Any golfer who has broken par knows all about the butterflies when the realisation you have a chance of doing it for the first time properly kicks in.
For most of us sneaking under the magical number represents a major achievement.
Fifteen-year-old Durham player Kieran Hall joined the ‘under par club’ on Sunday in the Castle Eden GC Fred Simpson Cup but he didn’t just break the barrier, he smashed it and reversed over it for good measure.
Parterned by club-mate David Olaman, Kieran equalled the course record with a seven-under par 63 which sent his handicap tumbling from 4 to 1.1.
Is this the most remarkable course record in golfing history?
He went bogey-free and even managed to leave himself dreaming of something more tantalising as he played the front nine in a sensational five-under par 29.
And because it was a stableford competition the points just piled up. He had 25 after parring the ninth and finished with 47 to win it by six from Richard Rowe.
His previous best score was a 71 last month and he displayed remarkable composure on the back nine, identifying where he could attack for birdies – on two holes – and delivering just that for a two under back nine.
“After the front nine I knew 14 and 18 represented good birdie opportunities,” said Kieran, who was knew 63 was the course record. It is now jointly held by four Castle Eden players (Stuart Brown, Ryan Dixon, Graham Border and Kieran).
“I just wanted to keep it steady on the back nine and even after four holes, when I was three under, I just thought you never know what can happen but it worked out.”
Some brilliant wedge play set up the record, something Kieran has been working on with his Hartlepool GC-based coach Alex Wrigley.
“I have been doing stuff in relation to the club path with Alex,” said the teenager, whose father Drew and uncle Tony are also keen golfers. “And when I told him about the round he was over the moon.”
The fireworks started early for Kieran, who did not have to hole anything longer than 12 feet to keep the birdies flowing.
At the third he fired his second from 120 yards to eight inches for birdie No 2 and at the next his wedge play was dialled in again as he left himself four feet for another one, duly delivering to go three under.
By the eighth he was five under after almost driving the green at the short par four and then managing to hole out from 12 feet.
He then had to wait until the par five 14th for birdie number six and at the short par four finishing hole again got close to the green with his drive and managed to get up and down to complete a memorable day.
Word has quickly gone around the club since Sunday and the following day a number of his clubmates came over to him, mid round, to congratulate him on the score. There were certainly some proud Castle Eden members, not least former junior organiser Mick Clucas, who has been very helpful in Kieran’s development.