James Newton is among those advancing at Ganton Golf Club
(England Golf/Leaderboard Photography)

The 18-year-old from Wrekin in Shropshire beat Devon’s Matthew Wells 3/2 and tomorrow he will face Jake Burnage, a fellow member of the England men’s A squad.

Enefer, from Wrekin in Shropshire, was aware of the pressure of being top qualifier, remarking: “It feels good to be number one but everyone expects you to do well and you can get ahead of yourself. You’ve got to stay in the moment and play each round as it happens.”

He clearly took his own advice today, getting ahead after the second hole and was never down during the match. “It was a good day’s work, it felt as though it was always going to go my way,” he said.

Burnage – who, like Wells, is a Saunton member - made quick work of his match, defeating his opponent 7/6, which was the day’s biggest winning margin.

The day began with 13 preliminary matches with the winners going forward to join the main draw – and, as always, the ups and downs of matchplay brought some unexpected casualties, among them England internationals James Hill (The Oaks) and Ashton Turner (Kenwick Park).

Turner was toppled on the 19th by Cheshire county champion James Newton (Prestbury), despite a dramatic fightback. He had been three down after 12, but won the 13th and 14th with birdies and got back to all square when he holed a 50-footer on the 18th.

“I couldn’t believe it, I was about 40ft away and I’d been thinking two putts and I will just about scrape a win,” said Newton. But his turn came on the 19th where he holed a 15ft putt for birdie and the win. “It was the best game of match play I’ve had in a while.”

Many of the matches were tight with six going into extra time and two reaching the 20th. In one, Jordan Sundborg (Shanklin and Sandown) ended the challenge of Max Jordan (Langley Park) who equalled the nine-under par course record at Scarborough South Cliff to claim his place in the match play.

In the other, Yorkshire’s James Cass (Fulford) beat Tom Plumb (Sherborne) at the end of a very even match, eventually edging through when his opponent found a bunker. “I’m chuffed, I said to myself that if I could make the matchplay it would be brilliant and anything further would be a bonus,” said the 19-year-old. “I’m just enjoying it.”

Four other Yorkshire players successfully reached the last 32: Dan Brown (Masham), Steven Robins (Hull), David Hague (Malton & Norton) and Alex Fitzpatrick (Hallamshire).