By Steve Scott, golf correspondent

JAMES WHITE had to ditch his preferred game plan for the Formby course when he saw torrents of rain fall over West Lancashire yesterday, but the young Scot had a Plan B ready to seamlessly progress through the first round of matchplay in the Amateur Championship.

The 2006 Scottish Boys champion’s 4 and 3 victory over Jake Amos from the Kilworth Springs club in Leicestershire came in hugely different conditions to the previous four days of practice and qualifying, which were blessed by blazing sunshine and next to no wind.

Yesterday the matchplay stages began in a day-long deluge and White’s plan of irons from the tees, so effective in the fiery and fast qualifying conditions, had to be ditched.

However, going back to the driver proved no less effective for the 21-year-old and he was never in trouble, shooting two-under figures in beating the Englishman.

White’s only disappointment is that he won’t be facing his Stirling University colleague Gavin Dear in today’s second round after the Murrayshall man lost out 2 and 1 to the USA’s Steve Ziegler.

James is one of five sons of the well-known former Tartan Tour pro Jim White but the only one of them to follow his father into golf.

“A couple of my brothers were good footballers, but it was only me that stuck with golf,” he said. “Dad taught me the basics but he’s left me to my own devices pretty much since then.”

White doesn’t even have a coach at the moment, having graduated from the national youth squad last year, although he hopes to force his way into the senior team for this year’s Home Internationals.

“To be honest, I only consulted my coach once a fortnight anyway,” he added. “I’m not caught up with technical stuff and quite happy to look after my swing myself.”

Dear’s loss to Ziegler—a highly-rated player from Stanford University, Tiger Woods’ former college—means that none of the Scottish six-man team to play in the European Championships at Conwy later this month has made the second round of matchplay.

Furthermore, with Greg Paterson losing out yesterday, the three Scots to survive into the last 32—White, James Byrne and Craigielaw’s Mark Hillson—are not involved in the SGU’s national coaching programme.

Byrne is two years into an economics degree at Arizona State—where Phil Mickelson and Paul Casey played their college golf—but remembers enough of the wind and rain from home in Banchory.

“It was just a day for grinding out pars, and once I had got my head round that the match started to go my way,” said the 20-year-old of his 3 and 1 win over local Sam Stuart.

Byrne was one down at the turn but played one-under for the last eight holes as Stuart, who had to play in one of the 12 first round matches earlier in the day, faded in the conditions.

Hillson’s battle with Irishman Luke Lennox fluctuated wildly in the first few holes as he went three up before being hauled back to all square but he too controlled the match on the back nine to pull away and win 2 and 1.

Paterson’s campaign ended abruptly to John Carroll, the Liverpool painter and decorator who upset Callum Macaulay in last year’s championship at Turnberry.

In other matches, defending champion Reiner Saxton suffered an unlikely defeat in his first round match against Spain’s Ignacio Elvira, letting a five-up lead slip and eventually losing by driving out of bounds on the first extra hole.

Top seed and leading qualifier Matteo Manassero ignored the rain to thrash Wentworth’s Steven Brown with an impressive display of ball-striking and now plays his compatriot Joon Kim.

Only five of the 26 players in Colin Dalgleish’s Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup squad have made the last 32, and one more will exit this morning with Sam Hutsby facing Niall Kearney.

First round:

R Hooper (Neath) bt N Lombardi (Italy) at the 21st; H Norlander (Sweden) bt W Wilcox (USA) 3 and 2; D Nisbet (Australia) bt P Cutler (Portstewart) 2 and 1; E Wong (Canada) bt G Main (USA) 5 and 4; S Stuart (St Annes Old Links) bt R Kind (Netherlands) at the 19th; B Hemstock (Teignmouth) bt L Tighe (Australia) 5 and 4; N Floren (Sweden) bt S Haywood (Rotherham) 4 and 3; M Nixon (Ashton-under-Lyne) 6 and 5; A Kanppe (Germany) bt T Sluiter (Netherlands) at the 19th; S Hodgson (Sunningdale) bt J l Lazaro (France) at the 19th; R Dreyer (South Africa) bt V Flatau (Sweden) 3 and 2; P Oriol (Spain) bt D Whitnell (Five Lakes) 1 hole.

Second round:

M Manassero (Italy) bt S Brown (Wentworth) 6 and 5; J Kim (Italy) bt S Gross (Germany) 2 and 1; S Ward (Co Louth) bt D Markle (Canada) 2 holes; P Baunsoe (Denmark) bt J Vickery (Newport) 7 and 5; M Jager (Australia) bt R Enoch (Truro) 2 and 1; J Carroll (Huyton & Prescot) bt G Paterson (St Andrews New) 6 and 5; J Kennegard (Sweden) v C Coussins (Bath) 2 holes; T Fleetwood (Formby Hall) bt A Pavan (Italy) 2 holes; J Bartlett (Worthing) bt N Johansson (Sweden) at the 20th; J Hurst (Shaw Hill) bt C Cannon (East Sussex National) 8 and 7; S Jaeger 9germany) bt J Gidney (Church Stretton) 3 and 2; M Hillson (Craigielaw) bt L Lennox (Moyola Park) 2 and 1; S Zeigler (USA) bt G Dear (Murrayshall) 2 and 1; J White (Lundin) bt J Amos (Kilworth Springs) 4 and 3; T King (Sudbury) bt J Robinson (Southpoirt & Ainsdale) at the 19th.

D Renwick (Hill Barn) bt P Widegren (Sweden) 2 holes; K Samooja (Finland) bt R Henley (USA) 1 hole; S Wiedergruen (Germany) bt A Wainwright (Gainsborough) 3 and 1; J Van de Vaart (Netherlands) bt A Runcie (Abergele) 2 and 1; I Elvira (Spain) bt R Saxton (Netherlands) at the 19th; W Vork (Netherlands) bt Hooper 4 and 2; M Kieffer (Germany) bt Norlander 3 and 2; N Kearney (Royal Dublin) bt Nisbet 1 hole; S Hutsby (Liphook) bt Wong 6 and 5; J Byrne (Banchory) bt S Stuart (St Annes Old Links) 3 and 1; F Qvicker (Sweden) bt Hemstock 3 and 1; Floren by B MacPherson (Australia) 2 holes; Nixon bt B Smith (Australia) 4 and 3; J Abbott (Fynn Valley) bt Knappe 1 hole; Hodgson bt B Rickett (Surbiton) 1 hole; Dreyer bt D Huizing (Netherlands) 1 hole; N Edwards (Whitchurch) bt Oriol 5 and 4.