It’s been a quite a year for amateur golf in Great Britain and we asked some our leading players what were their stand-out moments and also asked them to look ahead to 2022
‘I comfortably flew the trap and left myself 116 in which helped set me up for a closing birdie to win by two’
1) Your best round of the year and why?
It was more the best day of golf which for me was definitely the second 36 at the Lagonda Trophy. This event is held at my home club so to play as nicely as I did for both rounds (66, 67) with some decent home support was brilliant and something that I will certainly remember as it helped me to a third place finish. It’s a prestigious amateur event with some top class winners and the members start asking about if you’re playing, how you’re playing and all that about two months before it starts!
2) Your best shot of the year and why?
Torn between two here… one because I think it’s just an awesome shot when you pull it off and one because of the extra difficulty of the shot under pressure! I’ll go with the latter which was my 18th tee shot in the Cambridgeshire County Championship. Knowing it was close as the officials watching kept asking me if I wanted to know the state of play (I declined), I stood up and took on the more aggressive play with driver. For context there are a load of trees about five yards right of the fairway, thick/knee high rough about 10 yards left of the fairway and a bunker about 275 on left side of fairway. The hole itself is 445 yards and I comfortably flew the trap and left myself 116 in which helped set me up for a closing birdie to win by two.
3) The best shot you saw and why?
I can’t say that any one individual shot I’ve seen whilst playing really stands out. I’ve been lucky enough this year to play with some really top amateurs such as England internationals etc and they obviously hit a fair few classy shots. As a golf fan watching on the television I’m sure most would have seen that utterly outrageous shot that Alex Noren played over the famous 17th hole bunker at St Andrew’s in the Dunhill Links. Definitely have to have played the course to appreciate just how impressive the shot he played was.
4) Your favourite moment of 2021 (this could be personal or something completely random but golf related)?
Whilst I’ve had a decent year personally and as part of a team, my favourite moments are just a general point about why I love competing in events besides the competitive drive I have and that’s for the people you’re lucky to meet and spend time with. I’ve made some friends for life this year out on the course, which makes the grind of travelling to events better when you know you have some top people to prep with in the practice rounds and to spend time with in the downtime between competition rounds.
5) Your hopes and ambitions for 2022?
I’m just going to keep working hard when time allows around work to keep improving as I have some events that I would love to compete in for the first time which are:
• Lytham Trophy
• The Amateur Championship
• St Andrew’s Links
I am also hoping to get out to play an event such as Portuguese Amateur or perhaps Spanish Amateur but for me it all depends on how much time I can book away from work given that I work full time. My boss has been brilliant so far so long may that continue! I understand I can’t play in everything and I fund it all myself, so I’ll just schedule accordingly. If I could play often enough and well enough to get on the radar of England Golf that would just be incredible but that’s more the hopeful result of achieving performance targets I’ll set and get to work on with my coach over the winter.
6) One thing you would change about about golf for next season?
I like to play fairly quickly so naturally I’d like to see pace of play improve at events as I do find it takes an awfully long time to get round in three-balls. A round regularly takes 4.5-5 hours, which is a big change when you’re used to getting round in three hours or so at your home course. It’s an issue we all see at the top of the professional game and one that is regularly mentioned and the standard/example should be set there. How often do you see a one-ball try set a new fastest round record yet still shoot a decent score, so it’s certainly possible.