The Open
I’m pretty sure that every golfer in the UK, and quite possibly the world, would love to play in The Open!
That’s why thousands tee it up every year in the various qualifying events around the world.
This year after my result in Colombia I was lucky enough to gain enough World Ranking points to be exempt from Regional Qualifying and go straight to Local Final Qualifying. I was drawn at Hillside GC in Southport which, after playing a practice round on Monday, immediately indicated just how tough it was going to be!
It rained all Monday, the rough was deep, thick and lush. I actually lost ALL the Pro V’s in my bag and if it was not for the Dunlop I found on 17 I would not have been able to play the last … I promise you that’s a first!! 😉
It was great to have support there on the comp day too; to have a few people walk round with you, knowing that they want you to do well, is really nice! Also in case I needed some ball spotters and that was likely after the practice round!!
Rd1: I played some really nice stuff, my game has continued to keep going in the right direction which is pleasing and the only bogey in Rd1 was a three putt on the first. From then on I got my head down, I gave myself loads of chances throughout the round making three birdies to shoot -2.
Leader board after Rd1…
So, back to the amateur days with a 30 minute turnaround for round 2, bowl of cereal in the car, phone home, couple of swings in the net and time to go again!!
Rd2: 3 over par after 4 holes from 2 VERY poor three putts and a misjudge to my approach shot on 13, my 4th hole. That now made it an even harder task to qualify! But I thought that if I could get to -4 total I may have a chance, as anything can happen in this event.
I stuck to my plan and course management from the morning and pulled back three birdies to shoot level for the day and finish in 7th place, 4 shots off the qualifying mark!
Again, it’s a great experience, and my best attempt at qualifying so far, so I’m quietly happy and looking forward to teeing it up again next week, hopefully in Switzerland.
I would just like to congratulate all the qualifiers and especially Ian Keenan for his achievement at Southport and Ainsdale, it sounds like he hit a great shot in the playoff and he’s a great guy who deserves a break! All the best at Lytham, mate!!
Thanks once again for the support – and especially the guys (and mum!) who came over to Hillside to watch!
Blog again soon.
Chris