Abu Dhabi junior championship, sponsored by Daily Telegraph

Lewis leads by seven in boys' event but it's

Holly, Sophie & Alex (71) sharing girls' lead

ALL THE FIRST ROUND SCORES AT A GLANCE:

BOYS (par 72)
Tom Lewis (Welwyn Garden City) 64
Chris Lloyd (The Kendleshire) 71
Jordan Ainley (Brokenhurst Manor) 73
Ben Herbert ( Clackton-on-Heath) 74
Tomasz Anderson (Mill Green) 74
Ross Mitchell (Sunningdale) 74
Jack Mackenzie (Princes) 75
Joel Neale (United Arab Emirates) 75
Myles Angell (Clevedon) 76
Ryan Fricker (Yelverton) 77
Ben Ludlam (Dunwood Manor) 79
Tom Ibbertson (Coventry Hearsall) 82
GIRLS (par 72)
Alex Peters (Notts Ladies) 71
Sophie Godley (Lindrick) 71
Holly Clyburn (Woodhall Spa) 71
Jess Wilcox (Blankney) 73
Heidi Baek (Felixstowe Ferry) 73
Georgia Hall (Ferndown) 74
Hannah Turland (Tidworth) 74
Charlotte Austwick (Pike Hills) 74
Michaela Chivers (Farrington) 83

NEWS RELEASE
The Abu Dhabi Junior Golf Championship presented by The Daily Telegraph got underway today at The Abu Dhabi Golf Club. Twenty one juniors teed it up in the blazing sunshine, all hoping for a chance to take home the title. Past winners of this prestigious competition include Justin Rose, Andrew Coltart, Rebecca Hudson and more recently Oliver Fisher and Melissa Reid. Twenty juniors arrived in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday evening and were joined by Joel Neale, an 18-year old UAE resident making up the twenty one finalists for a practice round on Wednesday. Whilst the finalists enjoyed their first taste of the golf course, a past player of the tournament, David Howell helped local UAE professionals to coach UAE children in a junior clinic. This is an initiative which has been facilitated by The R & A’s development committee, as well as Abu Dhabi Golf Club and Emirates Golf Federation, in order to encourage more juniors from the region to play golf.
In preparation for the main competition, the finalists took part in a Challenge Match yesterday where they all partnered a local UAE junior in a fourball betterball stableford format. Tom Ibbertson and Sohail Al Marzooqi claimed the trophy, scoring 42 points.
Round One of the championship took place today. A number if the girls picked up shots early on but throughout the round there were a number of them bunched at the top of the leaderboard. At the end of the day, there were three girls who shot the leading score of one-under-par 71 – Alexandra Peters, Sophie Godley and Holly Clyburn. Heading into the second round it is all to play for as there are eight girls separated by only three shots.
English girls' champion and Curtis Cup candidate Clyburn looked destined to end the first day a shot clear of the girls' field but she was bunkered at the last where a great three-wood shot just caught a greenside bunker instead of running on to the green.
Peters did not look a threat to the leaders when the first nine holes cost her 38 shots. But she showed her class in coming out in 33 with four birdies for a share of the lead.
In the boys’ competition, there was a slightly different story revealing as Tom Lewis, winner of the British Boys and Carris Trophy this year came darting out of the blocks. A very steady front 9 took him to -3 and he was leading by a few shots at the turn.
Five birdies in a row from the tenth put him at -8 for the round. Perhaps by his standards a disappointing 18th hole having driven into the bunker and only making a par but all in all a fantastic day’s work. Chris Lloyd, the sponsor’s invite, is seven shots behind Tom on the leaderboard after a solid 71, with a very respectable back nine of two-under par.