Pagdin leads as Marshall heads local challenge
ENGLAND’S Joseph Pagdin leads the field after day one of the Boys Amateur Championship at Royal Portrush and Portstewart.
The 16-year-old carded a fantastic five-under-par 67 at Portstewart yesterday.
Kilkenny’s Mark Power carded a steady 71 at Royal Portrush to lead the Irish contingent alongside Alex Maguire ( Laytown & Bettystown) who posted the same score at Portstewart.
The leading Ulster player is Lisburn’s Aaron Marshall, who posted a one over par 73 at Portstewart.
With the best scores coming at Portstewart, Australia’s Jose de Souza sits in second place on four-under-par.
A handful of others are on three under, including 14-yearold Scot Gregor Graham and England international Robin Williams, who are tied for third heading into the second day of stroke play qualifying.
Pagdin, who was part of the England team that claimed the Boys Home Internationals at Royal Dornoch last week, produced a bogey-free round with birdies at the eighth, ninth, 13th, 14 th and 16th holes.
“I was just looking for two solid rounds to get to the match play,” said Pagdin.
“I just went out with an open mind. I love this course. I started off decent — I just couldn’t make a putt. I finally got one on eight and after that I clicked.
“You don’t expect to shoot five under on a course like this. I focused on one shot at a time with each hole, just ticking away.”
After the second round of strokeplay today the leading 64 lowest scores plus ties for 64 th place, will progress to the match play stage which culminates in a 36-hole final on Sunday at Portrush.
At Ardglass, Lizzy Peeters from the Netherlands, Mathilde Claisse from France and Sweden’s Ingrid Lindblad posted one-under-par rounds of 69 to lead after round one of the Girls British Open Amateur Championship.
Two players are well-placed on level par — Lauren Walsh from Castlewarden leads the Irish challenge after her 70, the same mark as Celeste Dao from Canada.
Lurgan’s Annabel Wilson carded a five over par 75 to share 30th place heading into today’s final qualifying round.
Peeters celebrated her 17 th birthday with three birdies and Focused: Lisburn golfer Aaron Marshall is the highest placed Ulsterman at the Boys Amateur Championship, six shots off leader Joseph Pagdin
just two dropped shots, while Claisse finished in style with a birdie and an eagle, after driving the 345-yard final hole.
Lindblad soon joined the pair at the top after three birdies in her final six holes.
“I think it might be the hardest course for the British Girls
that I’ ve played before,” said Claisse, 18, a Junior Solheim Cup player last year.
“It’s tough, you have to focus all the time. But it was nice to drive the last, and to hole the eagle putt was just a great finish.”
After the conclusion of play today the leading 64 players pro-
gress to match play. Each match will consist of one round of 18 holes, including Saturday’s final.
Previous winners of the event include Anna Nordqvist, Suzann Pettersen and the new Ricoh Women’s British Open champion Georgia Hall, who triumphed in 2012 at Tenby.