FORMAT: 36-hole stroke play / 5 rounds of match play
The inaugural English Senior Men’s Amateur Championship started with a bang at The Leicestershire where Surrey’s Stephen Jensen clinched the title in extraordinary fashion on Friday.
Male English seniors have had a 72-hole stroke play competition but this was the first strokeplay/matchplay version and what a way to start… Jensen holing from 25 feet for birdie on the last to win by one hole. Just a few seconds earlier Royal Ashdown Forest’s Andrew Smith must have thought he had forced the tie into extra holes after draining his birdie attempt from 30 feet.
Twice Jensen had come from three down on the final day to win ties on the 18th. In his morning semi-final against 2021 English Seniors Stroke Play champion Rupert Kellock (Sunningdale) he was three down with seven to play and again, after lunch, was down by the same score (after eight) to Smith.
In the final The Wisley golfer, who last month shot 63 at Burnham & Berrow on his way to taking the West of England Senior Men’s Open, was one under for his back nine having gone out in a scruffy 39, uncharacteristically missing a few short ones on the green.
Jensen told England Golf: “It’s probably the most exciting game of golf I’ve ever been involved in.
“I felt really good going out but let a few holes slip and suddenly was three behind again and thought here I go again. But I felt I was playing good enough golf to get back in it and just did.
“But once I got back in it I just couldn’t nudge ahead. He held some good putts – he is obviously a very gritty player – and then you saw what happened at the last. It doesn’t get any more dramatic than that. I am very excited and it was a lot of fun to be part of.”
Against Smith, Jensen won the ninth and 12th with birdies while a par at ten was also enough and it was all to play for with six to play.
The next four holes were halved in pars, Smith holing an outrageous 25-foot,left-to-righter on 15 that dropped in with virtually the last roll, but the soon-to-be champion nudged ahead at 17 where the Sussex player bogeyed the par three.
At 18 both players were a long way away in two but Smith’s monster effort up the hill looked to have given him a lifeline, only for Jensen to respond in the perfect manner with one coming the other way.
In his semi-final with Kellock, Jensen birdied the par three 12th to cut the gap to two and a par on 15 was enough to halve the deficit. Further pars on 17 and 18 were enough for him to take the holes while Smith beat Orsett’s Paul King 2&1 and was never behind at any point.
Jensen added: “I didn’t play that well against Rupert but gave him a bit of a lead. I felt I was playing well against Andrew and gave him a few holes by missing short putts. With greens at this time of year you are going to do that but I knew I was playing good enough.
“I never thought I was going to lose the game against Andrew. I know that sounds a bit arrogant but I don’t know why. It was a dramatic and exciting event to be part of and I just had belief basically.”