News
Noor Marius Thorp onverwacht winnaar
Wat op het eerste gezicht een confrontatie
tussen de Brit Matthew Cryer en de Spanjaard
Rafael Cabrera, draaide uit op een razend
spannende finale met de jonge Noor Marius
Thorp als verassende winnaar.
Thorp eindigde op de 18de hole met een birdie,
waar Cabrera op de 17de met een dubbele
bogie in de fout was gegaan.
‘Natuurlijk geloofde ik vanochtend
nog rotsvast in mijn kansen’, zei
Thorp, dolgelukkig met zijn eerste belangrijke
internationale prijs en pas zeventien. ‘Ik
weet dat je op een tornooi als dit evenveel
kans maakt om op één dag vijf
onder par te spelen als drie boven par.
Deze week heb ik alle dagen goed gespeeld,
en vandaag lukte gewoon alles. Ik had ook
het voordeel dat ik samen kon spelen met
Rory McIllroy. Rory en ik hebben al een
paar keren samen gespeeld op grote tornooien,
en het klikt heel goed tussen ons. Ook hij
speelde vandaag geweldig en dat moedigde
ons allebei aan.’
Marius Thorp speelt golf sinds zijn zesde.
Dit jaar is hij aan een prachtseizoen bezig,
met een tweede plaats in Noorwegen met het
Boys-team en een tweede plaats individueel
in het Noorse kampioenschap voor Boys, plus
een derde plaats in de German Open voor
amateurs. Aan een profcarrière wil
hij nog niet denken. ‘Ik moet nog
twee jaar naar school en daarna wil ik een
paar jaar gaan studeren in de V.S. Ik wil
me liever nog met golfen blijven amuzeren
bij de amateurs dan op zo’n jonge
leeftijd al de druk te voelen van het professioneel
golfen.’
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Leaders of day 3: Rafael Cabrera
and Matthew Cryer
Rafael Cabrera (foto Frank Vuylsteke),
Friday evening co-leader with Briton, Matthew
Cryer, is the man on whose shoulders the
hopes of the 13-man Spanish delegation rest
after three days of the EuropeaM. Cabrera
shot a four-under-par round of 68 which
included 5 birdies and an eagle; this the
result of a long putt from off the green
on the par-5 14th. hole.
Cabrera was lucky enough to play the first
14 holes without interruption for rain.
After a hold-up of almost two hours, due
to the threat of thunder and lightning,
he then finished his round in a light drizzle.
He said afterwards: “On each of the
three days I’ve started quietly, but
recovered on the back nine. I don’t
lose my cool easily, because I’m confident
of my ability. These last months I’ve
played very solidly. I am a disciplined
player and won’t change my game plan
quickly during a tournament. For instance,
on the past three days I’ve used my
driver on the same five holes, and for most
of the other holes a 2-iron.”
Cabrera starts in September with the first
qualifying round of the pro-circuit, as
it is his dream that within a few years
the whole of Spain will talk about him as
they do now of Sergio Garcia. “Sergio
made the step to professional golf much
earlier in his career than I did. I chose
first to finish my studies in Economics
and Business which happens next year.”
In any case Cabrera has talent enough. Between
the ages of six and sixteen he won everything
there was to win in his age group in Spain,
and his home overflowed with trophies.
Briton Matthew Cryer joint leader
after disastrous practice-rounds.
At the start of the week thirty year-old
Briton Matthew Cryer never dreamt he would
be joint leader after three rounds of this
event. Yesterday both Cryer and Spaniard
Rafael Cabrera shot an impressive four-under-par
68 in inclement weather conditions.
He made five birdies; two fewer than on
the second day. “I was lucky enough
to play sixteen holes without rain. Since
Thursday I have begun to regain my feel
and play my usual game. Yesterday and today
I played 17 holes in regulation. The past
few weeks I played very badly, despite training
intensely. I even had the feeling that I
had ‘over-golfed’. The practice-rounds
were a disaster. The first day it went reasonably,
although tee-offs often ended up in the
trees.”
Cryer is already thirty, but only playing
full-time the past two years. “I was
amazed how my game improved the past two
years. In fact it is rather coincidental
that I find myself on the European Amateur
Circuit. The telephone company for whom
I worked closed down and gave me the opportunity
to concentrate more on my golf. My current
handicap is +2.7 and I still plan on the
possibility of turning pro.
Asked whether or not he felt any pressure
before the final round, he replied,”Certainly
not. I didn’t come here without any
expectation, and I am primarily very satisfied
to be where I am now. I enjoy the course.
It’s great, and you see that the organising
club has gone to great lengths to have the
course in tip-top condition. The tournament
is extremely well organised. All the lads
on the British Team are enjoying it.”
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Thunderstorms delay play.
At 11.10 on Friday the siren sounded to
warn of approaching thunder. The EuropeaM
stopped for almost two hours. All competitors
playing at the time marked their balls and
sought shelter from the rain.
The bad weather – it rained hard for
much of the interval – put considerable
stress on the programme for day three. The
Championship Committee decided to continue
as far as possible with the programme, as
per plan. Should players be unable to start
today, then they will be required to do
so at 7.30 a.m. tomorrow, Saturday. The
‘cut’ to the best 70 players
will be made dependent upon the scores after
three rounds are concluded. In any event
the tournament must finish by 6.30 p.m.
on Saturday. Should the third round finish
too late, then no final round will be played,
although it currently seems likely that
the final round will be concluded successfully
(foto Frank Vuylsteke).
