ANGUS, Scotland – Bethune-Cookman men’s golfer Leon Fricker fired an opening-round 69 on Monday, placing himself tied for fifth at the 120th Amateur Championship in Angus, Scotland. This year’s event runs June 15-20, at Carnoustie and Panmure.
Fricker, a native of Ivybridge, England – a small town in the South Hams in Devon (four hours southwest of London), opened his tournament with a 3-under-par scorecard. The rising senior for the Wildcats of B-CU is playing the event as a member of the Yelverton Club, his home club in Ivybridge.
Tied alongside Fricker in fifth place are Harrison Endycott (Australia), Ashton Turner (England), Jimmy Mullen (England), Miller Capps (United States), Giulio Castagnara (Italy), Jaime Lopez Rivarola (Argentina), Max Mehles (Germany) and Harry Hall (England).
After the opening round of the Amateur Championship, Alfie Plant (England) leads the tournament field with a 7-under-par 63. He is followed by Grant Forrest (Scotland) and Ryan Chisnall (New Zealand). Jack Hume (Ireland) leads Fricker by a single stroke in fourth place, turning in a 4-under-par 68.
The Amateur Champion will earn a place in the 144th Open at St Andrews and the 2016 US Open at Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania. Traditionally, an invitation is also extended to the winner to play in the Masters Tournament at Augusta.
During the 2014-15 campaign for Bethune-Cookman, Fricker led the Wildcats to a runner-up finish at the 2015 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championships in Savannah, Georgia. As the lone returning letterwinner from the 2014 MEAC title campaign, Fricker led the men’s golf squad in stroke average with a 74.72 (+3 relative to par). He tallied five (5) top 10 appearances, as well as two times finishing in the top five.
In his three-year career with the Wildcats, he has a 74.78 stroke average (+3 relative to par) across 107 rounds.
The first two days of The Amateur Championship comprise stroke play qualifying over both courses before the field is cut to 64 and ties and the match play format finds the champion over the final four days’ play at Carnoustie.
Carnoustie is one of the world’s most famous links courses and has hosted The Open on seven occasions, most recently in 2007. It will host the Amateur Championship for the fifth time in 2015, while Panmure has strong ties to the Amateur as one of the 24 clubs that funded the trophy commissioned in 1886.
Several Open Champions and Ryder Cup players have played in the Amateur including Jack Nicklaus, José Maria Olazábal, Colin Montgomerie, Sir Nick Faldo, Darren Clarke, Padraig Harrington, Henrik Stenson, Louis Oosthuizen, Ernie Els, Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia, who won in 1998.
Admission and parking is free and full details including the championship draw can be found by clicking here. Television highlights will be broadcast Friday through Monday, 19 to 22 June 2015 on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland and via local satellite suppliers in other territories.
Live scoring and updates on the leaderboard can be accessed by clicking here.