By Kent Gray
The dream of a third Open Championship appearance remains just that for Zane Scotland while the major hopes of two MENA Tour peers have also been dashed in final qualifying.

Scotland had hoped to make a return to Carnoustie for the 147th Open Championship via Tuesday’s final qualifying – 19 years after he becoming the youngest English player to qualify for the oldest major. But rounds of 70-72 at St Annes Old Links, while tidy scoring, left the 35-year-old on the outside looking in on the year’s final big. Scotland finished -2, 10 shots behind winner James Robinson and eight shots behind the two other players who qualified from the Lancashire qualifier, Marcus Armitage and Jack Green.

Elsewhere, Yas Links-attached Luke Joy finished well off the pace at Prince’s in Sandwich, Kent, scores of 79-77 seeing him finish +12 in a shared of 44th position, 16 shots behind winner Tom Lewis, the Englishman who hails from Nick Faldo’s old Welwyn City Garden G.C.

Two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen punched his ticket to Carnostie for the July 19-22 Open at Prince’s but two members of Scotland’s coaching academy and MENA Tour players in waiting – Jack Yule (+1, T-10) and Louis Hirst (+11, T41) – suffered similar disappointment to Joy.

Related: Goosen qualifies for Open the hard way

Englishman Stuart Archibald, another MENA Tour regular, retired from the Notts (Hollinwell) qualifier won by countryman Ashton Turner after signing for an opening 81.

Former English amateur international Turner won with a -6 aggregate, three strokes ahead of 2014 Alfred Dunhill Links champion Oliver Wilson who was one of seven Englishmen to advance on a memorable day capped by England exorcising their penalty shootout demons in advancing to the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup.

England win on penalties & I’m off to @theopen ???????? What a day! Massive thanks to this legend on my bag & for everyone coming out to support me @nottsgolfclub loved every minute. The comeback continues.. pic.twitter.com/sKi2wHI9wK

— Oliver Wilson (@Oliver_Wilson) July 3, 2018

What a day, indeed. Even Scotland, a 10-time MENA Tour winner and the circuit’s first life member, paid tribute to Wilson afterwards.

Seeing/hearing this was even better than England winning a penalty shootout! Work is paying off…. no one works harder in golf than this guy. ??? https://t.co/vvqx6eIFWp

— Zane (@ZaneScotland) July 4, 2018

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Most golfers would be utterly deflated after watching a four-footer slip by and with it a chance to play the matchplay stages of the British Amateur. But Rayhan Thomas isn’t your average amateur.

Far from being downbeat after missing the cut at the 122nd edition of ‘The Amateur Championship’ by one stroke, the 17-year-old Dubai-based Indian is looking ahead with fresh confidence after going so close.

Thomas is now counting down to the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship at Flint Hills National Golf Club in Kansas from July 17-22 and beyond that the coveted Western Amateur to be hosted by Skokie Country Club in Glencoe, Illinois from July 31-August 5.

There is the small matter of his 10^th grade school exams beforehand after they were put on ice so he could play the British Amateur. But Thomas is clearly itching to head to the U.S.

“I can’t wait to get back and start playing some tournaments after this because it gives me a lot of confidence knowing I played really well and can make it at the highest amateur level,” Thomas told Golf Digest Middle East.

“So yeah, just work harder and we can get there.”

Thomas took plenty from the experience on the Kent coast where he backed up an opening one-under 71 at Prince’s GC with a one-over 71 at the Sandwich club’s Open Championship venue neighbour, Royal St. George’s.

The Dubai Creek member looked out of it in Tuesday’s second round when he slipped to four over through five holes as the wind whipped up but battled brilliantly to get it back to even par after the 11^th. A bogey on 12 was then cancelled out with a fifth birdie in eight holes on 14 only for the dream to be dashed by a three putt bogey on 18, sealed by the missed four-footer.

Thomas was one of 12 players to finish the 36-holes of strokeplay on even par and miss out by one.

“The field depth was unbelievable. The cut at the start of the day was one under and it did not move,” said Thomas.

“I thought with the wind picking up it would maybe move to level par, one over but with 288 players one stroke can move you about 40 to 50 spots so I was a victim to that on the last hole when I missed that putt.

