British Amateur Championship: In a spell of sensational golf, with new records set for both the Old and Jubilee courses in St Andrews, the qualifying rounds for the Amateur Championship, delayed for one and a half hours when torrential rain flooded the greens, reached a climax as 288 competitors fought for the leading 64 places and ties which would go forward to the matchplay stages.
Kevin McAlpine from Alyth set a new record of 62 on the Old Course after the rain stoppage, with birdies at six consecutive holes from the second on his way to an outward 29. On the way home he birdied four more holes before three-putting the 17th up the slope from the front edge. Astonishingly he missed three putts from under 10 feet, including a four-footer for a birdie at the 15th.
At 20 years of age he is in his second year at Colorado State University where he has been a regular team member this year. Until his weekend practice round he had never seen or played the Old Course. After a 73 yesterday on the Jubilee, his aggregate of 135 puts him at the head of the field.
He shares that leading place with James Heath who created a new record of 63 on the Jubilee. His round got off to an unlikely start, hitting his tee shot in driving rain into a fairway bunker and then waiting 90 minutes before he could play his second shot. He was reminded of his hero Nick Faldo who started his final round of the Volvo PGA Championship at the weekend with a dropped shot at the first hole, but went on to a fine round of 66. Heath, from Coombe Wood in Surrey, had five birdies in an outward nine of 31 and started for home with an eagle at the 11th with a drive and two-iron to 10 feet. He felt his course management had been successful and although he holed no spectacular putts, he converted well from around the 10-foot range.
He recently won the Lytham Trophy by eight shots with a four-round total of 266, 18 under par, five shots better than Tom Lehman's previous low winning score in The Open Championship of 1996.
Michael McGeady was best of the Irish qualifiers on 138, adding a 69 on the Old Course to a similar score on the Jubilee on Monday. McGeady will be joined in the matchplay stages by Gareth Maybin (Ballyclare) on 140, who shot 70 yesterday on the Jubilee.
Darren Crowe (Dunmurry, 72 for 141), Mark O'Sullivan (Galway, 69 for 142) and Seán McTernan (Co Sligo, 72 for 143) also looked set to make it through.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)