TWO SCOTS IN LAST EIGHT OF BRITISH BOYS CHAMPIONSHIP

NEWS RELEASE FROM R AND A
Scotland’s Alasdair McDougall claimed two fine wins on his way to battling through to the quarter finals of the 86^th Boys Amateur Championship at Notts (Hollinwell) Golf Club near Mansfield.
The diminutive 17 year-old international from Elderslie defeated leading qualifier, Romain Langasque from France, by 2 and 1 in the third round and then dispatched Italian Renato Paratore, winner of the recent European Young Masters tournament in Hungary, by one hole in an engrossing fourth round match.
McDougall, who represented Scotland in last week’s Boys’ Home Internationals at Co. Louth, will face Championship favourite, Austrian Matthias Schwab, losing finalist in this year’s Amateur Championship, in tomorrow’s first quarter final match.
The Scot will be joined in the last eight by his compatriot, Jamie Savage, who also won twice on a blustery day marred by intermittent showers. The 17 year-old from Cawder, who turns 18 next week, gave himself an early birthday present when he defeated James Rooney from West Lancs by 2 holes in the morning and then beat Liam Cox, from Burhill, by 3 and 2 in the fourth round.
Earlier in the day, Cox had been awarded his third round tie after his opponent, Adam Chapman from Windermere, was disqualified for contravening the Championship’s policy governing the use of distance measuring devices.
McDougall arrived in Robin Hood country fresh from scoring 2 ½ points out of 5 for Scotland in last week’s Boys’ Home Internationals in Ireland and he was quickly in command against his impressive 17 year-old opponent from Rome.
The Scot won three out of the first four holes and was still three ahead when Paratore reduced the deficit with a birdie from 10-feet on the 414-yard par-4 10^th. The Scot then lost both the 14^th and the 15^th to pars before sealing the match in somewhat bizarre circumstances down the last where he secured a par four after his opponent had been penalised one stroke for picking his ball up in the rough.
“I’m just glad to get through,” admitted McDougall. “Romain and Renato are both great players and I am really pleased to have beaten them.
“I have been playing well for the last few weeks and I have always said that match play tends to bring out the best in my game.”
England, like Scotland, have two representatives through to the quarter finals both of whom will be hoping to replicate Harrison Greenberry’s victory at Burnham and Berrow 12 months ago.
The first of those is Hallamshire’s Matt Fitzpatrick who beat Italian Luigi Botta by two holes in the morning and then ended the challenge of Yorkshireman, Will Whiteoak, from Bingley St Ives. Fitzpatrick, an England Boys’ cap, won that contest 6 and 4 and will now face the last remaining German, Morten Schroetgens, in the quarter finals.
In the bottom half of the draw Nick Marsh from Huddersfield, the conqueror of Frenchman, Leo Lespinasse, and German, Max Boegel, will now come face to face with another Frenchman, Pierre Mazier. 18 year-old Mazier has already accounted for two Englishmen, Worthing’s Toby Tree on the 19^th in the third round and Royal Mid-Surrey’s Oscar Granstrom-Livesey by 6 and 4 in the fourth round, to book his place in the last eight.
In the bottom match in tomorrow’s quarter finals Savage will play Welsh Boys’ champion, Henry James, from Kidderminster.
James, whose father hails from Cardiff, defeated Irishman, Jordan Hood, by one hole in the third round and then survived an equally tight match against Englishman, Max Orrin, from North Foreland, in the afternoon. That match also went all the way to the last green where 18 year-old James blasted out of the sand and then holed from 22-feet to maintain his one hole advantage.
“It’s great that both Alasdair and I got through today and I only hope we can go a bit further,” said Savage. “I think I was about level par when I beat Liam this afternoon which isn’t bad in these conditions.
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
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