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Hole-in-one for 14-year old Mateusz
Jedrzejczyk
The only Polish participant in this EuropeaM,
Mateusz Jedrzejczyk , just 14 in April and
the youngest player in the tournament, shouted
out joyfully after his hole-in-one on the
11th hole on the second day of the tournament.
He used his 5 iron to achieve this. It was
his first ever hole-in-one. Mateusz has
been playing golf since the age of 5 and
is considered an exceptional talent in his
homeland.
Although his final score was very average
(he ended with a score of 81), his father,
who accompanies him this week, immediately
ordered champagne for his co-participants
in the players’ restaurant.
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Average start for Belgian Champion
Stefan Boschmans
“Difficult playing conditions surprised
me”
For Belgian champion and member of the
Belgian team Stefan Boschmans it was certainly
a disappointing first day of the championship.
He returned a six-over par 78, following
a promising start of two pars and a birdie.
Stefan is playing in his homeclub, so normally
he knows the course very well.
“The condition of the course is everything
but normal’, he said. “I know
my home ours like the back of my hand, but
for this event the fairways were narrowed,
with difficult heavy and high rough right
next to the fairways. By comparison with
normal conditions you should add an extra
three or four shots. From the roughs you
have little control over your shots. I chose
to use a driver on many holes so that my
approach to the green would just be a short
iron. Apart from one or two occasions my
drives were good, but it went wrong on and
around the green. Putting was not simple
as the greens were exceptionally fast and
soft. For the early starters, such as myself,
the greens this morning were very sodden
with many spikemarks. For this reason alone
I dropped several strokes stupidly with
two and even three-puts.”
Opening par – birdie – par,
Boschmans bogeyed the following three holes
before playing almost level from holes 7
through 16. The last two holes included
a double bogey.
For Boschmans this is his first ever individual
participation in a European Championship.
Now is his chance to take part on home territory.
An advantage, or perhaps disadvantage, with
all the extra pressure on his shoulders?
Boschmans: “As a top golfer you have
to be able to handle the pressure. I know
what I can en cannot do, and I’m not
that easily perturped.”
According to Stefan Boschmans the eventual
winning score will be somewhere between
–12 and –16. For him there are
no clear favourites: “The time that
the British, Scots and Irish dominated in
a European tournament is past”, he
says. “Look at how the Dutch, with
a very strong team, have performed today.
Spain and Italy should also not be under-estimated.”
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Robin Swane – Leader Day 1 – “Strong
Duth team!”
The 27 year old Dutchman,
Robin Swane, finished first on the opening
day after a 5-under par round of 67: ‘It
was unbelievable how well I putted. The
putter was the best club in my bag”, he
beamed. Robin made 4 birdies and an eagle
on the 14th.
On paper Swane is not
the strongest player in the Dutch team,
represented at this European Amateur Championship.
That place belongs to Joost Luyten,
who finished strongly with a two-under-par
70.
“Joost and I have played
a lot against each other lately.
This year I have beaten him twice.
Nationally I generally play better,
while intenationally Joost does.
Today it’s the opposite.”, said Robin.
Swane talks about the
course in superlatives: “It is not only
great to look at, but the long narrow fairways
ans great number of trees make it a great
challenge.
Some holes, such as hole 14 and 17,
appear easy at first sight, but are tough
to play.”.
Swane dares not to prophesy
what will happen over the coming days.
“A good start is important, but there
are still 3 days remaining and the key is
to remain focused throughout”.
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Press communiqué –
17 August
The last practice rounds are finished.
The 146 players, their coaches and captans
will now get together to discuss the strategy
of play.
The German team have hired Fanny Sunesson
former caddy of Nick Faldo and more recently
the caddy of Sergio Garcia at the Masters.
She measures the whole course to identify
the landing zones from the tee and the iron
shots onto the greens. Fanny also made a
design of each green with exact measurements
to enable the German players to evaluate
the pin position at each hole.
At Rinkven, everything is ready to “kick
off”. A few of the Belgium players
will have the opportunity to play alongside
some of the top amateur of Europe.
The course has been prepared as in a professional
Open tournament and awaits the confrontation
– as tournament Director Vincent Borremans
confirms: “We are very curious to
see the 50 best scores, then we will know
of the result of our work over the last
six month has been a success. The first
reactions are encouraging and we are impatient
to await the first round results played
under the beautiful august sunshine.
*******************************************
The 18th European Individual Amateur
Championship Men
On 17th August starts the European Individual
Amateur Championship. 149 players from more
than 23 countries will start competing on
Wednesday 17th for the first round. Nine
of the best Belgian Amateur players are
also in the field : Stefan Boschmans, Quentin
de Valensart, Didier Dijckmans, Xavier Feyaerts,
Uri Goldstein, Hugues Joannes, Alban Lammens,
Pierre Relecom and Gaël Seegmuller.
If you have the opportunity, you are cordially
invited to the RInkven Golf Club and have
a look at some top quality golf game for
a full week on a superb golf course.
The complete entry list is available on
http://www.ega-golf.ch/040000/documents/IndividualMen-ListPlayer-WO-05.pdf
During the competition, you will even be
able to look at live scoring on : http://www.europeam.be
*******************************************
In 2005 Rinkven Golf Club is expanding to
a 36 holes course.
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The registration for the Europeam has opened
on June 1st
********************************************
Delsey becomes main partner of the 2005
Europeam at Rinkven (Belgium)
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