Golfweek - Golf News Magazine

By ALISTAIT TAIT
Senior Writer

PADSTOW, England – Darren Walton didn’t get stage fright when he got to strut his stuff on one of the biggest stages in British amateur golf. The English amateur had already done the dress rehearsal for the Brabazon Trophy, the English Amateur Stroke Play Championship. There was no way he was going to stumble over his lines.

The 24-year-old posted an opening 6-under 66 and is just two shots off the lead in the first big amateur tournament of his life.

France’s David Antonelli leads after a course-record 64 and took advantage of playing in the first group in benign conditions. Torrential rain caused an hour’s suspension of play when some of the greens flooded. The French international player had two eagles and four birdies.

Benjamin Hebert of France and English players Miles Mackman and Steven Uzzell also returned 66s.

Walton has been eager to get into elite amateur events in the British Isles, but the vagaries of the handicapping system have prevented him from playing at the highest level.

The Englishman has held a scratch handicap for the last two years. That was good enough to enable him to win the Woburn Club Championship, but not low enough to play in elite amateur events, where only plus handicap figures are required.

Walton spent last summer caddying for club mate and former N.C. State player Stephen Lewton. He also spent the summer watching and learning.

“It was frustrating not getting into tournaments because of my handicap,” Walton said. “I’ve played hundreds of rounds with Stephen so I knew I was good enough to play at this level. Caddying for him last year made me realize that I could play out here.”

The Brabazon differs from tournaments like the Lytham Trophy and St. Andrews Links Trophy since it offers qualifying spots. Walton earned his place with the elite of British amateur golf with a 3-under-par 69.

“I was actually more nervous in qualifying than I was today,” he said. “I was so conscious of trying to get into the tournament. The pressure was off today in a way. I knew I had the luxury of just going out and playing golf.”

Walton didn’t drop a shot in his opening round, and upstaged most of the big names in the field. He didn’t strike the ball as he would have liked, but then he knew from last year that good scores don’t always come from excellent ball striking.

“I had my ‘C long game’ today and my ‘A short game.’ I didn’t hit the ball brilliantly, but I had 24 putts and that made the difference.

With his 69 and 66, Walton’s handicap is likely to drop to plus 1.1. He knows he needs to get it down to at least plus 2 to guarantee playing in all the elite amateur events that matter.

“I’m not as naturally talented as someone like Stephen, or some of the other guys out here,” Walton said. “But I work hard and put in at least eight hours a day over the winter to get ready to play well when I got my opportunity.”

The chances of Walton winning England’s premier stroke play tournament are slim indeed. There are too many good players in the field to think he would do the unthinkable and carry off the Brabazon Trophy.

He has more modest goals.

“I don’t really care if I shoot millions tomorrow,” he said. “I’ve proved to myself that I can play at this level. I just want the chance to do it more often.”

• • •

Alistair Tait is a Golfweek senior writer. To reach him e-mail atait@golfweek.com.

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Scores with relation to par from the first round of the Brabazon Trophy, played May 16 at the par-72, 6,962-yard Trevose Golf & Country Club in Padstow, England:

