Vitor Lopes
Vilamoura golf club, Miramar, and Oporto golf club, at 30th European Amateur Championship.
Vilamoura golf club player, Vitor Lopes, hcp +2
Miramar Golf Club player, Peter Lencart, hcp +1.8
Oporto golf club player, João Girão, hcp +1.6
A year after he won The Junior Open Championship, the most accredited European amateur tournament for under-16, Pedro Lencart played for the first time the prestigious Individual men’s European Amateur and showed that, at 17 years, is ready to compete with the best.
Among 144 players of the European elite, national amateur champion, not only passed the cut at the end of the third day – something only achieved by 64 players – as still took the luxury of complete the race in the top-40, after having included the top-20 at the end of the second of four rounds of competition.
Pedro Lencart was 39th (tied), 283 shots, 5 under Par after rounds of 71, 68, 73 and 71. In the difficult golf course of the Walton Heath Golf Club in England, which has played host to a Ryder Cup and for 12 consecutive years welcomes European qualifications of the US Open, the Portugal national team player stamped three rounds under Par in four possible.
«It was a positive week for me and I felt good on the golf Course. The first two days were very important for me because I was able to get in a good position inside the cut. It is always important to pass the cut, however, I feel that I could do better ‘, said the Press Office of the FPG, after a last round, where he scored 1 eagle, 2 birdies and 3 bogeys.
«The golf course is considered one of the best in England, has tight fairways and tough roughs, making the tee shots fundamental to make a good result», he added.
The other two Portuguese who went to England, Vítor Lopes, from Vilamoura golf club and João Girão from Oporto golf club, played for the third consecutive season the European Amateur Championship, but hasn’t been this time yet which they passed the cut, but Vitor Lopes had a third round of high level, scoring (-5) 67 shots.
Their results were as follows:
Vítor Lopes: 217 (74 + 76 + 67), +1;
John Girão: 223 (77 + 75 + 71), +7.
Nelson Ribeiro, national selector who accompanied the players to the European Championship made a brief analysis to the national provision:
«Victor Lopes, in 54 holes played, made 3 putts on 13 greens, and 4 putted 1 green. John Girão, in 54 holes he played, only made 19 fairways in regulation at 45 possible. Pedro Lencart, despite being the only one to pass the cut in 72 holes he played, made 3 putts in 5 greens. In such a competitve enviroment as the European Championship, does consecutive errors have a high price when you want to have a good rank. Players were able to identify a pattern of error in their game, what defines a way to guide the practice of assertively».
The 30th edition of the European Amateur Championship was won by Englishman Alfie Plant (72 + 68 + 66+67), who tied with the Italians Lorenzo Scalise (64 + 65 + 69 + 75) and Luca Cianchetti (70 + 67 + 67 + 69), last year’s champion, with 273 shots, 15 under Par. In the play-off, Cianchetti was eliminated on the first hole and the second Plant, the 64th-ranked amateur in the world rankings, made 1 birdie to beat Scalise and crowned European amateur champion.
