GOLF: France, USA Share Lead in Abu Dhabi After Round 1

WORLD AMATEUR TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS 2023

EISENHOWER TROPHY

French Captain Antoine Delon, (left), congratulates Paul Beauvy of France at the ninth green during the first round of the World Amateur Team Championship at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2023 (Copyright USGA/Steven Gibbons)

18 OCTOBER, 2023 - USGA, BY JOEY GESKE/SHANK, BY MATT HOOPER: France and the United States of America stand atop a crowded leader board after the first round of the 33rd World Amateur Team Championship at Abu Dhabi Golf Club on Wednesday. Fueled by a pair of 5-under 67’s from 15-year-old Hugo Le Goff and world No. 2 Gordon Sargent, France and the USA hold a one-stroke lead over The Netherlands.

Sargent, the lone returning American from last year’s bronze-medal finish, shot one of four bogey-free rounds on Wednesday.

“It was nice to get off to a good start,” said Sargent, the 2023 Mark H. McCormack Medal winner. “I hit it well all day. I was just trying to keep the ball in front of me and keep giving myself chances. It’s super nice not to have a bunch of stress on yourself. I just stayed focused on playing good golf and helping the team out.”

David Ford, who secured the clinching point for the USA in last month’s Walker Cup Match on the Old Course at St Andrews, added a 4-under 68 with seven birdies.

“The biggest strength for David was that he came back after a difficult start, being 2-over after three holes,” said USA Captain Mark Newell. “He made a couple of stroke-saving shots at [holes] two and nine and then he just turned it on.”

All three of France’s players carded rounds of 68 or better in the early wave of the morning. Teammates Bastien Amat (counting) and Paul Beauvy (non-counting) shot a pair of 68’s behind Le Goff’s 67 leading France to a 9-under total of 135 to match the Americans.

Only two of each team’s best three scores count toward the total.

“We are happy with the strong start,” said French Captain Antoine Delon. “It’s difficult to play in this temperature, but we had good preparation, the course is perfect, and the players were very solid. We had no faults. No double bogeys on the team and so many birdies and good putting.”

Le Goff, the fifth-youngest player in the field, played the final three holes in 3 under-par, highlighted by a chip-in eagle on the par-5 eighth.

“I sliced my 3-wood 10 meters right of the green and then hit a 60-degree shot and it rolled and went in,” said Le Goff. “Today, my chipping was really good. I had some incredible short game.”

The Netherlands’ Benjamin Reuter had the individual low round of the day, a 6-under 66, and teammate Jack Ingham added a 70 to position the Dutch in solo third place. Reuter, who plays at Georgia Tech University, registered three birdies and an eagle in his final seven holes.

Gustav Frimodt (3-under 69) and Jacob Olesen (4-under 68) led an afternoon charge for Denmark, who shares fourth with Argentina, Australia and England, two strokes behind the leaders.

“They stayed patient and went about what they had to do,” said Denmark Captain Martin Raal Kold. “We’re a couple of shots from where we hope to be but there’s a lot of golf still to be played.”

Scotland World Amateur Team, from left to right, Captain John Rushbury, Connor Graham, Calum Scott, Gregor Tait and Coach/Manager Spencer Henderson as seen during the practice round at the 2023 Eisenhower Trophy at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023 (Copyright USGA/Steven Gibbons)

SCOTLAND ARE IN A TIE FOR 13TH PLACE AFTER THE FIRST ROUND WITH SCORES FROM CONNOR GRAHAM AND CALUM SCOTT COUNTING FOR THE TEAM. THE WATC IS THE LATEST STAGE FOR THE OUTSTANDING GRAHAM TO PERFORM ON AS HIS RISE IN AMATEUR GOLF CONTINUES. THE BLAIRGOWRIE STAR was part of the GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND WALKER CUP TEAM IN ST ANDREWS, AND THEN WAS A MEMBER OF THE WINNING EUROPEAN JUNIOR RYDER CUP TEAM AT MARCO SIMONE GOLF CLUB LAST MONTH. SCOTLAND WON THE EISENHOWER TROPHY IN 2008 AT ROYAL ADELAIDE AND THE GRANGE IN ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA. A TEAM CONSISTING OF WALLACE BOOTH, GAVIN DEAR AND CALLUM MACAULAY DEFIED THE ODDS AND DEFEATED THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TEAM, WHICH INCLUDED RICKIE FOWLER, BILLY HORSCHEL AND JAMIE LOVEMARK.

The host country United Arab Emirates stands in 35th place after Round 1.

