PARRY KEEPS SPANISH AMATEUR TITLE IN ENGLAND
 England’s
John Parry beat Frenchman Baptiste Chapellan 10 and 9 in the
36-hole final to win the Spanish International Amateur Championship
at Desert Springs.
In a remarkable match, the 20 year old Yorkshireman was 5up
at lunch and strengthened his grip in the afternoon to be
four under par when the match finished on the 27th hole.
Parry (pictured left - photo courtesy of Tom Ward) succeeds
Sam Hutsby as champion, the Hampshire teenager having won
the title a year ago by beating Italy’s Eduardo Molinari,
the then reigning US Amateur champion, 7 and 6 in the final.
Parry, the leading qualifier after rounds of 70 and 69, progressed
to the semi-finals by beating fellow Englishmen Jonathan Hurst
and Gareth Evans, then Miro Veijalainen from Finland, all
by 4 and 3.
In the last four, he eased past Scotland’s Elliot Saltman
2 and 1 to face Chapellan, who had put out England internationals
Matt Cryer and Ben Evans along with Rhys Enoch from Wales.
Although Parry lost the opening hole of the final to a par,
that was the only time he trailed.
A birdie-two at the second put him back on level terms before
a five at the long third saw him into a lead he was never
to lose.
Level-par figures were good enough to see the Harrogate man
5up at the halfway mark and when he won the opening three
holes of the afternoon session, two with birdies, he was within
sight of victory.
He also won the seventh with a birdie-three to go 9up while
a further birdie at the long ninth left Chapellan with no
way back.
Parry’s victory completed a fine week for the English
contingent. Of the 32 qualifiers, 16 were English while four,
Parry, Paul Waring, Gary Boyd and Ben Evans, reached the quarter
finals.
Parry’s success was also the fourth overseas title
claimed by English golfers this year following Stephen Lewton’s
double and Gary Wolstenholme’s victory, all in Australia,
while Boyd won the Asia-Pacific Amateur in China in December.
It was also Parry’s second foreign title following
his success in the Danish Amateur in 2005.
England also won the Nations Cup decided over the qualifying
rounds. The ‘A’ team of Parry, Cryer and Waring
finished on 279, a shot ahead of the ‘B’ squad
comprising David Horsey, Boyd, and Ben Parker, who were seven
strokes clear of third-placed France ‘A’.
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