MOUL AIMS TO BE 2nd STROKEAVERAGE WINNER OF QUALIFYING SCHOOL

STOKE BY NAYLAND’S Jamie Moul is off to Catalunya this week hoping to become the second StrokeAverage.com client to win the European Tour Qualifying School in the past five years.

In 2003, Essex’s ex-England amateur international Richard McEvoy took the honours at Emporda winning by three shots from Australia’s Wade Ormsby.

And Moul, who hails from Colchester but played his amateur golf for Suffolk as a member at the country club just outside of Ipswich, should head up the Spanish coast full of confidence after sharing first place at Costa Ballena on Saturday.

Moul shot a final round 68 to seal a four-way share of top spot at one of the four courses on the Costa del Sol where Stage Two of the European Q-School was held.

The 2002 Hampshire Salver winner finished on 16-under having opened with a pair of 69s before a splendid six-under par 66 moved him to within a shot of leader Jordi Garcia Pinto, who shot a first round 62, with 18 holes to play.

After a slow start to the season playing largely on the EuroPro Tour after missing out at Q-School 12 months ago, last year’s Brabazon Trophy winner showed he can cut it – at least with the main Tour’s second string players - when he contended for the Russian Open title at the Moscow Golf & Country Club, in July, in only his second start on the full Tour.

Only a couple of mistakes on the back nine relegated him to sixth place behind Sweden’s Mikael Lundberg, who won the event held the week after the Open Championship.

Moul has stayed out in Spain to prepare for the six-round marathon which is frequently described as the most stressful experience in European golf, and which gets underway at the PGA de Catalunya Club on the Costa Brava, on Thursday (November 13).

The 23-year-old, who claimed a share of the English Strokeplay title at the Forest of Arden last year, said: “You see the quality stepping up at each stage and you just have to try and stay consistent.

“In any qualifying, the key is not to make mistakes so I will just have to try and play consistently.”

“I have been playing well in the last couple of months and in my last outing on the EuroPro Tour in France, I played quite nicely.

“In the last two or three months I have been playing a lot better than I did at the start of the year.”

Moul, who finished 10^th in the first stage at Kent’s Chart Hills Golf Club, in September, was one of the most talented products of the English Golf Union’s School of Excellence.

He broke into the full England squad in 2003 after some strong showings as a junior in men’s strokeplay events and was a regular international before making his Walker Cup debut in the defeat against America at Royal County Down, last summer.

Now Moul has the chance to emulate McEvoy, one of the seven golfers who started working with StrokeAverage.com through the EGU some six years ago.

The 2003 ETQS was also held on the Costa Brava close to the Catalunya club at Emporda. Since 1995 the final stage has been held at San Roque or neighbouring Sotogrande apart from in 2002 and 2003 when it moved to north east Spain.

Players who use StrokeAverage.com to analyse their golf stats and performance enjoyed mixed fortunes in southern Spain over the weekend.

Among the other 78 players who made it through to the third and final stage were Long Ashton’s Chris Wood, who won the Silver Medal at The Open at Royal Birkdale, in July, and Rye’s Ben Evans, who made the cut to play all six rounds at stage three 12 months ago at San Roque, when Austria’s Martin Wiegele came out on top.

Wood finished 11^th at Cadiz’s Montenmedio Golf & Country Club, some 12 shots behind Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zanotti, having started the event as the bookies’ favourite. Three rounds of 70 sandwiched a 74 on the second day.

Evans, the winner of the Faldo Series at Wales’ Celtic Manor – the 2010 Ryder Cup venue – finished 16^th at Costa Bellena. He opened up with a fine six-under par 66 and shot rounds of 72, 71 and 70 to book his spot at PGA de Catalunya.

But West Herts’ David Griffiths, another of the original StrokeAverage.com seven capped off a miserable season by losing his card.

In 2004 and 2005 the former Carris Trophy and Daily Telegraph Junior Championship winner was able to improve his category with decent finishes at the Q-School.

But having finished 181st on the European Order of Merit this year after earning €69,503 in 27 events, the 28-year-old was unable to muster the magic needed to get through at Arcos Gardens, despite recovering from a first round 74 with a fine 67.

Griffiths missed out on a place in play-off for the last two spots by one shot after carding scores of 73 and 70.

StrokeAverage.com founding client Zane Scotland, who won the Spanish Amateur Championship six years ago at Costa Bellena, will have to play on a medical exemption in the early part of the 2009 season.

Having not played a competitive round of golf since 22^nd June after hurting his wrist, the youngest-ever player to qualify for the Open in more than 100 years at just 16 at Carnoustie in 1999, opened with a nightmare 82 at Montenmedio.

His rustiness showed as he completed the tournament with rounds of 74, 78 and 75.

Zane’s close friend James Heath, who lost his card at the end of 2007 having graduated from the Challenge Tour after coming through the same Surrey county set-up as Ross Fisher, Scotland and Ross McGowan, finished 10 shots ahead of Scotland at the same venue, but still 13 shots out of the qualifying places.

Heath, Scotland and McGowan were in the same Surrey Boys side that were crowned English County Champions in 2000 as future England Boys captain Farren Keenan.

The Sunningdale golfer, who captured the prestigious Berkshire Trophy in June, went to Stage Two as an amateur and finished 57^th at Arcos Gardens, with scores of 71, 73, 75 and 72.

Another ex-England Boys captain David Porter, who stormed to victory at the first stage of Tour School at The Oxfordshire two years ago, was unable to progress at Montenmedio, where he finished in a tie for 51^st on seven-over.

Jamie Elson, the third member of the founding StrokeAverage stats squad in Spain last week was 36^th at Arcos Gardens, finishing the event on two-under, after a third round 77 effectively ended his hopes.