Jessica Ross made a strong start to her title defence at the European Mid-Amateur Championship at Quinta do Peru Golf & Country Club, Portugal after she opened with a three-over 75.<\/p>\n
Ross shares second place and is three shots behind Frenchwoman Pauline Stein.<\/p>\n
The Clandeboye woman, who was runner-up at last month\u2019s Irish Women\u2019s Amateur, bogeyed the 8th, birdied the 10th and had a rocky run to the clubhouse with a double bogey on the par-5 13th and a bogey on the par-3 16th.<\/p>\n
Shannon Burke is also well placed in a share of seventh place on five-over after a 77 that saw her card just two pars on her back nine.<\/p>\n
Aideen Walsh is sixteenth on eight-over with Clodagh Coughlan a shot further back.<\/p>\n
In the Men\u2019s European Mid-Amateur, Mark Shanahan is best placed on level-par and in a share of seventh place which is four shots behind Austrian Markus Habeler and Germany\u2019s Daniel Dr Hahn.<\/p>\n
This week the European Mid-Amateur Men\u2019s Championship and European Mid-Amateur Ladies\u2019 Championship are contested in parallel over 54 holes of stroke play.<\/p>\n
The men\u2019s edition was inaugurated in 1991, with this year\u2019s edition set to be the 36th. Formerly played on its own, the championship is now contested in conjunction with the women\u2019s equivalent, which was inaugurated in 2019.<\/p>\n
The field, with a maximum of 144 players (90 men and 54 women), is cut to 54 men and 33 women and ties after 36 holes.<\/p>\n
Players not only compete for the European titles of their age-categories, but also exemptions into the European Amateur or Ladies\u2019 Amateur Championships and US Mid-Amateur or Women\u2019s Mid-Amateur Championship, which are granted to the winners.<\/p>\n
Medals are awarded to the top-three finishers in each tournament, and prizes are also presented to the top players aged 40-and-over.<\/p>\n