“Other than that, I love the British Am, I think it was run brilliantly, the pace of play was superb, the coursers were fantastic. I love links golf. Going forward, not much to do, I felt I played really solid, just had a rough start today and missed one short putt which would have made my week if I’d made it.”

Irishman Caolan Rafferty led the top-64 qualifiers on -10, all of which he picked up in a 10-under 62 in his second round at Prince’s. The score matched Kevin McAlpine’s Amateur Championship qualifying score on the Old Course at St Andrews in 2004 and broke the Prince’s course record by two following Gisli Sveinbergsson’s (Iceland) 64 on Monday.

Richard Finch carded the lowest qualifying score with a 61 at Pyle & Kenfig in 2002.

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Rayhan Thomas is confident he can make the matchplay phase of the 122^nd British Amateur providing he doesn’t do “anything silly” in his final qualifying round at famed Royal St George’s on Tuesday. Are you listening, Dear Putter?

Two late birdies helped the 17-year-old Dubai-born Indian salvage a one-under 71 Monday from his opening round at Prince’s GG, the Sandwich, Kent coast club co-hosting the 36-hole stokeplay qualifying phase of ‘The Amateur Championship”.

It left Thomas flirting with the cut line in a 25-way share of 58^th place midway through the first round. Only the top 64 players from 288 starters advance to the matchplay knockout rounds which run from Wednesday to Saturday at St George’s.

Thomas will want his putter working a little better at St George’s when he tees it up at the Open Championship venue at 5.15pm UAE time (2.15pm UK time) Tuesday. He mixed three birdies with two, three-putt bogeys at Prince’s but at least got it into the red for the day courtesy of back-to-back gains on the 16^th and 17^th.

“I played solid today, hit a lot of greens and a lot of fairways and the putting pace was good but I just didn’t trust a lot of the lines [on the greens], ” Thomas told Golf Digest Middle East.

RELATED: Rayhan Thomas puts exams on ice to tee it up in the 122nd Open

“I think to make the cut I just need to make sure I play steady, don’t do anything silly and just keep playing the way I’m playing because I’m doing good enough so far.

“I’ve just got to make sure not to make any big numbers. I think there are about 250 [288] players this week and 64 make it into the matchplay so I’ve got to make sure every shot counts, even the little ones because one stroke here and there can move you up or down about 40 spots.

“So yeah, just stay patient, stay calm and just play. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Thomas described Prince’s as “scoreable” given a relative lack of wind and the first round scoring illustrated just that; only five of the 31 leading players were playing St George’s. It means the Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club member will have to conquer something special Tuesday to make the cut.

Iceland’s Gisli Sveinbergsson signed for eight birdies, six of them on the front nine, in a sizzling opening -8 64 to lead by one overnight from Italian Alberto Castagnara was also playing at Prince’s. Welshman Tim Harry and South African Jovan Rebula shared third place after six under 66s.

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The need for sun protection was the only thing to catch Rayhan Thomas off guard as he rounded out his preparation for the 122nd British Amateur Championship in an unusually balmy 28 degrees at Royal St Georges’ in Sandwich on Sunday.

“Today was quite warm actually, probably needed the sun screen,” Thomas joked on the eve of ‘The Amateur’ being co-hosted by neighbouring Prince’s Golf Club.

The early English summer mercury mightn’t have threatened the 50+ degrees (Celsius) recorded back at home in Dubai but it clearly helped the 17-year-old Indian No.1 feel right at home on the famed Kent coast links land.

Thomas will take a fun 48-hour, two round reconnaissance mission into his first British Amateur where he tees it up at 9.39am (12.39pm UAE time) alongside Daniel O’Loughlin (England) and Stephen Behr (USA) in Monday’s opening round at Prince’s. He’ll then have to negotiate an afternoon start (2.15pm UK time/5.15pm UAE time) at St Georges’ Tuesday before the 228 strong field is whittled down to 64 qualifiers for the matchplay knockout rounds at St Georges’ from Wednesday.

Thomas played both courses in practice and liked the challenging conditions he encountered, hardly surprising given his love of links golf.

“They’re fantastic courses, really playing like true links,” Thomas told Golf Digest Middle East.

“It’s firm, it’s brown, and sometimes you have to bounce the ball 40 yards short of the green with like mid to long irons and run it up

“I’ve just really enjoyed all the creative shots you can play. You can hit a lot of bump and runs, putt it from 40 yards off the green, hit balls into slopes and try to run it down, release it to the pin. It’s been fun trying to figure out that strategic golf and playing it that way.”