Results from Wednesday's first round of the 2023 World Amateur Team Championships, played at par-72 Abu Dhabi Golf Club (National Course), in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
T1 France - 135
Hugo Le Goff - 67
Bastien Amat - 68
Paul Beauvy - 68

T1 United States of America - 135
Gordon Sargent - 67
David Ford - 68
Nick Dunlap - 69

3 Netherlands - 136
Benjamin Reuter - 66
Jack Ingham - 70
Lars van der Vight - 77

T4 Argentina - 137
Segundo Oliva Pinto - 68
Vicente Marzilio - 69
Joaquin Ludueña - 70

T4 Australia - 137
Jeff Guan - 68
Karl Vilips - 69
Jack Buchanan - 76

T4 Denmark - 137
Jacob Olesen - 68
Gustav Frimodt - 69
Frederik Kjettrup - 75

T4 England - 137
Tyler Weaver - 68
Barclay Brown - 69
Jack Bigham - 72

T8 People's Republic of China - 138
Justin Bai - 69
Zihang Qiu - 69
Ziqin Zhou - 76

T8 Spain - 138
Jose Luis Ballester - 69
Luis Masaveu Roncal - 69
Angel Ayora - 71

T10 Czechia - 139
Filip Jakubcik - 69
Louis Klein - 70
Petr Hruby - 72

T10 New Zealand - 139
Sam Jones - 69
Kazuma Kobori - 70
Jayden Ford - 74

T10 South Africa - 139
Altin van der Merwe - 69
Christiaan Maas - 70
Christo Lamprecht - 71

T13 Germany - 141
Tim Wiedemeyer - 70
Jonas Baumgartner - 71
Tiger Christensen - 73

T13 Morocco - 141
Soufiane Dahmane - 69
Hugo Mazen Trometter - 72
El Mehdi Fakori - 75

T13 Scotland - 141
Connor Graham - 70
Calum Scott - 71
Gregor Tait - 78

T16 Colombia - 142
Nicolas Quintero - 69
Carlos Ardila Conde - 73
Manuel Merizalde - 76

T16 Italy - 142
Pietro Bovari - 69
Flavio Michetti - 73
Riccardo Fantinelli - 74

T16 Japan - 142
Minato Oshima - 70
Yuta Sugiura - 72
Riura Matsui - 75

T16 Switzerland - 142
Max Sturdza - 70
Marc Keller - 72
Nicola Gerhardsen - 74

T16 Wales - 142
Tomi Bowen - 70
James Ashfield - 72
Matt Roberts - 75

T21 Chinese Taipei - 143
Ching Hung Su - 71
Chuan-Tai Lin - 72
Chichun Chen - 74

T21 Mexico - 143
Santiago De La Fuente del Valle - 71
Omar Morales Nacif - 72
Jose Cristobal Islas Valdespino - 75

T21 Zimbabwe - 143
Tafadzwa Nyamukondiwa - 70
David Amm - 73
Keegan James Shutt - 82

T24 Norway - 144
Michael Mjaaseth - 71
Herman Sekne - 73
Mats Ege - 75

T24 Republic of Korea - 144
Donghyun Moon - 71
Seonghyeon An - 73
Sungho Lee - 74

T26 Ireland - 145
Matthew McClean - 72
Alex Maguire - 73
Liam Nolan - 75

T26 Sweden - 145
Daniel Svard - 70
Tobias Jonsson - 75

T28 Canada - 146
Brady McKinlay - 72
Ashton McCulloch - 74
Piercen Hunt - 80

T28 Guatemala - 146
Gabriel Palacios - 72
Juan Ricardo Davila - 74
Alejandro Villavicencio - 82

30 Austria - 147
Christoph Bleier - 73
Florian Schweighofer - 74
Fabian Lang - 78

T31 Finland - 149
Jesse Saareks - 74
Markus Luoma - 75
Elias Haavisto - 77

T31 Thailand - 149
Ashita Piamkulvanich - 74
Jiradech Chaowarat - 75
Parin Sarasmut - 75

33 India - 150
Yuvraj Singh - 74
Shaurya Bhattacharya - 76
Rohit Narwal - 79

34 Singapore - 154
Troy Tian Storm - 76
Ryan John Ang - 78
Hiroshi Hirahara Tai - 79

35 United Arab Emirates - 155
Thomas Nesbitt - 76
Rayan Ahmed - 79

36 Guam - 169
Nalapon Vongjalorn - 84
Eugene Park - 85
Markus Nanpei - 86

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