PORTHCAWL, Wales – Despite facing challenging conditions, ETSU’s Adrian Meronk (Wroclaw, Poland) defeated France’s Ugo Coussaud 4&3 in the second round of match play at the 121st British Amateur on Wednesday from Royal Porthcawl in Porthcawl, Wales.

Meronk, who advanced to the match play stage after finishing tied for 20th in the 36-hole stroke play qualifier, registered three birdies en route to winning six holes (No. 2, 5, 8, 9, 10 and 15) over Coussaud on Wednesday. Meronk birdied the par-3, No. 4 and recorded consecutive birdies on Nos. 9 and 10 to help increase his lead. Coussaud is ranked 137th in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, and he also became the first Frenchman to win the South African Stroke Play Championship in 2015.

Meronk, a two-time Southern Conference Player of the Year, faces Austria’s Lukas Lipold in round three on Thursday. The match gets underway at 2:57 a.m. EDT, while the winner of the Meronk-Lipold match moves on to face the winner of Cameron Davis-Dylan Perry on Thursday afternoon.

Lipold defeated Scotland’s Craig Ross 3&2 on Wednesday. Lipold is currently ranked 107th in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.

The starting field of The Amateur Championship featured 288 players from 30 countries, while seven players are ranked in the top 30 of the World Amateur Golf Ranking, including Meronk.

The winner of The Amateur Championship will earn a place at The 145th Open at Royal Troon and the 2017 U.S. Open Championship. Traditionally, the Amateur champion is also invited to compete in the Masters Tournament.

Click here for live scoring and here for a Championship bracket.