Matty Lamb (Leaderboard Photography)
LANCASHIRE, England (July 30, 2018) – Northumberland’s Matty Lamb shot 5-under 67 at Formby Golf Club to lead the first round of qualifying at the English Amateur Championship.
He’s one ahead of Kent’s Jensen Hull, who gave himself an excellent 18th birthday present with his 68, and Northamptonshire’s Callum Farr.
Hull, from Hever Castle, will celebrate his birthday this evening with dinner with his dad, but he cautions: “I won’t be drinking!” Instead, like Lamb, he’ll be planning for tomorrow’s second round at Hesketh Golf Club.
Lamb, 20, has been coming into form as this championship approached, and proved it when he went out in 5-under 32.
“I holed a good putt to birdie the first and that gets you in a good frame of mind for the rest of the day. I gave myself good chances and holed a few putts,” he said.
He slowed down a bit on the back nine but balanced a bogey with a birdie to come home in level par and sign for his 67.
Hull was also pleased with his day’s work.
“It’s been a good day,” he said. “I was a little bit more consistent than I have been, hit the ball better, holed a few putts and stayed patient.”
He had five birdies, including one at the 13th, where he got up and down from 195 yards away on the 14th fairway. He also had an eagle on the long 17th which he reached with a 6-iron.
Farr, meanwhile, played his first round at Hesketh, where he started with a birdie. Four more followed, together with a string of pars until he dropped his only shot of the day on the 18th.
Lamb, Hull and Farr are among a field of 288 competitors who are all aiming to be inside the top 64 and ties after tomorrow’s second round. That’s the number of players who will qualify for the match play knockout at Formby, ending with the 36-hole final on Sunday.
The cut looks to be a low one after 49 players finished with par or better on Tuesday.
Among the others who made a good start were Brabazon Trophy winner Nick Poppleton, who is just back from GB&I duty at the St Andrews Trophy. He’s at 3-under, alongside another England international, Jake Burnage, Sam Bairstow and George Raitt.
ABOUT THE English Amateur
The English Amateur was played in its inaugural
year of 1925 at Hoylake when local golfer T
Froes Ellison captured the title. He successfully
defended the following year at Walton
Heath, a feat achieved by only six others: Frank
Pennink, Alan Thirlwell, Michael Bonallack, Harry
Ashby, Mark Foster, and Paul Casey. Sir Nick
Faldo is the most famous to have won the event
as the six-time major champion won the 1975
tournament at Royal Lytham & St. Annes.
The tournament consists of two stroke
play rounds, after which the top 64 players
will advance to the match
play rounds, culminating in a 36-hole final
between two finalists.
View Complete Tournament Information