England's Parry pips Waring in playoff for Welsh title
John Parry added to his Spanish Amateur success when he won
the Welsh Open Stroke Play Championship after a sudden death
playoff with England team-mate Paul Waring.
The pair had finished tied on 277 at Machynys Peninsula but
Parry took the title with a par four on the first extra hole.
It was Parry’s third national title as he won the Danish
Amateur in 2005 and will have done him no harm - nor that
of Waring - in front of the Walker Cup selectors.
After two days of ideal weather in which Parry led on 67
after round one but trailed by three at halfway, the final
36 holes were played in atrocious conditions of rain, wind
and cold. However, Parry (70) and Waring (72) went into the
final round sharing the lead on 207, four clear of the field.
Coming to the par five final hole, Parry was two ahead and
looking home if not dry. But Waring holed from 12 feet for
a birdie-four, while Parry took bogey, the two-shot swing
leaving them tied after rounds of 70.
The playoff started and finished at the par-four 16th where
Parry holed from ten feet for four, while Waring, after a
fine drive, left his approach short and failed to get up-and-down.
The pair finished seven strokes ahead of third-placed Nigel
Edwards, the Welsh Walker Cup player, and nine clear of Neil
Chaudhuri from Leicestershire.
The second round was highlighted by a course record 65 from
Cheshire’s Dale Marmion, but he followed it with an
80 to finish equal fifth with Sussex-based former boy cap
Ben Evans and Jonathan White from Devon, the halfway leader.
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