IT'S NOT THE MASTERS

No, it’s not The Masters, but the first round of Amatour 2010. The tour kicked off at The Princes Golf Club in Sandwich, Kent. A glorious south coast links course which will be an Open qualifier this summer.

Fortunately for the players and the newly constructed Golf Refugees advertising banner, the heavy rain and strong winds held off.

Defending champion Jason Saunders looked very nervous on the first tee and duly miss-hit his drive which barely made the fairway. I wonder if Tiger will experience a similar feeling at Augusta later today. Remember no heckling or else his beefy security guards will provide you with a ring side seat at your own WWF bout.

Anyway, back to the Princes Challenge and Jason, who after a shaky start settled down to get back to level par by the 13 th. Then a disastrous double bogey 6 at the next hole left him finishing with a 74.

Sam Smith, took the clubhouse lead from Jason with an outstanding run of birdies on the 14th,15th and 16th to get him to 1 over par but a bogey 5 on the tough 18th left him tied with Saunders on 2 over par but holding the lead with a better back 9 score.

An Amatour Rookie eventually stole the show with a phenomenal back nine of 34. Daniel Smythe of Cottesmore Golf Club, looked confident as he stepped onto the first tee and rightly so. Although going out in 39 (+3), Smythe clicked into gear and fired birdies in at the 15th and 16th, and held his nerve to hole a difficult putt on the daunting 18th hole to clinch the title by 1 shot.

Now it’s up sticks to the next round of Amatour 2010 at the Manor House Golf Club near Bath on the 12th April.

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