Max Kennedy will carry Irish hopes into the final 32 of The 129th Beginner Championship at Ballyliffin Golf Membership in Eire.
On a shiny and breezy day over the Glashedy Hyperlinks, Kennedy was left because the final Irishman standing after easing to a 3&2 win over France’s Oscar Couilleau within the opening match play spherical.
A complete of 28 host nation hopefuls had began the week however solely Kennedy and Sean Keeling handed the strict 36-hole stroke play qualifying rounds.
Keeling fell on the first hurdle with a 5&3 loss to the trailblazing Lev Grinberg, who’s the primary Ukrainian golfer to succeed in the match play rounds. However Kennedy marched on in his quest to emulate the success of his compatriot, James Sugrue, who received the title the final time The Beginner Championship was held on Irish soil, at Portmarnock, in 2019. Kennedy’s spectacular brief recreation was a worthwhile asset because the 22-year-old Dubliner cast a two-hole benefit on the outward half.
Two necessary up-and-downs, in the meantime, from difficult spots within the bunkers at 9 and the ten saved Couilleau at bay. These helped Kennedy arrange a second spherical duel with England’s Charlie Forster, who edged out Spain’s European Beginner champion, Jose Luis Ballester Barrio, on the second further gap.
Scotsman Connor Graham, the main qualifier, was pushed all the way in which to the 18th by England’s Mark Stockdale within the opening match of the day however staved off his opponent’s advances with a birdie putt of 25 toes on the final to clinch a one-hole victory. Graham, whose Blairgowrie club-mate Bradley Neil received The Beginner Championship at Royal Portrush a decade in the past, endured a shaky spell across the flip and took two to extricate himself from the bunker on the 9th earlier than dropping a ball with a wayward drive off the tenth tee. The 17-year-old Walker Cup participant regained his composure, nonetheless, and emerged triumphant from a keenly contested match.
South African golfers have received the final two Beginner Championships and hopes of a triple crown relaxation with sole survivor, Jordan Burnand, who beat Spain’s Pablo Alperi Lopez by a 3&1 margin. In addition to attempting to maintain South Africa’s successful run going, Burnand has an added incentive this week. The 23-year-old celebrates his birthday on the eve of the ultimate on Friday. 4-up by means of 11 holes, Burnand didn’t have all of it his personal approach on the back-nine however the reigning South African Stroke Play champion bought himself over the successful line throughout a nip-and-tuck encounter.
Walker Cup participant Conor Gough, who received the R&A Boys’ Beginner Championship in 2018, underlined his match play prowess with a 3&1 victory over Denmark’s Jamie Tofte Nielsen. His fellow Englishman, Oscar Lent, loved a commanding 6&5 win over the Asia-Pacific Beginner champion, Jasper Stubbs of Australia, whereas there have been first spherical victories too for Walker Cup gamers Calum Scott, James Ashfield and Jack Bigham.
Highlights from yesterday’s play and the ultimate two days of motion could be watched reside on R&A TV.
To view match play scoring from The Beginner Championship click on right here.
