SA Team well off the pace

JG Claassen was the best SA player in the first roundIt was not the start the South African amateur golf team, made up of Dean O’Riley (74), JG Claassen (73) and Dylan Frittelli (75), were looking for at the end of the first round of the Eisenhower Trophy. With a team score of 147, five over par, they find themselves, according to par, twelve shots off the pace.

The 72 hole stroke play team event, which is played over two golf courses just outside Buenos Aires, Argentina, has sixty nine countries participating, in which teams comprise three players each, the best two scores in each team count in each round.

The two golf courses are Buenos Aires (par 72) and Olivos (par 71) Golf Clubs.

The French team lead after the first round with an aggregate of 137, seven under par. They played at the Buenos Aires Golf Club.

Canada follow on five under par, although their total score was also 137, they played the Olivos Golf Club layout.

The South Africans find themselves well back tied in 26th place.

JG Claassen faired best recording a two over par 73 over the Olivos Golf Club. Starting on the tenth hole the nineteen year old Orkney Golf Club member initially showed signs of tearing the course apart with birdies on the first three holes. This was followed by a double bogey, bogey, two pars, bogey and birdie turning in level par in his topsy turvy first nine. He continued to struggle recording a further four bogeys on his second nine holes but managed to repair the damage slightly with two birdies on the last two holes. This gave the talented young player nine hole loops of 35 and 38.

The second player’s score counting was that of South Africa’s number two ranked player, according to the latest player rankings of the South African Golf Association, Dean O’Riley. He was a little steadier than Claassen recording two birdies and three bogeys on his first nine, turning in 36, one over par. His back nine comprised three bogeys and a solitary birdie, for 38, and a round of 74, three over par.

Dylan Frittelli, who hails from Irene Country Club in Pretoria, but is currently on a golf scholarship at the University of Texas, finished with a four over par 75. He started badly, turning on 40, five over par. He dropped shots on the first hole he played (the tenth hole), fourth, double bogey on seventh and bogey on the eighth hole. He battled gamely to claw his way back by birding the tenth hole and the last two, however his back nine was tainted by drop shots on his fifteenth and sixteenth holes.

Three players lead the individual standings, all on four under par, they are Joachim Hansen (Denmark) (67) and Eugene Wong (Canada) (67), both of whom played the Olivos golf course, and Alexander Levy (France) (68) who played the Buenos Aires layout.

The South Africans are well back, Claassen is tied in forty seventh place, O’Riley in fifty sixth and Frittelli in seventy sixth place.

Laurie Canter, winner of the Glacier SA AmateurThe current Glacier South African Amateur Champion, Laurie Canter, from England, is lying ninth after a round of 71, one under par, on the Buenos Aires golf course.

The South Africans tee off first in the morning at the Buenos Aires Golf Club on Friday.

Weather predictions could favour them, storms are predicted starting in the afternoon and in the evening. Should this arise, then those players in the afternoon field could be at a disadvantage.

The final round will be played on Sunday.

The Eisenhower Trophy is part of the World Amateur Team Championships which is being run this year by the International Golf Federation in conjunction with the Argentina Golf Federation. This is a biennial championship.

This year’s event has attracted entries from sixty nine countries, two less than the number of teams that competed in the 2006 championship staged in South Africa, which was a record entry.

World Amateur Team Championships

Eisenhower Trophy

Buenos Aires Golf Club (par 72) (1) and Olivos Golf Club (par 71) (2)

First Round Team Leader Board

-7 – France (137) (1)

-5 – Canada (137) (2)

-3 – Denmark (139) (2), Sweden (141) (1), England (141) (1)

-1 – Colombia (143) (1), Australia (143) (1)

E – New Zealand (142) (2)

+1 – United States (143) (2), Netherlands (145) (1), Puerto Rico (145) (1), China (143) (2)

Other scores

+5 – Argentina (147) (2), South Africa (147) (2)

First Round Player Leader Board

-4 – Joachim Hansen (DEN) (67) (2), Alexander Levy (FRA) (68) (1), Eugene Wong (CAN) (67) (2)

-3 – Romain Wattel (FRA) (69) (1)

-2 – Ben Campbell (NZL) (69) (2), Tom Lewis (ENG) (70) (1), Henrik Norlander (SWE) (70) (1), Minghao Wang (CHI) (69) (2)

Other Scores

-1 – Laurie Canter (ENG) (71) (1)

+2 – JG Claassen (RSA) (73) (2)

+3 – Dean O’Riley (RSA) (74) (2)

+4 – Dylan Frittelli (RSA) (75) (2)

For the latest results click here

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