FORMAT 36-hole stroke play
Teenager Matty Dodd-Berry was in scintillating form as he won the ninth golfnews24 Northern Order of Merit event of 2022 at Wallasey yesterday.
The Royal Liverpool player is in the middle of his A-Levels but if he came in undercooked at the Frank Stableford Scratch Open it didn’t show, breaking the new course record and also setting a new record points total for the competition (82).
The 18-year-old blazed a trail in the morning and was seven under par thru 14 on his way to a 66 (42 points) and then, despite it getting windier after lunch, followed it up with an equally impressive 68 (40) to finish seven points clear of Crewe’s Kristian Towers.
Dodd-Berry, who plays off plus five, even collected the nett prize as he continued his fine start to the season. At Astbury he won the Cheshire Men’s Championship for the first time, beating Hazel Grove’s Fraser Macleod 7&6 in the final.
A number of new competition tees have extended the course and “made it a lot more difficult” but despite that Dodd-Berry enjoyed a birdie fest and he was delighted with his 10-under-par overall total.
“I just brought my best golf game,” he said.
“After the 14th I was trying to block out thoughts of course records but I didn’t know what it was. One of my playing partners said it was one of the easiest six unders he had ever seen but it was nice everything came together in that round.”
Click here to see the full Northern Order of Merit fixture list for 2022
The teenager arrived on the Wirral having sat exams on Thursday and Friday and clearly enjoyed getting away from the pressures of A Levels as he reached the turn in 32.
After lipping out for eagle on the fourth to get up and running he rattled off three birdies in a row, starting at the sixth. He went close to another eagle on seven before hitting a stunning six iron into the wind at the eighth and made no mistake from four feet to get to four under.
After his fourth birdie of the day on the par fives at 14, one small error cost him dear at 15. He spun back down the two-tier green and couldn’t get down in two from 100 feet.
His 42-point opener left him four clear of Jack Nicholson (Vicars Cross), Wilmslow’s Andy Davis and Northern Order of Merit leader Chris Parkinson (Penwortham).
After lunch he started on the 10th and reached the turn in 34 (-2) but his smooth-looking path to another low one almost came unstuck at the third (his 12th) and ended up making a ‘good’ bogey by holing out from 25 feet.
He it followed it up with an unlikely birdie at the par five fourth where he drove into sand and then advanced his ball just ten yards with his second. However he pinged a three wood to 25 feet and knocked it in from just off the green.
That kick-started a closing run of four birdies in six holes – it should have been five but a rogue pitchmark stopped the ball from dropping at the eighth (his 17th).
And fittingly he closed with a wonderful two, finding the bottom of the cup from 30 feet to register his 13th birdie of the day.
Towers came storming through into second on the back of a highly-eventful 68. His afternoon knock included nine birdies and he took the 20-point Northern Order of Merit haul for finishing second on countback from Nicholson.