1. David Antonelli	64			-8
2. Darren Walton	66			-6
2. Benjamin Hebert	66			-6
2. Miles Mackman	66			-6
2. Steven Uzzell	66			-6
6. Alexandre Kaleka	67			-5
6. Neil Chaudhuri	67			-5
6. Paul Cutler	67			-5
6. Tom Lewis	67			-5
10. Jonathan Gidney	68			-4
10. Adam Best	68			-4
10. Sam Hutsby	68			-4
10. Mathieu Bey	68			-4
10. Gavin Dear	68			-4
15. Adam Sagar	69			-3
15. Billy Britton	69			-3
15. Todd Adcock	69			-3
15. Matthew Nixon	69			-3
15. Andrew Cooley	69			-3
15. Andrew Johnston	69			-3
15. Darren Renwick	69			-3
15. Matthew Baldwin	69			-3
15. Luke Collins	69			-3
24. Richard Prophet	70			-2
24. Gary Wolstenholme	70			-2
24. Niall Kearney	70			-2
24. Zachariah Gould	70			-2
24. Matthew Cryer	70			-2
24. Christopher Mivis	70			-2
24. Dale Whitnell	70			-2
24. Chris Cannon	70			-2
24. Jacques Blaauw	70			-2
33. Jake Shepherd	71			-1
33. Andrea Perrino	71			-1
33. Mark Bell	71			-1
33. Matt Haines	71			-1
33. William Bowe	71			-1
33. Maximilian Kieffer	71			-1
33. Marek Novy	71			-1
33. Scott Arnold	71			-1
33. Tommy Fleetwood	71			-1
33. Charlie Cossins	71			-1
33. Federico Colombo	71			-1
33. Mark Thistleton	71			-1
33. Sven Maurits	71			-1
33. Tim Stewart	71			-1
33. Luke Goddard	71			-1
33. Ryan Newman	71			-1
33. Jack Clarke	71			-1
33. Rudy Thuillier	71			-1
33. Darren Wright	71			-1
33. Jack Stevenson	71			-1
33. Jérôme Lando-Casanova	71			-1
33. Scott Henry	71			-1
33. James Robinson	71			-1
56. Chris Wood	72			E
56. Jason Palmer	72			E
56. Corey Coshan	72			E
56. Michael Reynard	72			E
56. Alex Christie	72			E
56. Philip Waugh	72			E
56. Carlos Pigem	72			E
56. Kristian Nielsen	72			E
56. James Smedley	72			E
56. Josh Sims	72			E
56. Eddie Pepperell	72			E
56. Victor Dubuisson	72			E
56. Morten Emil Bergan	72			E
56. Johannes Steiner	72			E
56. Jamie Abbott	72			E
56. James Freeman	72			E
56. Liam Burns	72			E
73. Adam Wootton	73		+	1
73. Jan Ryba	73		+	1
73. Xavier Feyaerts	73		+	1
73. Stuart Havelock	73		+	1
73. John Gallagher	73		+	1
73. Ben Westgate	73		+	1
73. Sam Stuart	73		+	1
73. Thomas Robson	73		+	1
73. Joe Vickery	73		+	1
73. Nino Bertasio	73		+	1
73. Johann Lopez Lazaro	73		+	1
73. Floris De Vries	73		+	1
73. Billy Hemstock	73		+	1
73. Gareth Evans	73		+	1
73. Pedro Figueiredo	73		+	1
73. Jacob Roth	73		+	1
73. Rohan Blizard	73		+	1
90. Sébastien Gros	74		+	2
90. Adam Hodkinson	74		+	2
90. Patrick McCarthy	74		+	2
90. Martin Young	74		+	2
90. Scott Fitzgerald	74		+	2
90. Thomas Shadbolt	74		+	2
90. Philip White	74		+	2
90. Oliver Glaze	74		+	2
90. Henry Smart	74		+	2
90. Tiago Rodrigues	74		+	2
90. Luke Thomas	74		+	2
90. Cian Curley	74		+	2
90. Joe Bland	74		+	2
103. James Horn	75		+	3
103. Joe Favata	75		+	3
103. Andrew Ellis	75		+	3
103. Ian Veale	75		+	3
103. Billy Downing	75		+	3
103. Adam Keogh	75		+	3
103. Clément Berardo	75		+	3
103. Kier McNicoll	75		+	3
103. Wallace Booth	75		+	3
103. Trevor Muggeridge	75		+	3
103. Allen John	75		+	3
114. Myles Pearson	76		+	4
114. Edouard Dubois	76		+	4
114. Lloyd Campbell	76		+	4
114. Toby Burden	76		+	4
114. Andy Shakespear	76		+	4
114. Matt Evans	76		+	4
114. Ken Benz	76		+	4
114. Vincent Cachera	76		+	4
114. Adam Runcie	76		+	4
114. Nicolas D'Incau	76		+	4
124. Edward Richardson	77		+	5
124. John Chamberlain	77		+	5
124. Michael Main	77		+	5
124. Ben Enoch	77		+	5
124. Stephen Martin	77		+	5
124. Sean Elliott	77		+	5
124. Alex Main	77		+	5
124. Aaron O'Callaghan	77		+	5
124. Nick Gammon	77		+	5
133. Adam Glass	78		+	6
133. Marcus Armitage	78		+	6
133. Joâo Carlota	78		+	6
133. Daniel Sefton	78		+	6
137. Andrew Sullivan	79		+	7
137. Emilio Cuartero	79		+	7
139. Jason Shufflebotham	80		+	8
139. Riaz Rattansi	80		+	8
139. Romain Wattel	80		+	8
139. Joseph Lyons	80		+	8
143. Petr Strycek	81		+	9
144. Nick Scholey	83		+	11
145. Mathieu Delay-Termoz	85		+	13
DQ. Olivier Serres

Posted: 5/16/2008

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