Championships

Finalists confirmed after dramatic day at Girls' and Boys' Amateur Championships

The R&A

19 Aug 23

3 mins

Helen Briem and Martina Navarro Navarro will contest The R&A Girls’ Amateur Championship Final while Alex Papayoanou and Kris Kim will compete for the Boys’ Amateur Championship trophy at Ganton tomorrow.

The four players progressed to the 36 hole Finals of the 94th Girls’ Amateur Championship and the 96th Boys’ Amateur Championship and will compete for the trophies and exemptions into Final Qualifying for the AIG Women’s Open and The Open as well as a range of prestigious amateur championships. Briem raced to a four hole lead in her semi-final with home hope Isla McDonald-O’Brien but struggled to see off the challenge off the Shrewsbury player before producing an eagle three on the 15th which helped her secure her place in the Final. Navarro Navarro looked to be in complete control of her match with Meja Ortengren when she moved five-up at the 11th but the 18-year-old Swede won five of the last seven holes to take the match to extra holes. Navarro Navarro kept her composure when her opponent ran into trouble on the 20th and capitalised on the error to win the match. In the Boys’ Amateur semi-finals, Papayoanou and Kim managed to keep their noses in front in their closely contested matches with Oscar Bach and Hugo Le Goff. Papayoanou was one-up at the turn and played par golf to maintain his slender advantage until a win at the 15th gave him a two-up lead which proved decisive. Kim and Le Goff were all square at the 6th but the Englishman won the 7th and moved up a gear at the turn to go three-up which left the Frenchman with too much to do to stay in the championship.

Briem and Navarro Navarro through to the Girls’ Amateur Final

In the Girls’ Amateur Championship, McDonald-O’Brien lost the 2nd to Briem with a bogey five and the German, who finished tied fourth in the European Ladies’ Amateur Championship in Sweden last month, won the next three holes in a row to move four-up. McDonald-O’Brien, who won the Fairhaven Trophy in April, stuck to her task, however, and reduced the deficit to one-down by the 14th after two consecutive bogeys from Briem. At that point it was all to play for but Briem showed why she is the highest ranked player in the field at tenth in the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR®) and eagled the par 5 15th to restore her two hole advantage. The match took another twist when the 18-year-old German double bogeyed the 16th to lose the hole but she held her nerve to win the 17th with a par three and complete a 2&1 win.

Martina Navarro Navarro - Spain

“I was just trying to keep calm and play like I have been playing all day and all week.I am excited and really happy to get to the Final. Whatever happens tomorrow that’s ok but I hope tomorrow is the same as today.”

Briem toughs it out

Briem said, “I wanted to reach the final, it was definitely my goal, and to accomplish that is great. “I struggled a little off the tee on the last holes so I was always kind of rescuing and scrambling. It was tough toward the end. “That (the eagle on the 15th) was just well played. I finally hit a fairway and hit it in quite close and holed the putt. “I actually know what to do and how to play tomorrow and am quite relaxed. I’m really happy to make it through.” In the other semi-final, Ortengren fell behind in match play for the first time this week with a bogey five at the 3rd and, although she won the next to move back to level, Navarro Navarro, who has had three wins in her native Spain this season, including the Extremadura Open in June, reeled off three consecutive birdies and won the next with a par four to move four-up at the 8th. Five down at the 11th, the Swedish world number 14 battled to get back into the match, winning the 12th and the 14th with birdie threes and then the 16th with a par four. The Trophee Esmond champion then produced a memorable birdie two at the 17th to take the match down the last. When Navarro Navarro found trouble off the tee on the 18th and was forced to concede the hole, the match was suddenly all square. The first extra hole was halved but when Ortengren found a bunker and then three-putted on the 20th hole, Navarro Navarro was able to clinch the match with a bogey five and take her place in the Final.

Spaniard confidence ahead of Final

“It’s been a great week,” said Navarro Navarro. “I have been enjoying it a lot and I’m really happy to play tomorrow. “It was a really tough match. Meja is one of the greatest players. The first nine was really good and my putting was going well and then Meja started to play really well on the back nine and the match started to be tighter and then went to a play-off. “I was just trying to keep calm and play like I have been playing all day and all week. “I am excited and really happy to get to the Final. Whatever happens tomorrow that’s ok but I hope tomorrow is the same as today.” The winner gains exemptions into The Women’s Amateur Championship, the US Girls’ Junior Championship, Final Qualifying for the AIG Women’s Open and by tradition, an invite to compete at the Augusta National Women's Amateur Championship.

Kris Kim - England

“I will do the same as I have been doing and have the same game plan tomorrow. I will play hole by hole and if I win, I win. If I don’t, I don’t. I will just play my best.”

Papayoanou and Kim secure places in the Boys’ Amateur Final

The first of the Boys’ Amateur semi-finals was a closely contested affair with Papayoanou bouncing back from losing the 2nd to Bach’s par four to move two-up by the 8th. The Norwegian, who finished tied fifth in last year’s R&A Junior Open, birdied the 9th to reach the turn only one down. The players were evenly matched on the back nine, playing par golf, but a bogey five from the Norwegian on the 15th gave Papayoanou a two hole cushion and he sealed a two-up win with a half in par on the 17th. Papayoanou said, “It feels great. I have been putting in a lot of hard work and I hit some shots today that show the hard work is paying off. I can’t wait to compete tomorrow for the trophy. “I would say my short game was particularly important today and I drove it well. “I’m going to stick to my game plan tomorrow. It’s been working. I’m playing really well and they have got to beat me. I won’t give up.” Kim got off to a winning start in the second semi-final when Le Goff found trouble off the 1st tee but a bogey five at the 5th from the Walton Heath golfer took it back to all square. The 15-year-old Fairhaven Trophy champion won the next two holes to move to two-up at the eighth and the pair traded birdies at the 9th and 10th before Kim won the 11th to extend his lead to three-up. The Frenchman reduced the deficit by winning the 13th and the 15th but ran out of holes with concessions on the 16th and 17th to hand Kim a two-up victory.

Kim in the zone

“It feels amazing,” said Kim. “I played really well today. I’m happy with the performance and looking forward to tomorrow. “It was just about keeping the ball in play. The rough and the gorse bushes here are really bad so as long as the ball is in play I think it’s pretty good and means you can win against your opponent. “I will do the same as I have been doing and have the same game plan tomorrow. I will play hole by hole and if I win, I win. If I don’t, I don’t. I will just play my best.” The Boys’ Amateur champion earns exemptions into The Amateur Championship, Final Qualifying for The Open and the US Junior Boys’ Championship. Please click here for scoring for the Girls’ and Boys’ Amateur Championship Finals.

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