Girls' and Boys' Am

French flair as Anceaux reaches Boys’ Amateur last-eight

The R&A

12 Aug 22

3 mins

Louis Anceaux from France was on form to reach the quarter-finals of the R&A Boys’ Amateur Championship at Carnoustie.

For the first time, the match play stages of the Girls’ and Boys’ Amateur are being played simultaneously at one venue over the renowned Angus links. With the rounds of 32 and 16 played in the Boys’ Amateur today, Anceaux was among those to impress as he defeated highly-ranked Spaniard Jamie Montojo Fernandez 5&3. The 17-year-old Frenchman got off to the ideal start, winning the first three holes, and didn’t let his opponent, who is ranked 150th on the World Amateur Golf Ranking, find a way back into the match. “I was three up after three holes so it was a very good start,” said Anceaux. “I tried to keep my advantage as much as possible and I finished my game on the 15th. I hit a lot of greens so I was never in bad situations. I also made a lot of two putts to make a lot of pars. With these conditions and this course I could win some holes. “It will be a great day tomorrow. I hope I can do the same thing as today. The course is incredible. Just to know that every great golfer has played on this golf course is awesome. I’m really enjoying playing here.”

Tougher weather day

On a cooler and windier day at last year’s AIG Women’s Open venue, conditions were tougher but there was still some excellent golf. Spain’s Jorge Siyuan Hao maintained his impressive form to secure his last-eight place against Anceaux, but England’s Jack Lee made him work hard for the win, taking the match down the last before missing the decisive par putt to keep the match alive. Hao said, “I feel that I made a few mistakes on the last holes, maybe strategy mistakes, but I think the key was to be patient and to keep my concentration level. “It’s always very tough to finish off a match but it’s something you have to do. I guess every match is going to be like that. There is a very high level here so I have just got to try to do my best. “I think I’m pretty comfortable with my long game. This afternoon I felt great with my putter so I’m just going to try to keep it up. It’s a very long championship so I’m just going to head up to the hotel and a have a good rest and wait for tomorrow’s matches.”

Swede Dreams

Sweden's Albert Hansson and Didrik Ringvall Bengtsson both reached the quarter-final stages and could meet in Sunday's Final if they come through both of their matches tomorrow.

Swede hopes

It was a good afternoon for the Swedes with Albert Hansson seeing off the challenge of Thomas Buisson from France by 3&2 and Didrik Ringvall Bengtsson coming through by 2&1 against Italy’s Filippo Ponzano. Ringvall Bengtsson added, “I’m delighted to reach the quarter-finals. Shot by shot, I’ve made it, so I’m pleased. It’s my first and last time playing the Boys’ Amateur as I’m 18 now and missed previous championships due to Covid-19. “Carnoustie is very difficult and you can win a lot of holes by making pars. You don’t have to hunt for birdies as much as you do on other courses. It’s fun to play. It’s been a long day but the key to my success was staying aggressive and being decisive. You have to do that in links golf.” Wales’ Caolan Burford is joined by Englishmen Kris Kim and Morgan Blythe in tomorrow’s round of eight while Eugenio Bernardi is flying the flag for Italy after winning the last match against Swede Wilmer Edero.

Live stream

Hopes of a home winner were ended in the morning’s round of 32 when Scottish Men’s Amateur Champion Oliver Mukherjee was dismissed 4&3 by Hao and Cormac Sharpe lost out by 3&1 against Joe Jones from Wales. Irish hopes were also ended when Adam Kelly was defeated by Anceaux 4&2. The quarter-finalists are bidding to join a championship roll of honour that includes Matt Fitzpatrick, Sergio Garcia, Jose Maria Olazabal and Ewen Ferguson, the current leader at the ISPS Handa World Invitational on the DP World Tour. For the first time, the 36-hole finals of both championships on Sunday will be live streamed at Carnoustie and can be watched on The R&A’s website at www.randa.org as well as on The R&A YouTube channel. The Girls' and Boys' Amateur championships are supported by EventScotland. Follow the live blog, scoring and match play draws at www.randa.org.