Jack Bigham beats Italy’s Riccardo Fantinelli on the first extra hole at Royal Cinque Ports in Deal, England.
England’s Jack Bigham beat Italy’s Riccardo Fantinelli on the first extra hole of the scheduled 36-hole final to win the 94th R&A Boys’ Amateur Championship on Sunday at Royal Cinque Ports in Deal, England.
Bigham had seized an early lead in the final, but Fantinelli battled back and the morning 18 ended with a tie. Neither player could gain a large lead in the afternoon’s back and forth, and Bigham birdied the 36th to send it to the playoff.
Fantinelli topped his tee shot on the first hole of the playoff, and Bigham made par to win the championship. Bigham also was the leader in stroke-play qualifying of the event.
“I was playing great in the stroke play and just continued all the way through to the final,” Bigham said. “I was a little bit sloppy in some areas today, but I managed to get the job done. It is my only win, and I am so happy as it was in my last junior event as well.”
The victory earned Bigham berths in next year’s British Amateur Championship, the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship and final qualifying for the British Open at St. Andrews.
Junior Invitational at Sage Valley announced Thursday it wouldn’t cancel but is taking precautions in wake of coronavirus pandemic.
It wasn’t until Wednesday evening, when the NBA suspended the rest of its season, President Donald Trump addressed the nation and Tom Hanks announced he and wife Rita Wilson were stricken with coronavirus, that most Americans began paying serious attention to the threat the virus presents.
It was also true of the young golfers at the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley as well.
With 1,300 total confirmed cases and 38 deaths in the United States related to coronavirus as of Thursday afternoon, ignoring the global pandemic while celebrating top junior golfers from across the globe is nearly impossible.
Planning to proceed with the remainder of the Graniteville, South Carolina, tournament as scheduled, tournament officials took steps on Thursday afternoon to protect players and their families.
Officials announced the tournament would continue Friday and Saturday, but no patrons other than family members and personnel essential to the tournament will be allowed inside tournament gates going forward. Players and families will also be tested for signs of illness from Sage Valley physicians before each of the next two rounds.
Competitor Ian Maspat’s mother, Jemelle, is thankful for the changes. When asked if she feels safer knowing outside patrons will not be allowed in the golf club’s gates over the next two days, Jemelle said, “Yes, absolutely yes. Everything is so open and that’s what I like so it’s not like you are in a small stadium or arena where it’s enclosed. You can have space here.”
Ian, a junior from San Diego, was asked what conversations are happening between the 54 players in the field after being stunned by the avalanche of news related to the coronavirus the night before the first round.
The 2020 Junior Invitational at Sage Valley. Photo by Montana Pritchard Photography
“(Players) weren’t taking it seriously at first but then yesterday we saw the NBA got suspended for the rest of the season and they started to worry a lot more and take more precaution,” Ian said.
While numbers of those infected with coronavirus continue to increase and the stock market continues to drop, neither Ian nor Jemelle are letting the fear of the unknown deter them from enjoying something as prestigious as an invite to the Junior Invitational.
“We’re just protecting ourselves by wiping everything, washing our hands well, but at the same time we don’t want to stop what the kids love to do. Ian loves golf,” Jemelle, who works for a pharmaceutical company, said. “It’s such a big opportunity for him just to even be invited. We’re going to protect ourselves, we sanitize everything, we wash everything and we pray a lot that God will protect us.
“Even though there’s some fear back home in California we’re doing everything to protect ourselves. It’s up to God now.”
Ian, making his first appearance at Sage Valley, has nine top-10 finishes, including a win at the 2018 Corey Pavin Invitational, 2018 Enagic Junior Championship and 2019 ClubCorp Mission Hills Desert Junior.
He is verbally committed to Oregon.
“It’s kind of scary,” he said. “You never know if it’s going to reach you. It’s tough. My mom makes me wear masks on the plane and sanitize everything so I’m just keeping clean.”
The Maspats plan to fly back to California on Sunday and spend a few days in self-quarantine upon return.
“We don’t have a choice but to fly back, so again, (we hope to) protect ourselves,” Jemelle said.
The 2020 Junior Invitational at Sage Valley. Photo by Montana Pritchard Photography
Joe Pagdin, the No. 1 boys junior golfer on the Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings, applauded tournament officials’ decision to test players and families upon return to the golf club on Friday and Saturday.
“I feel that’s good,” Pagdin said. “Some people can get an overnight bug and that could raise awareness. It’s also good for yourself if you don’t know you have some thing that you do it’s best to find out early than be out there on the course and get sick and not be able to finish. I think it’s good that they’re doing it and I’m not focusing that too much. I’m just focusing on my game and the course right now.”
A senior from Orlando, Pagdin is pleased tournament officials did not cancel the Junior Invitational altogether like professional and college sports leagues across the U.S. have done in the past two days. He thinks there is some panic involved with canceling and other factors must be considered.
“Some of the cancellations of some sporting events like the NBA and stuff like that. I feel there are other ways to go about it,” Pagdin said. “Maybe not letting the public in but still have the competitions because especially for golf some of these players who are out there it’s their only chance to get an earning. Especially guys who don’t have a (tour) card or have sponsors invite.
“There are obviously actions that they need to take. Obviously as players and athletes we have to be careful as well and do the right stuff we need to do but I feel right now you just got to keep an eye on it and if it gets worse in the cancellations then that will be good. But for now, I feel like we just need to stay safe and do things we need to do.”
After finishing the first round 2-over 74, Pagdin said he wasn’t on his game Thursday and hopes to shoot low in the next two rounds.
Michael Thorbjornsen leads the field after the first round at 5 under, one stroke ahead of Luke Potter. David Ford is third at 3 under, with Maxwell Ford, Aaron Du, Stephen Campbell Jr., Scotty Kennon, Holland J. Humphries, John Marshall Butler and Maxwell Moldovan all knotted up in a seven-way tie for fourth.