Thomas has enlisted an experienced local bagman to help his tilt at arguably the world’s most coveted amateur title which counts Bobby Jones (1930), Masters champion Sergio Garcia (1998), fellow Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal (1984) and Italian star Matteo Manaserro (2009) among its former champions.

RELATED:  Thomas puts exams on ice to tee it up in the 122nd British Amateur Championship

“I have a really good caddy this week who knows Royal St Georges’ like the back of his hand, he’s a local whose been caddying for 38 years so, yeah, looking forward to it,” said Thomas who has proven UK pedigree having won the 2016 Scottish Boys’ Strokeplay Championship.

“I think to make the matchplay, I just need to play it solid, take it shot by shot and just don’t make too many silly mistakes because it is going to be tough out there.

“The courses are tough with how firm they are playing  So I just need to keep it steady, be patient and come out with a good score. Yeah, I’m looking forward to it, I can’t wait.”

The post Rayhan Thomas ‘can’t wait’ for 12.39pm (UAE time) opening round tee time at British Amateur appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Rayhan Thomas is to put his important end-of-school-year exams on ice to tee it up in the 122nd British Amateur Championship.

The 17-year-old had originally planned to play ‘The Amateur’ at Royal St. George’s GC and Prince’s GC from June 19 before learning the historic event clashed with his 10th grade exams. But the overtures of the Indian Golf Union and the understanding of his online school tutors means the Dubai-based teen is now definitely headed for the famous stretch of golfing coastline in Sandwich, Kent.

“The Indian Golf Union want to take me and three other players to the British Amateur so we spoke to the school and I can do the exams after I get back. I’m really looing forward to playing at Royal St. George’s,” Thomas told GolfDigestMe.com of the famed Open Championship venue.

The Amateur was first contested in 1885 at Royal Liverpool (Hoylake) where 44 players played a series of matches before A F Macfie overcame Royal & Ancient clubmate Horace Hutchinson 7&6 in the final. Nowdays it is one of the world’s most prestigious amateur championships involving 288 players over six days of mixed stroke and matchplay.

Thomas’ goal is to survive the opening 36-holes of strokeplay qualifying and then take it “round-by-round” in the matchplay which is contested by the leading 64 players.

“Links golf is my favourite type of golf just because you have to hit so many different types of shots instead of the high ball. While it’s not the standard golf played on the European Tour it definitely helps you develop your game and become a more all round player,” the dual Dubai Creek/Emirates GC member said.

After The Amateur and his exams are done, Thomas’ schedule will ramp up as he counts down to representing the International team at September’s Junior Presidents Cup which will be played just days before the senior version, also at Liberty National in New Jersey.

He will definitely play the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship in Kansas in July and possibly the British Boys’ (under-18) again the following month. There is also the not so small matter of defending his historic Dubai Creek MENA Tour title and another MENA Tour stop at The Els Club, Dubai before the exciting Presidents Cup opportunity.

Thomas is happy with his game after back-to-back top 30s in Thailand which followed a T13 finish at the prestigious Junior Invitational at Sage Valley GC near Augusta National. After all the travelling and competition, he was glad to be back on the range Wednesday honing his swing with coach Justin Parsons at the Butch Harmon School of Golf in Dubai.

“We are working a little on shallowing him out [Thomas’ swing plane] and the way that he uses his shoulders in particular to complete his backswing. This will give him a nice, neutral ball flight,” said Parsons.

“We have also talked about getting a slightly lighter, stronger 2 iron in the bag which may be very useful around a links course.”

New U.S. Masters champion Sergio Garcia (1998), fellow Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal (1984) and Italian star Matteo Manaserro (2009) are modern winners of The Amateur.

Bobby Jones won the title at St. Andrews in 1930 as part of his famous “Grand Slam”. John Ball, with eight wins, holds the record for the most British amateur titles and became the first English winner in 1890. In the modern era, Sir Michael Bonallack won five times between 1961 and 1970.

Hampshire 21-year-old Scott Gregory won the 121st title with a 2&1 victory over Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre at Royal Porthcawl in Wales last June.

Royal St George’s will host The Amateur Championship for the 14th time in its history in 2017.

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