Formby Hare finally lands with 30-year-old Bolton Golf Association champion
After a handful of near misses, Anthony Stirling finally got his hands on a golfnews24 Northern Order of Merit trophy at his home course last night.
FORMAT: 36-hole stroke play
The new Formby Hare champion had twice lost out on a card play-off in recent seasons (Clitheroe and Bolton Old Links) and also recorded a host of top five finishes.
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However yesterday the Bolton Golf Association champion, who is also a member at Harwood, made the breakthrough in some style, finishing three clear of up-and-coming Cheshire junior Daniel Hayes (Bramhall), Pleasington’s Calum Metcalfe, Stockport’s Ben Knock, Royal Lytham’s Dylan Astin and Isle of Man golfer Paul Lowey, who finished second behind James Holland in the Lancashire Links Trophy.
“It’s the one I have desperately wanted,” said the 30-year-old, who three years ago finished fourth in the Lancashire Links Trophy.
“To have come so close so many times makes it all the more sweeter and I am buzzing to be honest.”
An unusual wind direction turned the back nine into a real test with the pins at the front on downwind holes while pins were nearer the back on those being played into the strong breeze. Not a single player broke par all day.
You had to make your score early and Stirling certainy did that in the morning. He was two under after five thanks to a hat-trick of birdies starting at the par five third, where he found the putting surface in two and then rolled in a 15 footer at the next. At the fifth he stuck it to four feet and netted a vital two.
Stirling added: “I played really solid golf from tee to green and to be honest I didn’t miss a shot. But I knew I would have to make my score on the first 12 or 13 holes and then hang on for dear life.”
He would close with a two-over-par 74, one behind halfway leaders Astin and Knock.
Click here to read how James Holland came out on top in the S&A Bowl
“In the second round I thought I would need at least a 73 to be in with a chance,” said the former Bury Golf Association champion. “When I came in I thought I was going to be a couple shy.”
With the wind getting stronger and the firm greens drying out even more, no one could get under 73.
Stirling again birdied three and also grabbed a crucial one at six where he fired his wedge to eight feet and sunk it.
Coming home he escaped with a bogey at 13 having committed the cardinal sin of missing left and again maintained the momentum in his round at the next by getting up and down from a tricky spot for a par.
“With four holes to go I set myself the target of finishing at least level par for those holes and managed to finish level.”