Portugal
Round 1 of the 2025 European Mid-Amateur Championships kicked off the EGA's summer season of tournaments today at Quinta do Peru Golf & Country Club in Portugal.
143 of the continent's best amateur players aged 25+ are competing for the European Mid-Amateur crowns just south of Lisbon this week.
YERXA HOLDS WOMEN'S LEAD
None of the 53 women in the field were able to match or beat par on Thursday at Quinta do Peru, with fast greens contributing to tricky scoring conditions.
Canada’s Haley Yerxa holds the early lead after Round 1 following a rollercoaster 73 (+1) which featured just seven pars. Yerxa, who made six bogeys but five birdies in her opening round, edges ahead of a tightly packed leaderboard.
Aideen Walsh (IRL) sits solo second at +2, while six players share third place at +3. The group includes Céline Manche (BEL), Annabelle Sapper (GER), defending champion, Alexandra Farret (FRA), Ellen O’Gorman (IRL), Irene Rollan (ESP), and Clodagh Coughlan (IRL), who all finished the day with scores of 75.
Rounding out the top 10 are Maike Schlender (GER) at +4 and three players at +5, including last year's runner-up Pauline Stein (FRA).
With only four shots separating the top 12 players, the championship remains wide open heading into Round 2.
DE PINEDA LÜGSTENMANN SETS THE PACE FOR THE MEN
Spain’s Ignacio De Pineda Lügstenmann leads the men's competition after the opening 18 holes in Portugal. The Spaniard posted an impressive 4-under-par 68, which featured two eagles, to set the pace in a strong international field.
Austria is once again featured at the top of the leaderboard in the European Mid-Amateur Men's Championship. 12 months on from Markus Habeler and Christopher Dlaska's 1-2 finnish in Latvia, Christoph Kogl (AUT) carded the second lowest round of the day, a 3 under par 69, to fly the Austrian flag high up the scoreboard.
Marian Ludwig (GER) and Mattias Varjun (EST), who celebrated his 25th birthday today, share third at 1-under-par. A tightly packed group of eleven players sit at even-par (72), including last year's bronze medalist, Jussi Sahravuo (FIN), USA’s Ryan Terry, and Germany’s Daniel Schmieding and Michael Thannhäuser.
Spain, Germany, and Sweden are well represented near the top, with Eduardo Martinez Lopez de Ceballos (ESP), Carl Kolloss (GER), Jonas Wallmo (SWE), and Martin Lager (SWE) all still within striking distance heading into moving day.
A group of four players, including Tiago Alexandre Costa (POR) and Louis Theys (BEL), are tied for 15th at +1.
Defending champion, Markus Habeler (AUT), opened with a 78 (+6). Currently in a tie for 50th place, the Austrian will have his work cut out to get back into contention on Friday and Saturday.
With two rounds still to play, the leaderboard remains wide open heading into Friday's 'moving day'.
