In the first round of last year’s British Amateur at Nairn, John Gough shot 81. It put him out of the tournament, won by Laird Shepherd. Hopes of winning the biggest amateur golf tournament in Europe looked a long way off.
R&A: Saturday, June 11th
But a year is a very long time in golf and next week the Beaconsfield player will arrive in Lytham in a very different mood. A remarkable run of results and consistency has made him the one to watch. His WAGR ranking may still be only 50 but Gough has achieved that without playing in professional events, which skew the rankings towards those who get the odd invitation to play in pro tournaments and then make the cut.
The 23-year-old’s true status is considerably higher than 50.
In March he became only the second Englishman to hold both the Spanish and English Amateurs at the same time. The other was Danny Willett, who reached No 1 in the WAGR rankings when he turned pro in 2008.
John Gough’s phenomenal run in major amateur events since July 2021
• July 2021 – Palmetto Amateur (USA): 1st
• August 2021 – English Men’s Amateur: 1st
• August 2021 – Brabazon Trophy: 3rd
• September 2021 – SE of England Links: 3rd
• December 2022 – South Beach International Amateur (USA): 17th
• February 2022 – Jones Cup Invitational (USA): 3rd
• March 2022: – Spanish Amateur: 1st
• April 2022 – European Nations Cup: 26th
• May 2022 – Lytham Trophy: 1st
• May 2022 – Brabazon Trophy: 10th
• May 2022 – Scottish Open: 2nd
• June 2022 – St Andrews Links Trophy: 62nd
After his sensational win in Spain came another thrilling success at the Lytham Trophy in May. Last month Yorkshire’s Charlie Thornton just pipped him to the Scottish Open. It completed a remarkable 12-month turnaround for the jovial Gough, which was really kick started with his three-shot victory in the Palmetto Amateur at South Carolina last July.
After the disappointment of Nairn – it was such a wide-open event with the top Europeans missing due to Covid-related travel restrictions – he went back to the USA, where he was coming to the end of his degree in Charlotte.
After his one-hole victory over Tom Addy in the English Amateur at Moortown, Gough told golfnews24: “Going into the final I felt very confident
“Up until this year I hadn’t been winning and in my other two wins in the States I had been leading overnight. I said myself you are level with him (Addy) so felt very comfortable going into it.”
Fast forward 10 months and that confidence is still flowing through the BB&O star. Hardly surprising because his run to the English Amateur Championship would be the start of a remarkable run in individual matchplay ties.
Since the end of July, Gough has tackled 20 elite-level amateur golfers and lost just once – that came in September against his old England team-mate Haider Hussain while representing BB&O in the Men’s County Finals, which were won by Gloucestershire.
John Gough’s run of matchplay ties since July 2021:
• France (May, 2022)
• Beat Nathan Legendre 3&2
• Beat Adam Bresnu 2&1
Spanish Amateur (March 2022)
• Beat Jack Brooks (The Mere) 23rd
• Beat Lewis Irvine (Kirkhill) 6&5
• Beat Tim Wiedemeyer (Ger) 5&3
• Beat Hugh Foley (Ire) 20th
• Beat Yannick Malik (Ger) 2&1
• Beat Michael Mjaaseth (Nor) 6&5
English County Finals – playing for BB&O (Sept, 2021)
• Beat Warren Bladon (Warwicks) 8&7
• Beat Phil Ridden (Northumberland) 4&3
• Lost to Haider Hussain (Gloucs) 3&2
Home Internationals (August, 2022)
• Beat Angus Carrick (Craigielaw) 2&1
• Halved with Robert Moran (Ire)
• Beat Tomi Bowen (Welshpool) 1 hole
English Amateur (July/August 2021)
• Beat Ryan Dixon (Castle Eden) 2&1
• Beat Will Coxon (Carus Green) 2 holes
• Beat Ollie Brimfield (Burnham & Berrow) 19th
• Beat Taylor Paul (Stoke Park) 2&1
• Beat George Mason (Wath) 3&2
• Beat Tom Addy (Aus) 1 hole
In August he also halved a birdie-laden encounter with Ireland’s Robert Moran in the Home Internationals, which was won by the Irish.
The other 18 have all been victories… six at the English Am, six at the Spanish Am, two against France in May, two in the county finals and two more in the Home Internationals.
Ahead of next week’s British Amateur Gough told the R&A this…
“With a win comes a lot of confidence and expectations and I just have the right mind set before every tournament. I’m ready to go out to win every tournament I play, but I fully expect Lytham to play totally different in The Amateur.
“The Amateur will be a fresh start, a stronger field, but I have the same chance as everyone else. I know the key to playing well around there. Every tee shot is important because you have to be in play and avoid the bunkers.
“There are plenty of them and they are very penal. I managed to do that well in the Lytham Trophy and that was one of the keys to my win.”
Gough is hoping to follow in the footsteps of England’s greatest post-war amateur golfer Sir Michael Bonallack. The five-time Amateur champion is the only man in history to win the British Am and and Lytham Trophy in the same year.
However Gough knows better than anyone that this year’s British Amateur is a step up in terms of the quality of the field.
And the record entry for the event – it was a third more than the previous highest – speaks to what lays ahead for all 288 entrants hoping to win at Lytham next Saturday.