English Amateur last 32
Half of the 16 seeded players have gone home as the English Amateur reaches the last 32 players
At the end of the third day of the English amateur Championship at Royal Lytham half of the 16 seeded players had departed the competition.
James Holmes, the Portuguese Amateur title this year, caused the shock of the day when he put out Walker Cup man Philip Rowe.
Holmes, from Crewe, gained a deserved 3&1 victory after leading for most of the way. Rowe, beaten finalist three years ago at Hoylake, said: “All credit to James, he played well. Now I’m heading back home to Cornwall to do some surfing.”
Roger Smithies, the 35-year-old from Manchester, overcame the shock of seeing the seeded Darren Henley hole-in-one at the ninth before defeating the England man on the final green.
Jonathan Evans from Guildford has made a habit of upsetting seeds. A year ago he put out Gary Wolstenholme, this time he ended the hopes of Matthew King, winner of the St Andrews Links Trophy in May, by 3&2.
Wolstenholme maintained his bid for the title he has never won with a 3&2 defeat of Oliver Wilson in round three, having edged past 17-year-old Chris Russell by one hole in the morning.
Richard Finch was another seed to fall, beaten by Simon Young from Cumbria at the 21st.
Defending champion Paul Casey from Surrey made it into the fourth round but only after a titanic struggle with English Mid-Amateur champion Stephen East that went to the final green.
Nick Dougherty drew the largest crowd and rewarded them with a 2 and 1 victory over Matthew Cox from Royal Birkdale, while fellow seeds Jonathan Lupton and John Morgan were in blistering form. Lupton, from Middlesbrough, hammered Geoff Nixon from Cumbria 7&6, while Morgan, from Somerset, cruised through by the same score over Tom Whittaker from Astbury.
But David Griffiths was taken to the 20th before coming through against Peter Wheatcroft, while Sandeep Grewal made it through to the last 32 with a 3&2 victory over Northampton’s Glenn Keates. Tom Whitehouse also progressed, beating Matthew Bugg from Selby by two holes.
Another seed to fall was Hull’s Richard Finch, who went out at the 21st against Cumbria’s Simon Young.
And Wycombe's Mark Housego has made it through to the last 32 in his first major EGU event, comfortably winning his first three matches. A name to look out for in the future.
