FORMAT: 36-hole stroke play
Ormskirk’s Andrew Haswell has spent the summer fighting “the yips” but his rehabilitation continues apace as he collected his first Northern Order of Merit title at Blackburn yesterday.
The 2021 Lancashire Boys champion had been struggling to take the club back and, when it got really bad, it could take him “three or four minutes” to hit a shot.
However some sessions with his coach Dave Corsby helped get him back on the right path and this month’s results have picked up, culminating with his three-shot victory in the Revidge Cannon.
The 19-year-old was delighted to have got the job done and regain the form that made him one of North West’s best prospects.
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“It became a really bad problem,” admitted Haswell, who finished third in the Childwall Trophy last week.
“It felt like the ball was moving and I would take up to 15 waggles on every shot. I have always had a couple of waggles but even when I could commit to shots I knew it did not feel right.”
Playing Blackburn for the first time, Haswell recorded a pair of 68s to finish three shots clear of Christopher Parkinson (Penwortham) and Anthony Harwood, playing his home course. A shot further back in fourth was Northern Order of Merit leader Jack Brooks, whose lead at the top of the overall standings shrunk by six points thanks to Parkinson’s second-place finish.
The teenager was particularly pleased with his short game as he repeatedly chipped close to save par and just three bogeys in 36 holes contributed to his six-under-par total.
“I was knocking them all stone dead,” added Haswell.
“Overall I played well and was hitting some good shots. I was cruising round. There was just the odd silly mistake.”
The Ormskirk player did a good job taking advantage of the par fives and set the tone at the second where an excellent up and down kept him level par.
He got under par at the fourth and then got his reward at the short par four sixth where his attempt to drive the green paid off as he got up and down from a green-side bunker.
A bogey at nine was followed by a birdie at the next and he also birdied the par five 13th before bogeying 14.
At the penultimate hole he rammed in a 20-footer to get to three under and that gave him a two-shot lead over Harwood going into the afternoon round.
After lunch he stayed bogey free until the 17th and before that collected birdies at the fourth, sixth, eighth and the 12th.
Parkinson moved joint second thanks to a closing 68 while Brooks posted the lowest score of the day (67) to move up to fourth.