Jorge Siyuan Hao of Spain led the qualifiers at the Boys’ Amateur Championship

Four Irish girls and five boys qualified for the matchplay stages of the R&A Boys’ and Girls’ Amateur.

The Spanish pair of Paula Martin Sampedro and Jorge Siyuan Hao led the respective top-64 qualifiers.

History is being made in Angus with leading under-18 players from across the world gathering for the two championships, proudly supported by EventScotland, at Carnoustie, Monifieth and Panmure.

In bright and breezy conditions, Sampedro, 16, was the only player from the 144-player Girls’ field to finish under par at Carnoustie. After two rounds of stroke play qualifying at the recent venue for The Open and AIG Women’s Open, she finished on a two-under total of 140.

Hao, also only aged 16, was a model of consistency to top the 252 players who competed in Boys’ stroke play qualifying at Monifieth and Panmure. Hao finished on four-under after scores of 68 and 69 for a 137 total.

For the first time, the match play stages of the Girls’ and Boys’ Amateur will be played simultaneously at one venue when they are held at Carnoustie later in the week.

Girls’s scoring - Girls’ Matchplay draw

Paula Martin Sampedro of Spain led the qualifiers at the Girls’ Amateur Championship

The cut in the Girls’ event fell at 15-over par with Clandeboye’s Rebekah Gardner (82-73) 38th, Woburn’s Roisin Scanlon 41st (79-76) and Roscommon’s Olivia Costello 48th (79-78) on 13-over 155. Clandeboye’s Molly O’Hara was 59th (79-78) on 15-over 157.

Knock’s Katie Poots (160), Martina Joyce Moreno (160), Ballykisteen’s Caitlin Shippam (171), Galgorm Castle’s Tara Laverty (174), Royal Tara’s Hannah Guerin (176) and Sophie Sharp (183) missed the cut.

Scanlon will face Sweden’s Nathalie Borg, O’Hara takes on Spain’s Paula Francisco, Gardner meets England’s Ellen Yates and Costello faces England’s Frankie Dezis.

In the Boys’ Amateur, Roganstown’s Charlie Kelly fired a seven-under 64 at Monifieth to qualify in third place on two-under 139 with Ballyneety’s Morgan O’Sullivan (74-68) 27th on one-over, Greenore’s Matthew Giles (69-73) 35th on one-over, New Forest’s Adam Kelly (75-68) 40th on two-over, and Malahide’s Gavin O’Neill (75-69) 57th on three-over.

Boys’ scoring - Boys’ Matchplay draw

Four players on four-over made it on countback but Roganstown’s Sean Keeling (72-73) missed out on a countback with Westmantown’s James Mitten (74-72) 87th on five-over, Malone’s Fionn Dobbin (80-67) 100th on six-over, Douglas’ Jack Murphy (78-71) 124th on eight-over, Galway Bay’s Adam Challoner (77-72) 134th on eight-over and Elm Park’s Jake Foley (72-77) 138th on eight-over.

Roganstown’s Patrick Keeling (75-75) 150th on nine-over, Limerick’s Lucas Lyons (81-70) 156th on 10-over, Co Liout’s Gavin Tiernan (74-78) 175th in 11-over, Co Sligo’s Sean McLoughlin (74-80) 200th on 13-over, Faithlegg’s Alex King (76-79) 211th on 14-over, Cork’s Charlie Flavin (77-79) 220th on 15-over, East Clare’s Eoin Magill (74-84) 227th on 17-over and Douglas’. James Walsh (90-72) 243rd on 21-over.

O’Neill faces France’s Louis Anceaux, Kelly will face Australia’s Joseph Buttress, Kelly meets Sweden’s Albert Hansson, Giles takes on England’s Morgan Blythe, O’Sullivan faces Italy’s Eugenio Bernardi

The Girls’ Amateur

Over Carnoustie’s testing lay-out in the 93rd staging of the Girls’ Amateur Championship, Martin Sampedro – placed 82nd on the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR®) – signed for excellent rounds of 69 and 71.

The reigning Spanish Amateur Champion played with Maggie Whitehead, former winner of the England Under-16s, and she also impressed to finish tied third after rounds of 70 and 76 for a four-over-par total. Ines Archer from France also posted four-over after back-to-back rounds of 73.

It was another English player, Lottie Woad, who impressed later in the day to finish second behind the Spaniard as the Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters winner finished on one-over.

Impressively for under-18 level, seven players from the top 100 on the WAGR® are in the girls' field, including top-ranked Meja Ortengren (21) from Sweden who advanced inside the top-30. Italian Francesca Fiorellini (39), the second highest ranked player, also progressed.

Key Quotes

Paula Martin Sampedro, Spain

“This shows how my game is right now and I’m really happy to be at the top of the leaderboard with all these amazing girls. I’ll go into the matchplay with the same mindset because it is what really matters in this type of championship.

“This is my first time playing the Girls’ Amateur and links golf, so it has been a really good experience and I hope it continues like this. I’m really enjoying my first time in Scotland."

Lottie Woad, England

“It’s an amazing course, very tough. When I got here I didn’t really know what the standard of scores would be to make the cut, especially with the wind, but it’s definitely set up like an Open course, basically just trying to avoid bunkers.

“I’m just trying to hole a few more putts. On these greens, you can easily be over 60 foot away with a good shot so it’s about trying to not give those shots away in match play.”

Maggie Whitehead, England

“It’s quite a special place for me at Carnoustie, having met Tom Watson at The Open in 2018 and then coming to the AIG Women’s Open last year and being invited to play in the Pro-Am. I was happier with yesterday’s round, as I holed a load of puts out there, which I think is really the only way to make birdies around this course.

“But considering I’m loaded with the cold, I’m alright with that. It’s going to be a long week but I’ll try to go as far as I can and see what happens. I think I’m playing well and my game’s in a good place at the moment.”

The Boys’ Amateur

Hao came out on top in the stroke play qualifying at the 95th Boys’ Amateur Championship at Monifieth and Panmure.

Making his debut appearance in the Boys’ Amateur, Hao carded a two-under-par 69 at Monifieth to finish on four-under and secure his place in the matchplay stage at Carnoustie. Hao was one shot clear of Marco Florioli (18) from Italy and Swede Wilhelm Ryding (18) who posted three-under-par 68 and four-under-par 67 respectively.

Four players finished on two-under-par, led by Florioli’s compatriot Flavio Michetti and Irishman Charlie Kelly, who produced seven-under-par 64s at Monifieth. Sweden’s August Petersson was on the same mark, despite a double bogey at the last at Panmure, as was leading home hope Connor Graham, after a level-par round of 70 at the same venue.

For the first time, the 36-hole finals of both championships on Sunday will be live streamed at Carnoustie and can be watched on The R&A’s website at www.randa.org as well as on The R&A YouTube channel.