Queensland’s Billy Dowling makes quarter finals at British Am
Billy Dowling – file photo -Image Australian Golf Media
Queensland’s Billy Dowling has made the quarter final of the British Amateur Championship at Royal St Georges in Kent.
After finishing in a share of 12th place in the 36-hole qualifying earlier in the week, Dowling, who is a member of both the Brisbane Golf Club and RACV Royal Pines on the Gold Coast, opened the match play phase of the historic event with a 3&2 win over Germany’s Tom Haberer.
Dowling then disposed of Rodrigo Vazquez of Mexico 5&3 before winning his round of 16 match against Fillipo Gonzano of Italy 3&2.
In tomorrow’s quarter-final, he faces Ricardo Fantinelli of Italy, who finished one shot ahead of Dowling in the qualifying rounds.
“I feel great,” said Dowling. “I played really well today, both in the first match and then this afternoon. I don’t think I did too much wrong, to be honest. I stuck to my game plan the whole day, and I’m just happy it paid off.
“My caddie really kept me level-headed the whole way, just one shot at a time, one hole at a time. I never got too ahead of myself if I was up, and if I was down, I just held in there, and I just felt like it was a good game plan.”
20-year-old Dowling has recorded four top tens in PGA Tour of Australasia events over the past 12 months and is well placed to become just the third Australian, following Doug Bachli (1953 and Bryden McPherson (2011) to win the coveted title and earn starts at the Open Championship and the Masters.
