Bolton takes down Leopold in England Am match-play opener

English Amateur stroke-play medalist Jake Bolton will play another round at Hankley Common. Bolton beat the host club’s Bobby Leopold by one hole in their second-round match on Friday and will now face Lewis Hinton in the next round for a spot among the “sweet 16.” Hinton beat Melan Dhaubhadel, 2 and 1, in the second round.

There are some intriguing matches on tap for Friday as the championship continues. Chief among them, St Andrews Links Trophy winner Jake Burnage faces Matty Lamb, his nearest challenger at the Home of Golf, and fellow English international Tom Sloman will come face-to-face with Alex Fitzpatrick, a Wake Forest player from Hallamshire.

Burnage beat Haider Hussain, 4 and 3, in the afternoon while Lamb won by the same margin against William Hopkins. Sloman also moved on with a 3-and-2 victory over Cole Betteridge and the result was the same in Fitzpatrick’s match against David Houlding.

Other big names who remain in the mix include Lytham Trophy winner Josh McMahon, Harry Goddard, Callum Farr, Ben Hutchinson and reigning British Boys’ champion Conor Gough. The 16-year-old from now plays Jamie Li in the next round with the winner coming up against either McMahon or Jordan Boulton in the afternoon.

Arguably the biggest surprise in the second round was Tom Plumb’s 3-and-2 defeat at the hands of George Saunders. As for Saunders, his reward is a third-round match against Bradley Bawden.