uke Goddard helped himself to an early Christmas present when he won the Argentine Amateur Open Championship in Buenos Aires.
The young England International came from 2-down after lunch to beat Leandro Marelli of Argentina 4 and 3 in the 36-hole final at the Jack Nicklaus-designed Golf Club Nordelta. The pair were all-square at halfway but Goddard lost the 21st and 22nd holes. However, the Hendon golfer is a fighter and he hit back with four birdies in five holes from the 25th to go 2-up while further wins at the 30th and 32nd sealed his victory.
Goddard (pictured – photo courtesy of Tom Ward), who made his full England debut in September’s Home Internationals at Muirfield, is believed to be the first English player to win the title which was contested by a strong international field. Having qualified in joint 12th place, Goddard proved to be the scourge of the Argentineans. In the first round he beat Julian Clarke 2&1 then France Grillo 3&1.
Another home player, Tomas Cocha fell to the Englishman in round three although Goddard needed 20 holes to shake him off which earned him a quarter final spot against Scotland’s Philip McLean. That battle went to the 21st before Goddard prevailed then the 20 year old saw off Australia’s Jason Scrivener 2&1 to reach the final. Again Goddard found himself 2-down after nine holes but again showed his battling qualities to unsettle Scrivener.
Goddard’s international colleague Matt Haines also reached the match play stage by qualifying equal 16th. He then beat Julio Merlini of Argentina 5&3 before completing a 3&2 success over Finland’s Kalle Samooja.
However, Scott Borrowman, the leading qualifier, proved too strong in the round of the last 16, beating the Kent man 2&1.
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