Eventful Welsh Men’s Open Stroke Play decided after a play-off
The Gloucestershire Union has had plenty of reasons to celebrate in recent years and Long Ashton’s Milan Reed provided another one yesterday thanks to his breakthrough victory in the Welsh Men’s Open Stroke Play.
FORMAT: 72-hole stroke play
The likes of Joe Long, Jack Cope, Nick Day and Joe Harvey have all made their mark in major national events in the last four years and the 18-year-old rose to the occasion in similar fashion, coming from five back on the final day at Southerndown GC.
His closing 68 got him into a play-off with 54-hole leader Robert Holden and a bogey at the first extra hole – the Hertfordshire player’s drive on 18 was never found – was enough to secure a brilliant win.
And Reed, who finished seventh at the Berkhamsted Trophy at the start of the month, was overwhelmed by the response to his Southerdown heroics.
“It’s been manic,” he said. “I never expected to wake up to over 100 notifications on my phone.
“It was a tiring week and I was knackered last night so it was great to have a lie-in and catch up.”
The former Intercollegiate Tour National Finals champion puts his excellent start to the season down to a lot of hard work in the winter.
“I’ve been doing a lot of strength and conditioning work and that has probably translated into an extra 10-15 yards off the tee. That makes a difference when you are going in with a shorter iron.
“Gloucestershire have also been really supportive and it is has been great to be part of that set-up. The county is full of quality players.”
Yesterday Reed was in the fourth last group while Holden (Letchworth) and Ireland’s Sean Keeling, the recent Scottish Boys Open champion, looked set to battle it out for the title. However both players came home in a four-over-par 37, the Englishman dropping shots at 16 and 17 to fall back level with Reed.
In the play-off, both contenders went wide right off the tee and hit provisionals into the centre of the fairway.
Luckily for the Gloucestershire player his ball was found on the path and he was able to chip out and then put his third on the green.
Holden missed with his approach (4th) but chipped stone dead for a double bogey which meant, after lagging his par putt, the teenager had a three-footer for the title.
“I was so relieved it went in and my dad (Martin) gave me a big hug. I am not usually a fan of caddies but thankfully he was on the bag all four days.
“Going into that final round I was hoping the wind was going to get up again because I have a low ball flight and am pretty solid in the wind. It didn’t really happen but thankfully I was able to shoot 68 and that gave me a chance.”
Reed needed all his wind-playing skills on day one as gusts exceeding 40mph buffeted the South Wales venue. The best opening round (73) came from English trio of Jack Whaley (Rotherham), Teddy Hall (Newmarket Links) and Charlie Robb ( Buckingham) while Reed battled his way to a 75.
In round two the Long Ashton teenage took the lead thanks to a 67 and needed just 24 putts as he edged ahead of Holden (68) and Lindrick’s Tom Osborne (69) while a host of players were within striking distance.
The next day Holden went one better while the 36-hole leader struggled.
Reed added: “I didn’t play my best golf on Saturday. I just couldn’t get going.”
However all that changed again 24 hours later as he birdied six, nine and 14 on his way to a two-under closing score and an overall total of 283 (+3).