Spirit International: England and Canada lead overall team competition
Omar Morales and team Mexico in The Spirit. (Credit: Spirit International)
The second round of the Spirit International is in the books, and there were plenty of birdies and low scores. Dubbed the Olympics of amateur golf, this event at Whispering Pines GC in Trinity, Texas has five concurrent events going on at once. Each of the five events will conclude on Saturday and the top three in each competition will receive a gold, silver, or bronze medal.
Here’s the link to live scoring.
Overall team event
In the overall team event, the best ball scores from the men’s and women’s scores are combined. Team England (Dominic Clemons, Matthew Dodd-Berry, Nellie Ong, and Patience Rhodes) lead Team Canada (Ashton McCulloch, Justin Matthews, Lauren Kim, Vanessa Borovilos) by five shots with 18 holes remaining.
England is 32-under par. They shot 18 under on Friday, with Clemons and Dodd-Berry firing a best ball 60. Ong and Rhodes chipped in with an excellent 64.
Spain and South Africa are tied in third place, seven shots behind England.
First-round leader Australia struggled on Friday and dropped into a tie for fourth place.
Men’s Team
There’s a three-way lead at the top of the Men’s Team competition, which is a best-ball format. Mexico (Omar Morales and Gerardo Gómez), England (Dominic Clemons and Matthew Dodd-Berry), and Australia (Josiah Gilbert and Kai Komulainen) have all shot 19-under par best ball over 36 holes.
Mexico and England both shot 63 in the first round and 62 in the second round to reach 19-under par. Josiah Gilbert made three straight birdies on the last three holes to pull his team into the tie atop the leaderboard.
“We birdied a lot of different holes,” Gomez said after the round to Will Doctor. “The course I play in college, The Blessings, has the same type of grass, so I’m used to this grass.”
Morales was freed up to fire at pins throughout the day at Whispering Pines.
“I was always always hitting second into the par fours and the par threes,” Morales said. “He gave me confidence to go at a lot of pins and give myself a lot of looks.”
The United States (David Ford and Tommy Morrison) slid down the leaderboard into fourth place after a 67 on Friday. Cameron Adam and Gregor Graham of Scotland were the big movers of the day, climbing up nine spots into fifth place after a 64.
Women’s Team
Carla Bernat Escuder and Cayetana Fernandez of Spain improved on their first-round 65 with a 64 on Friday to sit atop the leaderboard with Team Canada (Vanessa Borovilos and Lauren Kim). They shot the low round of the day with a 63.
Denmark and France are tied for third place. The top 10 teams are separated by just five shots in the final round, so it’s sure to be a tight race.
The United States sits in 12th place after a solid 66 in round 2. They are 8-under par, six shots outside a spot on the medal podium.
Men’s individual
As Morales said, he has been freed up to make a lot of birdies by his partner Gomez. Morales has cashed in; the UCLA star has made 13 birdies and an eagle. That tally of 15 “instances” of under par holes has him tied with Josiah Gilbert atop the Men’s Individual race for a gold medal.
Sitting three “instances” behind is England’s Matthew Dodd-Berry at 12. Christiaan Maas (South Africa), Dominic Clemons, and Tommy Morrison are tied for four at 11 instances.
Women’s Individual
Republic of Korea’s Soomin Oh and Spain’s Carla Bernat Escuder both have 13 “instances” to lead the women’s race. It’s looking like a great chase for the top three spots; Japan’s Mamika Shinchi, Sweden’s Meja Örtengren, and Canada’s Vanessa Borovilos all have 11 instances.
The final round will be held on Saturday followed by the medal ceremony.
ABOUT THE
The Spirit International Amateur
The Spirit International Amateur Golf
Championship is world class golf event
played every other year. It features the
world’s best amateur men and amateur
women golfers as they represent their
respective country in team and individual
competitions. The 96 participants enjoy an
Olympic-like experience from the
Opening/Closing Ceremonies, international
village and competing for gold medals.
The World Health & Golf Association and
Texas Golf Association invite 24 countries
from six continents to participate. Established
in 2001, The Spirit is a biennial event that
alternates tournament years with the World
Amateur Team Championships.
Part of the uniqueness of the Spirit International are
the five simultaneous competitions:
Combined International Championship, Men’s Team
Championship, Women’s Team
Championship, Men’s Individual and Women’s
Individual.