Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: France and the United States of America stand atop a crowded leaderboard after the first round of the 33rd World Amateur Team Championship at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
Fuelled by a pair of five-under 67s from 15-year-old Hugo Le Goff and world number two Gordon Sargent, France and the US hold a one-stroke lead over The Netherlands.
Gustav Frimodt (69) and Jacob Olesen (68) led an afternoon charge for Denmark, who shares fourth with Argentina, England and Australia, two strokes behind the leaders.
For Australia, Jeff Guan had a 68 and Karl Vilips a 69. Jack Buchanan's 76 was discounted.
Of the other Asia-Pacific nations, China are tied for eighth (138), followed by New Zealand (tied 10th, 139), Japan (tied 16th, 142), Chinese Taipei (tied 21st, 143), Korea (tied 24th, 144), Thailand (tied 31st, 149), India (33rd, 150), Singapore (34th, 154), UAE (35th, 155), and Guam (36th, 169).
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 four-under 68 with seven birdies.
“The biggest strength for David was that he came back after a difficult start, being two-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 68s behind Le Goff’s 67 leading France to a nine-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 three-under, highlighted by a chip-in eagle on the par-five eighth.
“I sliced my three-wood 10 metres 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 six-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.
