualifying, was happy
with his 68 but added: “I might go and do some putting
because I should have holed a lot more of the chances I made.”
Whitnell, 18, back from England duty in Sweden, said: “I
wasn’t expecting this. I’m usually a slow starter
as I proved in the McEvoy Trophy and the Sir Henry Cooper
Junior Masters. The only time I’ve led this year was
in the Essex Championship and I won that so perhaps that’s
an omen.”
Sam Hutsby also set a hot pace on a blisteringly hot day,
celebrating his appointment as England boy captain with a
hole-in-one with a wedge at the 130-yard seventh on his way
to a 74.
It is the 17 year old’s sixth ace and his second in
a month following a similar feat during the Sir Henry Cooper
Junior Masters.
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